Erika Lorraine Milam
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691181882
- eISBN:
- 9780691185095
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691181882.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
After World War II, the question of how to define a universal human nature took on new urgency. This book charts the rise and precipitous fall in Cold War America of a theory that attributed man's ...
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After World War II, the question of how to define a universal human nature took on new urgency. This book charts the rise and precipitous fall in Cold War America of a theory that attributed man's evolutionary success to his unique capacity for murder. The book reveals how the scientists who advanced this “killer ape” theory capitalized on an expanding postwar market in intellectual paperbacks and widespread faith in the power of science to solve humanity's problems, even to answer the most fundamental questions of human identity. The killer ape theory spread quickly from colloquial science publications to late-night television, classrooms, political debates, and Hollywood films. Behind the scenes, however, scientists were sharply divided, their disagreements centering squarely on questions of race and gender. Then, in the 1970s, the theory unraveled altogether when primatologists discovered that chimpanzees also kill members of their own species. While the discovery brought an end to definitions of human exceptionalism delineated by violence, the book shows how some evolutionists began to argue for a shared chimpanzee–human history of aggression even as other scientists discredited such theories as sloppy popularizations. A wide-ranging account of a compelling episode in American science, the book argues that the legacy of the killer ape persists today in the conviction that science can resolve the essential dilemmas of human nature.Less
After World War II, the question of how to define a universal human nature took on new urgency. This book charts the rise and precipitous fall in Cold War America of a theory that attributed man's evolutionary success to his unique capacity for murder. The book reveals how the scientists who advanced this “killer ape” theory capitalized on an expanding postwar market in intellectual paperbacks and widespread faith in the power of science to solve humanity's problems, even to answer the most fundamental questions of human identity. The killer ape theory spread quickly from colloquial science publications to late-night television, classrooms, political debates, and Hollywood films. Behind the scenes, however, scientists were sharply divided, their disagreements centering squarely on questions of race and gender. Then, in the 1970s, the theory unraveled altogether when primatologists discovered that chimpanzees also kill members of their own species. While the discovery brought an end to definitions of human exceptionalism delineated by violence, the book shows how some evolutionists began to argue for a shared chimpanzee–human history of aggression even as other scientists discredited such theories as sloppy popularizations. A wide-ranging account of a compelling episode in American science, the book argues that the legacy of the killer ape persists today in the conviction that science can resolve the essential dilemmas of human nature.
Graham Bell
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198569725
- eISBN:
- 9780191717741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198569725.003.0009
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Genetic elements that spread by parasitizing the replicative machinery of a host cell are common inhabitants of the genome, especially in multicellular sexual organisms. They show how genetic ...
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Genetic elements that spread by parasitizing the replicative machinery of a host cell are common inhabitants of the genome, especially in multicellular sexual organisms. They show how genetic elements can evolve despite reducing the fitness of individuals. The first section in this chapter is all about infection and explains the following: bacterial plasmids; 2-micron plasmid of yeast; transposable elements; transposons as regulatory elements; transposons as mutator elements; transposons as hitch-hiking elements; transposons as selfish genetic elements; the spread of transposable elements; parasites of transposons'; selfish mitochondria; and finally population genetic engineering. The second section is about interference and describes the Poison-Antidote system; Gamete Killers; meiotic drive on sex-chromosomes; and phoenix elements. The final section in this chapter, called Gonotaxis, describes B-chromosome; and infectious agents that control sexual development.Less
Genetic elements that spread by parasitizing the replicative machinery of a host cell are common inhabitants of the genome, especially in multicellular sexual organisms. They show how genetic elements can evolve despite reducing the fitness of individuals. The first section in this chapter is all about infection and explains the following: bacterial plasmids; 2-micron plasmid of yeast; transposable elements; transposons as regulatory elements; transposons as mutator elements; transposons as hitch-hiking elements; transposons as selfish genetic elements; the spread of transposable elements; parasites of transposons'; selfish mitochondria; and finally population genetic engineering. The second section is about interference and describes the Poison-Antidote system; Gamete Killers; meiotic drive on sex-chromosomes; and phoenix elements. The final section in this chapter, called Gonotaxis, describes B-chromosome; and infectious agents that control sexual development.
William R. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195336634
- eISBN:
- 9780199868568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336634.003.0011
- Subject:
- Biology, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology
Cancers arise as a result of mutations in genes controlling cell division. They may well arise in the body on a fairly frequent basis. Most or all cancers display information on their surface that ...
