Gregory Frame

American President in Film and Television (eBook, ePUB)

Myth, Politics and Representation

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Runner-up for the BAFTSS 2016 Best Book Award

Why are fictional US presidents everywhere on screen? How do these constructs relate to our understanding of the presidency as an institution and the United States as a nation?
This book sheds new light on fictional representations of the leader of the United States by analysing key films and television series from the early 1990s to the present day. Combining textual analysis with close attention to political and historical contexts, it addresses the ways in which representations of the president have responded to a period of profound change in American politics and society, encompassing the end of the Cold War, 9/11 and the collapse of the economy.
Exploring the complex relationship between the political context and the generic, iconographic and narrative parameters upon which mainstream cinema and television are based, this book challenges the tendency to equate content with context. Instead, contemporary representations of the president are examined as critiques of, or reinforcements to, dominant conceptions of political leadership. The reasons behind the proliferation of images of the president during this period are explored, from the archetype in American genre cinema (Air Force One, Independence Day and Deep Impact) to the idealised fantasy figure in network television (The West Wing, 24 and Commander in Chief). This book offers unique insights into the roles mainstream cinema and television continue to play in the reinforcement of mythological conceptions of the American presidency.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
• Erscheinungstermin: 27. August 2014
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9783035395211
• Artikelnr.: 53005918

Autorenporträt

Gregory Frame is Associate Fellow of Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick. His research interests revolve around the politics and ideologies of mainstream cinema and television, and he is currently working on a project concerning the representation of American monuments and memorials in visual culture.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents: Introduction: The American President in History and Criticism
The Symbolic Presidency in Washington and Hollywood, 1932
1989
The Post
Cold War Presidency in Hollywood
The West Wing: Continuity and Change from Clinton to Bush
Predicting Obama? Hollywood's Black Presidency and the Creation of a Stereotype
«Having it Allen»: Motherhood, Family and The President in Commander in Chief
Old Constructs for a New Era: The White House Invasion Narrative and the Return of Abraham Lincoln.

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CONTENTS: Introduction: The American President in History and Criticism - The Symbolic Presidency: Washington and Hollywood, 1932-1989 - The Post-Cold War Presidency in Hollywood Cinema - The West Wing: Continuity and Change from Clinton to Bush - Predicting Obama? Hollywood's Black Presidency and the Creation of a Stereotype - «Having it Allen»: Motherhood, Family and the Female Presidency in Commander in Chief - Conclusion: Old Constructs in a New Era: The White House Invasion Narrative and the Return of Abraham Lincoln.

Rezensionen

«An assuredly deft and engaging exploration of how presidential figures function in American film and television, Gregory's book is anchored in textual readings and it hits the right note - whether he is discussing the Capraesque tendencies in the comedy 'Dave', offering a focused appreciation of the looming presence of Martin Sheen, or unpacking issues of race and gender (in particularly persuasive chapters on black and women presidents). In Gregory's own words the book 'looks to engage fully with the politics of representation in the Representation of Politics', and it is completely successful in that mission.» (British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies, 2016 Best Book Award Committee) «In the age of Trump, cinema's relationship to politics has become more important than ever. In Frame's brilliant book, the way presidents - real and fictional - have been portrayed on film becomes almost a playbook for the rise and conduct of the forty-fifth chief executive.» (Ian Scott, author of «American Politics in Hollywood Film») «Published at a time in which a 'fictional' president occupies the real White House (as argued by the new preface written in the light of Donald Trump's election), the revised edition of this book further underlines the urgent value of attending to the representation of the Commander in Chief in American film and television drama. Strongly grounded in the analysis of film and television style as well as the politics of representation, Frame's account is an essential read for anyone interested in the portrayal of political power in twentieth- and twenty-first-century America.» (Tom Brown, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, King's College London)