Neil Weinstock Netanel
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195137620
- eISBN:
- 9780199871629
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137620.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Copyright is at once an engine of free expression and impediment to free expression. Copyright law underwrites much literature, journalism, music, art, and film. Yet copyright often stands in the way ...
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Copyright is at once an engine of free expression and impediment to free expression. Copyright law underwrites much literature, journalism, music, art, and film. Yet copyright often stands in the way of speech that would build upon existing expression to convey new messages and artistic perspectives.In a seminal 1970 article, Melville Nimmer, the leading copyright and First Amendment scholar of his day, aptly termed the copyright‐free speech conflict a “largely ignored paradox.” Yet today that conflict has come virulently to the fore, and copyright is increasingly chastised as a tool of private censorship.Why has that happened? What values and practices does the copyright‐free speech conflict put at stake? How should the conflict be resolved?These are the principal questions this book seeks to answer. This book explores the copyright‐free speech conflict as it cuts across traditional and digital media alike. In so doing, it juxtaposes the dramatic expansion of copyright holders' proprietary control against individuals' newly found ability to digitally cut, paste, edit, remix, and distribute popular sound recordings, movies, TV programs, graphics, and texts the world over. It tests whether, in light of these developments and others, copyright still serves as a vital engine of free expression and assesses how copyright does—and does not—burden speech. Taking First Amendment values as its lodestar, the book argues that copyright should be delimited by how it can best promote robust debate and expressive diversity, and it presents a blueprint for how that can be accomplished.Less
Copyright is at once an engine of free expression and impediment to free expression. Copyright law underwrites much literature, journalism, music, art, and film. Yet copyright often stands in the way of speech that would build upon existing expression to convey new messages and artistic perspectives.
In a seminal 1970 article, Melville Nimmer, the leading copyright and First Amendment scholar of his day, aptly termed the copyright‐free speech conflict a “largely ignored paradox.” Yet today that conflict has come virulently to the fore, and copyright is increasingly chastised as a tool of private censorship.
Why has that happened? What values and practices does the copyright‐free speech conflict put at stake? How should the conflict be resolved?
These are the principal questions this book seeks to answer. This book explores the copyright‐free speech conflict as it cuts across traditional and digital media alike. In so doing, it juxtaposes the dramatic expansion of copyright holders' proprietary control against individuals' newly found ability to digitally cut, paste, edit, remix, and distribute popular sound recordings, movies, TV programs, graphics, and texts the world over. It tests whether, in light of these developments and others, copyright still serves as a vital engine of free expression and assesses how copyright does—and does not—burden speech. Taking First Amendment values as its lodestar, the book argues that copyright should be delimited by how it can best promote robust debate and expressive diversity, and it presents a blueprint for how that can be accomplished.
Adele Reinhartz
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195146967
- eISBN:
- 9780199785469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195146967.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The Jesus movies are to be viewed as “biopics”, that is, biographical films. As such, they follow the narrative template common to this genre and make a claim to authenticity or historical accuracy ...
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The Jesus movies are to be viewed as “biopics”, that is, biographical films. As such, they follow the narrative template common to this genre and make a claim to authenticity or historical accuracy at least to some degree. What they do best, however, is provide a vehicle through which filmmakers can address contemporary concerns. This chapter explains the biopic genre and provides a historical introduction to the major Jesus films that will be considered in the study.Less
The Jesus movies are to be viewed as “biopics”, that is, biographical films. As such, they follow the narrative template common to this genre and make a claim to authenticity or historical accuracy at least to some degree. What they do best, however, is provide a vehicle through which filmmakers can address contemporary concerns. This chapter explains the biopic genre and provides a historical introduction to the major Jesus films that will be considered in the study.
Theodore Louis Trost
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195167979
- eISBN:
- 9780199784981
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019516797X.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
The main purpose of religious studies as an academic discipline is to make “the strange familiar and the familiar strange”. This is what the course “Introduction to Religion in America: Religion ...