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Cancers arise as a result of mutations in genes controlling cell division. They may well arise in the body on a fairly frequent basis. Most or all cancers display information on their surface that should make them seem foreign; the rare tumors that emerge have somehow escaped detection by the immune system. Immune surveillance of tumors is largely the job of T cells and a specialized cell called the NK (natural killer) cell. Our improved understanding of the interaction between tumor cells and the immune system has led to promising possibilities for treating cancer in the future, including forms of gene therapy and DNA-based cancer vaccines.Less
Cancers arise as a result of mutations in genes controlling cell division. They may well arise in the body on a fairly frequent basis. Most or all cancers display information on their surface that should make them seem foreign; the rare tumors that emerge have somehow escaped detection by the immune system. Immune surveillance of tumors is largely the job of T cells and a specialized cell called the NK (natural killer) cell. Our improved understanding of the interaction between tumor cells and the immune system has led to promising possibilities for treating cancer in the future, including forms of gene therapy and DNA-based cancer vaccines.
William R. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195336634
- eISBN:
- 9780199868568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336634.003.0013
- Subject:
- Biology, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology
T cells are the major barrier to the transplantation of organs between other than genetically identical twins. The basis for immune rejection lies in the incredible heterogeneity among humans in ...
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T cells are the major barrier to the transplantation of organs between other than genetically identical twins. The basis for immune rejection lies in the incredible heterogeneity among humans in histocompatibility genes and proteins. Rejection can be managed somewhat by careful histocompatibility matching of donor and recipient, and with drugs that suppress T cell function, but permanent acceptance of transplants has yet to be achieved. This chapter examines how T cells detect transplants as foreign, and the mechanisms they use to reject them. A close study of these processes may suggest better strategies for ensuring transplant survival.Less
T cells are the major barrier to the transplantation of organs between other than genetically identical twins. The basis for immune rejection lies in the incredible heterogeneity among humans in histocompatibility genes and proteins. Rejection can be managed somewhat by careful histocompatibility matching of donor and recipient, and with drugs that suppress T cell function, but permanent acceptance of transplants has yet to be achieved. This chapter examines how T cells detect transplants as foreign, and the mechanisms they use to reject them. A close study of these processes may suggest better strategies for ensuring transplant survival.
Kenneth E. Hall
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622099562
- eISBN:
- 9789882207097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099562.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Woo came to The Killer with a diversified background in Hong Kong filmmaking. In addition to John Woo's apprenticeship with Chang Cheh, he had worked as a contract director for Golden Harvest. Woo's ...
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Woo came to The Killer with a diversified background in Hong Kong filmmaking. In addition to John Woo's apprenticeship with Chang Cheh, he had worked as a contract director for Golden Harvest. Woo's career had taken a downturn by the mid-1980s due to a series of unsuccessfully realized comedies. One of the reasons for the film's Western success may be its increased stylization relative to A Better Tomorrow; The Killer foregrounds allusions to European and Hollywood filmmaking in ways that the former film did not. Its conscious allusion to Melville as inspiration would also tend to generate interest in Western cinephile circles. The general tone and texture of The Killer fit more closely with the noir tradition than does A Better Tomorrow, which borrows more specifically from melodrama and the Hollywood gangster genre.Less
Woo came to The Killer with a diversified background in Hong Kong filmmaking. In addition to John Woo's apprenticeship with Chang Cheh, he had worked as a contract director for Golden Harvest. Woo's career had taken a downturn by the mid-1980s due to a series of unsuccessfully realized comedies. One of the reasons for the film's Western success may be its increased stylization relative to A Better Tomorrow; The Killer foregrounds allusions to European and Hollywood filmmaking in ways that the former film did not. Its conscious allusion to Melville as inspiration would also tend to generate interest in Western cinephile circles. The general tone and texture of The Killer fit more closely with the noir tradition than does A Better Tomorrow, which borrows more specifically from melodrama and the Hollywood gangster genre.
Kenneth E. Hall
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622099562
- eISBN:
- 9789882207097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099562.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The Killer (John Woo, 1989) is one of the key films of the Hong Kong New Wave period. It achieved a secure cult status in the West and has exercised great influence on Western and Asian filmmakers. ...
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The Killer (John Woo, 1989) is one of the key films of the Hong Kong New Wave period. It achieved a secure cult status in the West and has exercised great influence on Western and Asian filmmakers. Additionally, the film served as the springboard for the fame of its director and contributed materially to the early attention given to Hong Kong cinema during the 1990s by Western film critics and audiences. Its connection to the chivalric tradition in Chinese and Hong Kong cinema is readily apparent and important, most particularly in its indebtedness to the work of masters such as the late Chang Cheh. The influence of The Killer on subsequent neo-noir films, including “hitman” and gangster films, becomes clearer when the influence of the noir canon on Woo is more fully understood.Less
The Killer (John Woo, 1989) is one of the key films of the Hong Kong New Wave period. It achieved a secure cult status in the West and has exercised great influence on Western and Asian filmmakers. Additionally, the film served as the springboard for the fame of its director and contributed materially to the early attention given to Hong Kong cinema during the 1990s by Western film critics and audiences. Its connection to the chivalric tradition in Chinese and Hong Kong cinema is readily apparent and important, most particularly in its indebtedness to the work of masters such as the late Chang Cheh. The influence of The Killer on subsequent neo-noir films, including “hitman” and gangster films, becomes clearer when the influence of the noir canon on Woo is more fully understood.
Kenneth E. Hall
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622099562
- eISBN:
- 9789882207097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099562.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
John Woo's The Killer was central to the innovative quality of the new Hong Kong cinema. This film helped to filter Hollywood and European action and noir influences through the web of Chinese ...
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John Woo's The Killer was central to the innovative quality of the new Hong Kong cinema. This film helped to filter Hollywood and European action and noir influences through the web of Chinese traditional motifs found in the chivalric tradition. The Killer brought Woo to the attention of critics in the West and helped thereby to foster the careers of younger Hong Kong, and Korean, filmmakers who in turn have drawn upon Woo's innovations to create their own original commentaries on the Woo corpus. Woo himself evaluates The Killer as one of his creative peaks. The hyperbolic romanticism and unabashed spirituality and sentiment often identified as essential to the Woo style, as well as the bravura visual approach, with its well-known elements of circling camera movement, quick editing, and focus on facial expressions, are all found in fully developed form in this film.Less
John Woo's The Killer was central to the innovative quality of the new Hong Kong cinema. This film helped to filter Hollywood and European action and noir influences through the web of Chinese traditional motifs found in the chivalric tradition. The Killer brought Woo to the attention of critics in the West and helped thereby to foster the careers of younger Hong Kong, and Korean, filmmakers who in turn have drawn upon Woo's innovations to create their own original commentaries on the Woo corpus. Woo himself evaluates The Killer as one of his creative peaks. The hyperbolic romanticism and unabashed spirituality and sentiment often identified as essential to the Woo style, as well as the bravura visual approach, with its well-known elements of circling camera movement, quick editing, and focus on facial expressions, are all found in fully developed form in this film.
Elizabeth Yardley and David Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781447326458
- eISBN:
- 9781447327639
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447326458.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
To date, approaches to understanding serial murder have focused on individual cases rather than the social context in which they occurred. This book marks a departure by situating nineteenth century ...
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To date, approaches to understanding serial murder have focused on individual cases rather than the social context in which they occurred. This book marks a departure by situating nineteenth century serial killer Mary Ann Cotton within the broader social structure. Using archival records of her court appearances, local histories and newspaper articles, it uniquely explores how institutions such as the family, economy and religion shaped the environment she inhabited and her social integration through the roles of wife, mother, worker and criminal. Acknowledging that it takes a particular type of individual to commit serial murder, the book shows that it also takes a particular type of society to enable that murderer to go unseen. As the first work to analyse serial murder through the theoretical framework of institutional criminology and institutional anomie theory, it will equip criminologists with a methodological toolkit for performing institutional analysis.Less
To date, approaches to understanding serial murder have focused on individual cases rather than the social context in which they occurred. This book marks a departure by situating nineteenth century serial killer Mary Ann Cotton within the broader social structure. Using archival records of her court appearances, local histories and newspaper articles, it uniquely explores how institutions such as the family, economy and religion shaped the environment she inhabited and her social integration through the roles of wife, mother, worker and criminal. Acknowledging that it takes a particular type of individual to commit serial murder, the book shows that it also takes a particular type of society to enable that murderer to go unseen. As the first work to analyse serial murder through the theoretical framework of institutional criminology and institutional anomie theory, it will equip criminologists with a methodological toolkit for performing institutional analysis.
Franklin E. Zimring
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195181166
- eISBN:
- 9780199943302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181166.003.0057
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter discusses the substantive principles that should govern the punishment of adolescents who kill. The first section shows that the stereotypical versions of juvenile and criminal courts ...
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This chapter discusses the substantive principles that should govern the punishment of adolescents who kill. The first section shows that the stereotypical versions of juvenile and criminal courts are not well suited to attain just results in adolescent homicides. The second section uses cases reported in the news to explore the multiple varieties of youth homicides. The third section uses the diminished responsibility and room-to-reform conceptions discussed in Chapter 5 as a method of exploring punishment principles for adolescent killers. The fourth section sets out specific case studies in the meaning of diminished responsibility: the ages at which homicide offenders should be considered to be partially but not fully responsible; appropriate methods for determining deserved punishments for adolescent killers; constructive homicide liability as a problem for the criminal law of adolescence; and capital punishment for young killers.Less
This chapter discusses the substantive principles that should govern the punishment of adolescents who kill. The first section shows that the stereotypical versions of juvenile and criminal courts are not well suited to attain just results in adolescent homicides. The second section uses cases reported in the news to explore the multiple varieties of youth homicides. The third section uses the diminished responsibility and room-to-reform conceptions discussed in Chapter 5 as a method of exploring punishment principles for adolescent killers. The fourth section sets out specific case studies in the meaning of diminished responsibility: the ages at which homicide offenders should be considered to be partially but not fully responsible; appropriate methods for determining deserved punishments for adolescent killers; constructive homicide liability as a problem for the criminal law of adolescence; and capital punishment for young killers.
Erika Lorraine Milam
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691181882
- eISBN:
- 9780691185095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691181882.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter traces the popularization of the “killer ape” theory through the work of Robert Ardrey. It shows how Ardrey did not confine his use of “mankind” to Homo sapiens or to men. Preferring to ...
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This chapter traces the popularization of the “killer ape” theory through the work of Robert Ardrey. It shows how Ardrey did not confine his use of “mankind” to Homo sapiens or to men. Preferring to recognize the long evolutionary lineage resulting in modern humans, he used “man” to include all of our hominid ancestors, from the moment our evolutionary lineage diverged from the lineages of other apes. Second, the chapter reveals that, throughout his writings, but especially in African Genesis, Ardrey evoked stereotypes of Africa as a timeless, wild, and primitive continent in which our ancient past had been preserved for the few Westerners (like himself) who were brave enough to confront it. In doing so, Ardrey promoted images of Africans that cultural anthropologists, civil rights leaders, and the designers of Man: A Course of Study (MACOS) were desperately trying to combat but that a reading white public eagerly consumed.Less
This chapter traces the popularization of the “killer ape” theory through the work of Robert Ardrey. It shows how Ardrey did not confine his use of “mankind” to Homo sapiens or to men. Preferring to recognize the long evolutionary lineage resulting in modern humans, he used “man” to include all of our hominid ancestors, from the moment our evolutionary lineage diverged from the lineages of other apes. Second, the chapter reveals that, throughout his writings, but especially in African Genesis, Ardrey evoked stereotypes of Africa as a timeless, wild, and primitive continent in which our ancient past had been preserved for the few Westerners (like himself) who were brave enough to confront it. In doing so, Ardrey promoted images of Africans that cultural anthropologists, civil rights leaders, and the designers of Man: A Course of Study (MACOS) were desperately trying to combat but that a reading white public eagerly consumed.
Geoffrey Tweedale
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199243990
- eISBN:
- 9780191697326
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243990.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
Asbestos was once known as the ‘magic mineral’ because of its ability to withstand flames. Yet since the 1970s, it has become a notorious and feared ‘killer dust’ that is responsible for thousands of ...
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Asbestos was once known as the ‘magic mineral’ because of its ability to withstand flames. Yet since the 1970s, it has become a notorious and feared ‘killer dust’ that is responsible for thousands of deaths and an epidemic that continues into the new millennium. This book gives an account of the UK asbestos health problem, providing an in-depth look at the occupational health experience of one of the world's leading asbestos companies — British asbestos giant, Turner & Newall. Based on a company archive recently released in American litigation, it gives an insight into all aspects of the asbestos hazard — dust control, workmen's compensation, government regulation, and the development of medical knowledge. In particular, the book looks at the role of industrialists, doctors, factory inspectors, and trade unionists, highlighting the failures in regulation that allowed the commercial development of a material that has been known to be lethal since at least 1900.Less
Asbestos was once known as the ‘magic mineral’ because of its ability to withstand flames. Yet since the 1970s, it has become a notorious and feared ‘killer dust’ that is responsible for thousands of deaths and an epidemic that continues into the new millennium. This book gives an account of the UK asbestos health problem, providing an in-depth look at the occupational health experience of one of the world's leading asbestos companies — British asbestos giant, Turner & Newall. Based on a company archive recently released in American litigation, it gives an insight into all aspects of the asbestos hazard — dust control, workmen's compensation, government regulation, and the development of medical knowledge. In particular, the book looks at the role of industrialists, doctors, factory inspectors, and trade unionists, highlighting the failures in regulation that allowed the commercial development of a material that has been known to be lethal since at least 1900.
Mike Fortun
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520247505
- eISBN:
- 9780520942615
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520247505.003.0007
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
In the deCODE mass media stories, no one leveraged the saga effect better than Robert Kunzig in his December 1998 piece in Discover, “Blood of the Vikings.” The issue was on U.S. newsstands as the ...
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In the deCODE mass media stories, no one leveraged the saga effect better than Robert Kunzig in his December 1998 piece in Discover, “Blood of the Vikings.” The issue was on U.S. newsstands as the Althingi sped and slogged to its final vote on the Health Sector Database legislation. There is no question that deCODE Genetics, genomics, the 1990s, and Iceland are all subject to the laws of fable, even if such laws should turn out to be unruly, unwritten, or unreadable. Speculation is surely one element of the unruly laws of fable. It involutes a future into the present, complementing the mythic foldings of past into present, generating anticipation; the excitement, thrill, and risk of awaiting the arrival of what might, or might not, come. Ever slow on the uptake, the author learned about how fable crosses with history not from the deCODE events themselves, but from the fable of another expat who returned to Iceland at the same time as deCODE Genetics CEO Kári Stefánsson: Keiko the killer whale, a.k.a. Free Willy.Less
In the deCODE mass media stories, no one leveraged the saga effect better than Robert Kunzig in his December 1998 piece in Discover, “Blood of the Vikings.” The issue was on U.S. newsstands as the Althingi sped and slogged to its final vote on the Health Sector Database legislation. There is no question that deCODE Genetics, genomics, the 1990s, and Iceland are all subject to the laws of fable, even if such laws should turn out to be unruly, unwritten, or unreadable. Speculation is surely one element of the unruly laws of fable. It involutes a future into the present, complementing the mythic foldings of past into present, generating anticipation; the excitement, thrill, and risk of awaiting the arrival of what might, or might not, come. Ever slow on the uptake, the author learned about how fable crosses with history not from the deCODE events themselves, but from the fable of another expat who returned to Iceland at the same time as deCODE Genetics CEO Kári Stefánsson: Keiko the killer whale, a.k.a. Free Willy.
Samm Deighan
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325772
- eISBN:
- 9781800342422
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325772.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Fritz Lang's first sound feature, M (1931), is one of the earliest serial killer films in cinema history and laid the foundation for future horror movies and thrillers, particularly those with a ...
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Fritz Lang's first sound feature, M (1931), is one of the earliest serial killer films in cinema history and laid the foundation for future horror movies and thrillers, particularly those with a disturbed killer as protagonist. Peter Lorre's child killer, Hans Beckert, is presented as monstrous, yet sympathetic, building on themes presented in the earlier German Expressionist horror films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Hands of Orlac. Lang eerily foreshadowed the rising fascist horrors in German society, and transforms his cinematic Berlin into a place of urban terror and paranoia. This book explores the way Lang uses horror and thriller tropes in M, particularly in terms of how it functions as a bridge between German Expressionism and Hollywood's growing fixation on sympathetic killers in the 1940s. The book also examines how Lang made use of developments within forensic science and the criminal justice system to portray a somewhat realistic serial killer on screen for the first time, at once capturing how society in the 1930s and 1940s viewed such individuals and their crimes and shaping how they would be portrayed on screen in the horror films to come.Less
Fritz Lang's first sound feature, M (1931), is one of the earliest serial killer films in cinema history and laid the foundation for future horror movies and thrillers, particularly those with a disturbed killer as protagonist. Peter Lorre's child killer, Hans Beckert, is presented as monstrous, yet sympathetic, building on themes presented in the earlier German Expressionist horror films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Hands of Orlac. Lang eerily foreshadowed the rising fascist horrors in German society, and transforms his cinematic Berlin into a place of urban terror and paranoia. This book explores the way Lang uses horror and thriller tropes in M, particularly in terms of how it functions as a bridge between German Expressionism and Hollywood's growing fixation on sympathetic killers in the 1940s. The book also examines how Lang made use of developments within forensic science and the criminal justice system to portray a somewhat realistic serial killer on screen for the first time, at once capturing how society in the 1930s and 1940s viewed such individuals and their crimes and shaping how they would be portrayed on screen in the horror films to come.
Martin Wiggins
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112280
- eISBN:
- 9780191670749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112280.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
The Renaissance courts of John Webster's tragedies swarm with assassins. The plays depict a society in which aristocratic lust and honour pursues its intrigues through murder. Hired killers are the ...
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The Renaissance courts of John Webster's tragedies swarm with assassins. The plays depict a society in which aristocratic lust and honour pursues its intrigues through murder. Hired killers are the skilled technicians of such a society, the men who do the essential but dirty job of putting inconvenient people out of the way. Such men appear not only in a number of cameo parts, but also as major characters: Flamineo and Lodovico in The White Devil, and Daniel de Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi (1614). The critical fortunes of these figures have been variable. In recent decades, their importance has been rated very highly: in 1957, a case was even made for Bosola as the central tragic figure of The Duchess of Malfi. Yet only half a century before, E. E. Stoll dismissed the same character as an empty device. In several respects, Webster was influenced by recent trends in the portrayal of the assassin: Flamineo's poverty and Bosola's melancholy are standard traits of early Jacobean killers.Less
The Renaissance courts of John Webster's tragedies swarm with assassins. The plays depict a society in which aristocratic lust and honour pursues its intrigues through murder. Hired killers are the skilled technicians of such a society, the men who do the essential but dirty job of putting inconvenient people out of the way. Such men appear not only in a number of cameo parts, but also as major characters: Flamineo and Lodovico in The White Devil, and Daniel de Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi (1614). The critical fortunes of these figures have been variable. In recent decades, their importance has been rated very highly: in 1957, a case was even made for Bosola as the central tragic figure of The Duchess of Malfi. Yet only half a century before, E. E. Stoll dismissed the same character as an empty device. In several respects, Webster was influenced by recent trends in the portrayal of the assassin: Flamineo's poverty and Bosola's melancholy are standard traits of early Jacobean killers.
Anne Billson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906733506
- eISBN:
- 9781800342514
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906733506.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
These days it takes a very special vampire movie to stand out. Like Twilight, the Swedish film Let the Right One In is a love story between a human and a vampire but there the resemblance ends. Let ...
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These days it takes a very special vampire movie to stand out. Like Twilight, the Swedish film Let the Right One In is a love story between a human and a vampire but there the resemblance ends. Let the Right One In is not a romantic fantasy but combines the supernatural with social realism. Set on a housing estate in the suburbs of Stockholm in the early 1980s, it's the story of Oskar, a lonely, bullied child, who makes friends with Eli, the girl in the next apartment. 'Oskar, I'm not a girl,' she tells him and she's not kidding. They forge a relationship which is oddly innocent yet disturbing, two outsiders against the rest of the world. But one of these outsiders is, effectively, a serial killer. While Let the Right One In is startlingly original, it nevertheless couldn't have existed without the near century of vampire cinema that preceded it. This book looks at how it has drawn from, and wrung new twists on, such classics as Nosferatu (1922), how vampire cinema has already flirted with social realism in films like Near Dark (1987) and how vampire mythology adapts itself to the modern world.Less
These days it takes a very special vampire movie to stand out. Like Twilight, the Swedish film Let the Right One In is a love story between a human and a vampire but there the resemblance ends. Let the Right One In is not a romantic fantasy but combines the supernatural with social realism. Set on a housing estate in the suburbs of Stockholm in the early 1980s, it's the story of Oskar, a lonely, bullied child, who makes friends with Eli, the girl in the next apartment. 'Oskar, I'm not a girl,' she tells him and she's not kidding. They forge a relationship which is oddly innocent yet disturbing, two outsiders against the rest of the world. But one of these outsiders is, effectively, a serial killer. While Let the Right One In is startlingly original, it nevertheless couldn't have existed without the near century of vampire cinema that preceded it. This book looks at how it has drawn from, and wrung new twists on, such classics as Nosferatu (1922), how vampire cinema has already flirted with social realism in films like Near Dark (1987) and how vampire mythology adapts itself to the modern world.
Paul Langford
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199246403
- eISBN:
- 9780191697586
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199246403.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
In the 17th century the English were often depicted as a nation of barbarians, fanatics, and king-killers. Two hundred years later they were more likely to be seen as the triumphant possessors of a ...
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In the 17th century the English were often depicted as a nation of barbarians, fanatics, and king-killers. Two hundred years later they were more likely to be seen as the triumphant possessors of a unique political stability, vigorous industrial revolution, and a world-wide empire. These may have been British achievements, but the virtues which brought about this transformation tended to be perceived as specifically English. Ideas of what constituted Englishness changed from a stock notion of waywardness and unpredictability to one of discipline and dedication. The evolution of the so-called national character — today once more the subject of scrutiny and debate — is traced through the impressions and analyses of foreign observers, and related to English ambitions and anxieties during a period of intense change.Less
In the 17th century the English were often depicted as a nation of barbarians, fanatics, and king-killers. Two hundred years later they were more likely to be seen as the triumphant possessors of a unique political stability, vigorous industrial revolution, and a world-wide empire. These may have been British achievements, but the virtues which brought about this transformation tended to be perceived as specifically English. Ideas of what constituted Englishness changed from a stock notion of waywardness and unpredictability to one of discipline and dedication. The evolution of the so-called national character — today once more the subject of scrutiny and debate — is traced through the impressions and analyses of foreign observers, and related to English ambitions and anxieties during a period of intense change.
Barry Forshaw
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906733650
- eISBN:
- 9781800342071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906733650.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter discusses the other serial killers in the cinema before Hannibal Lecter. In 1959, the writer Robert Bloch was inspired by the gruesome case of the Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, with ...
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This chapter discusses the other serial killers in the cinema before Hannibal Lecter. In 1959, the writer Robert Bloch was inspired by the gruesome case of the Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, with his keepsakes of bones and human skin. He transmuted elements of the Gein case into the phenomenally successful Psycho (published 1959), reconfiguring the real-life Gein as the chubby, unprepossessing mother's boy Norman Bates, who dispatches a variety of victims in gruesome fashion. Subsequently, Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the novel (1960) laid down the parameters for a variety of genres: the serial killer movie, the slasher film, and the modern big-budget horror film which utilises above-the-title stars rather than the journeyman actors who had populated such fare previously. But above all else, Hitchcock and his talented screenwriter Joseph Stefano created a template for the intelligent, richly developed, and charismatic fictional serial killer in their version of Norman Bates. Hitchcock's film was to influence a generation of film-makers and writers; among them Thomas Harris.Less
This chapter discusses the other serial killers in the cinema before Hannibal Lecter. In 1959, the writer Robert Bloch was inspired by the gruesome case of the Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, with his keepsakes of bones and human skin. He transmuted elements of the Gein case into the phenomenally successful Psycho (published 1959), reconfiguring the real-life Gein as the chubby, unprepossessing mother's boy Norman Bates, who dispatches a variety of victims in gruesome fashion. Subsequently, Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the novel (1960) laid down the parameters for a variety of genres: the serial killer movie, the slasher film, and the modern big-budget horror film which utilises above-the-title stars rather than the journeyman actors who had populated such fare previously. But above all else, Hitchcock and his talented screenwriter Joseph Stefano created a template for the intelligent, richly developed, and charismatic fictional serial killer in their version of Norman Bates. Hitchcock's film was to influence a generation of film-makers and writers; among them Thomas Harris.
Frank Lentricchia and Jody McAuliffe
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226472058
- eISBN:
- 9780226472089
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226472089.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Do killers, artists, and terrorists need one another? This book explores the disturbing adjacency of literary creativity to violence and even political terror. The book begins by anchoring the ...
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Do killers, artists, and terrorists need one another? This book explores the disturbing adjacency of literary creativity to violence and even political terror. The book begins by anchoring the discussions in the events of 9/11 and the scandal provoked by composer Karlheinz Stockhausen's reference to the destruction of the World Trade Center as a great work of art, and they go on to show how political extremism and avant-garde artistic movements have fed upon each other for at least two centuries. The book reveals how the desire beneath many romantic literary visions is that of a terrifying awakening that would undo the West's economic and cultural order. This is also the desire, of course, of what is called terrorism. As the authority of writers and artists recedes, it is criminals and terrorists, the book suggests, who inherit this romantic, destructive tradition. Moving freely between the realms of high and popular culture, and fictional and actual criminals, the book describes a web of impulses that catches an unnerving spirit. This unorthodox approach pairs Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment with Martin Scorsese's King of Comedy, and connects the real-life Unabomber to the surrealist Joseph Cornell and to the hero of Bret Easton Ellis's bestselling novel American Psycho. The book evokes a desperate culture of art through thematic dialogues among authors and filmmakers as varied as Don DeLillo, Joseph Conrad, Francis Ford Coppola, and Jean Genet, among others.Less
Do killers, artists, and terrorists need one another? This book explores the disturbing adjacency of literary creativity to violence and even political terror. The book begins by anchoring the discussions in the events of 9/11 and the scandal provoked by composer Karlheinz Stockhausen's reference to the destruction of the World Trade Center as a great work of art, and they go on to show how political extremism and avant-garde artistic movements have fed upon each other for at least two centuries. The book reveals how the desire beneath many romantic literary visions is that of a terrifying awakening that would undo the West's economic and cultural order. This is also the desire, of course, of what is called terrorism. As the authority of writers and artists recedes, it is criminals and terrorists, the book suggests, who inherit this romantic, destructive tradition. Moving freely between the realms of high and popular culture, and fictional and actual criminals, the book describes a web of impulses that catches an unnerving spirit. This unorthodox approach pairs Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment with Martin Scorsese's King of Comedy, and connects the real-life Unabomber to the surrealist Joseph Cornell and to the hero of Bret Easton Ellis's bestselling novel American Psycho. The book evokes a desperate culture of art through thematic dialogues among authors and filmmakers as varied as Don DeLillo, Joseph Conrad, Francis Ford Coppola, and Jean Genet, among others.
Charli Carpenter
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801448850
- eISBN:
- 9780801470363
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801448850.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Why do some issues and threats—diseases, weapons, human rights abuses, vulnerable populations—get more global policy attention than others? How do global activist networks decide the particular ...
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Why do some issues and threats—diseases, weapons, human rights abuses, vulnerable populations—get more global policy attention than others? How do global activist networks decide the particular causes for which they advocate among the many problems in need of solutions? According to this book, the answer lies in the politics of global issue networks themselves. Building on surveys, focus groups, and analyses of issue network websites, the book concludes that network access has a direct relation to influence over how issues are ranked. Advocacy elites in nongovernmental and transnational organizations judge candidate issues not just on their merit but on how the issues connect to specific organizations, individuals, and even other issues. The book describes three case studies of emerging campaigns to show these dynamics at work: banning infant male circumcision; compensating the wartime killing and maiming of civilians; and prohibiting the deployment of fully autonomous weapons (so-called killer robots). The fate of each of these campaigns was determined not just by the persistence and hard work of entrepreneurs but by advocacy elites' perception of the issues' network ties.Less
Why do some issues and threats—diseases, weapons, human rights abuses, vulnerable populations—get more global policy attention than others? How do global activist networks decide the particular causes for which they advocate among the many problems in need of solutions? According to this book, the answer lies in the politics of global issue networks themselves. Building on surveys, focus groups, and analyses of issue network websites, the book concludes that network access has a direct relation to influence over how issues are ranked. Advocacy elites in nongovernmental and transnational organizations judge candidate issues not just on their merit but on how the issues connect to specific organizations, individuals, and even other issues. The book describes three case studies of emerging campaigns to show these dynamics at work: banning infant male circumcision; compensating the wartime killing and maiming of civilians; and prohibiting the deployment of fully autonomous weapons (so-called killer robots). The fate of each of these campaigns was determined not just by the persistence and hard work of entrepreneurs but by advocacy elites' perception of the issues' network ties.
Miguel Sicart
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262012652
- eISBN:
- 9780262255134
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262012652.001.0001
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Game Studies
Despite the emergence of computer games as a dominant cultural industry (and the accompanying emergence of computer games as the subject of scholarly research), we know little or nothing about the ...
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Despite the emergence of computer games as a dominant cultural industry (and the accompanying emergence of computer games as the subject of scholarly research), we know little or nothing about the ethics of computer games. Considerations of the morality of computer games seldom go beyond intermittent portrayals of them in the mass media as training devices for teenage serial killers. This exploration of the subject addresses broader issues about the ethics of games, the ethics of playing the games, and the ethical responsibilities of game designers. It argues that computer games are ethical objects, that computer game players are ethical agents, and that the ethics of computer games should be seen as a complex network of responsibilities and moral duties. Players should not be considered passive amoral creatures; they reflect, relate, and create with ethical minds. The games they play are ethical systems, with rules that create gameworlds with values at play. Drawing on concepts from philosophy and game studies, the book proposes a framework for analyzing the ethics of computer games as both designed objects and player experiences. After presentin core theoretical arguments and offering a general theory for understanding computer game ethics, the book offers case studies examining single-player games (using Bioshock as an example), multiplayer games (illustrated by Defcon), and online gameworlds (illustrated by World of Warcraft) from an ethical perspective. It explores issues raised by unethical content in computer games and its possible effect on players.Less
Despite the emergence of computer games as a dominant cultural industry (and the accompanying emergence of computer games as the subject of scholarly research), we know little or nothing about the ethics of computer games. Considerations of the morality of computer games seldom go beyond intermittent portrayals of them in the mass media as training devices for teenage serial killers. This exploration of the subject addresses broader issues about the ethics of games, the ethics of playing the games, and the ethical responsibilities of game designers. It argues that computer games are ethical objects, that computer game players are ethical agents, and that the ethics of computer games should be seen as a complex network of responsibilities and moral duties. Players should not be considered passive amoral creatures; they reflect, relate, and create with ethical minds. The games they play are ethical systems, with rules that create gameworlds with values at play. Drawing on concepts from philosophy and game studies, the book proposes a framework for analyzing the ethics of computer games as both designed objects and player experiences. After presentin core theoretical arguments and offering a general theory for understanding computer game ethics, the book offers case studies examining single-player games (using Bioshock as an example), multiplayer games (illustrated by Defcon), and online gameworlds (illustrated by World of Warcraft) from an ethical perspective. It explores issues raised by unethical content in computer games and its possible effect on players.