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The main purpose of religious studies as an academic discipline is to make “the strange familiar and the familiar strange”. This is what the course “Introduction to Religion in America: Religion Observed in Popular Film” attempts, with particular emphasis on making the familiar strange. The class has three foci: religion, movies, and America. In this chapter, after a review of the issues at stake in the “Introduction to Religious Studies” course and a description of the operative method, race as a crucial concern in the interpretation of three movies: Being There, The Color Purple, and Daughters of the Dust, is discussed.Less
The main purpose of religious studies as an academic discipline is to make “the strange familiar and the familiar strange”. This is what the course “Introduction to Religion in America: Religion Observed in Popular Film” attempts, with particular emphasis on making the familiar strange. The class has three foci: religion, movies, and America. In this chapter, after a review of the issues at stake in the “Introduction to Religious Studies” course and a description of the operative method, race as a crucial concern in the interpretation of three movies: Being There, The Color Purple, and Daughters of the Dust, is discussed.
Francesca Aran Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199219285
- eISBN:
- 9780191711664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199219285.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This introductory chapter categorizes narrative theology as a whole as movie-like. It traces the origins of narrative theologies to the transcendental Thomism of Bernard Lonergan. It divides ...
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This introductory chapter categorizes narrative theology as a whole as movie-like. It traces the origins of narrative theologies to the transcendental Thomism of Bernard Lonergan. It divides narrative theologians into three groups: story Barthianism (Lindbeck and Frei, grammatical Thomism (McCabe, Burrell and Turner), and story Thomism (Robert Jenson). It notes that a particular legacy of both Thomism and Barthianism to narrative theologies is a recoil from historicity or temporality.Less
This introductory chapter categorizes narrative theology as a whole as movie-like. It traces the origins of narrative theologies to the transcendental Thomism of Bernard Lonergan. It divides narrative theologians into three groups: story Barthianism (Lindbeck and Frei, grammatical Thomism (McCabe, Burrell and Turner), and story Thomism (Robert Jenson). It notes that a particular legacy of both Thomism and Barthianism to narrative theologies is a recoil from historicity or temporality.
Adele Reinhartz
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195146967
- eISBN:
- 9780199785469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195146967.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter looks closely at the various techniques by which the Jesus movies stake their claim to historicity. These techniques include introductory scrolled texts, voice-over narration, and, more ...
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This chapter looks closely at the various techniques by which the Jesus movies stake their claim to historicity. These techniques include introductory scrolled texts, voice-over narration, and, more subtly, details of setting, costuming, music, and the physical appearance of the characters. The chapter then outlines the ways in which the Jesus biopics undermine their own stated claims to historicity and studies in detail two movies that self-consciously negate the claim to historicity, The Last Temptation of Christ and Jesus of Montreal.Less
This chapter looks closely at the various techniques by which the Jesus movies stake their claim to historicity. These techniques include introductory scrolled texts, voice-over narration, and, more subtly, details of setting, costuming, music, and the physical appearance of the characters. The chapter then outlines the ways in which the Jesus biopics undermine their own stated claims to historicity and studies in detail two movies that self-consciously negate the claim to historicity, The Last Temptation of Christ and Jesus of Montreal.
Adele Reinhartz
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195146967
- eISBN:
- 9780199785469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195146967.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter describes the progression from “Jesus of Nazareth” to “Jesus of Hollywood”, and summarizes the main conclusions of the previous chapters. If the historical Jesus of Nazareth was the ...
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This chapter describes the progression from “Jesus of Nazareth” to “Jesus of Hollywood”, and summarizes the main conclusions of the previous chapters. If the historical Jesus of Nazareth was the unique and only Son of God as the Gospels proclaim, then Jesus of Hollywood is his opposite — multiple, diverse, and born of many parents. These include not only the directors of the Jesus biopics over the course of a century, but the numerous others professionals, including screenwriters, producers, camera operators, and costume and set designers, whose creative and technical work is essential for the production of any film. As the products of multiple authors, the biopic Jesuses have more in common with the main character of the Gospel narratives, who varies somewhat from text to text. Yet while some of the movie Saviors' actions and words resemble those attributed to Jesus in the Gospels, it is unlikely that the Evangelists would recognize their own particular Jesus in any of the films that have been discussed.Less
This chapter describes the progression from “Jesus of Nazareth” to “Jesus of Hollywood”, and summarizes the main conclusions of the previous chapters. If the historical Jesus of Nazareth was the unique and only Son of God as the Gospels proclaim, then Jesus of Hollywood is his opposite — multiple, diverse, and born of many parents. These include not only the directors of the Jesus biopics over the course of a century, but the numerous others professionals, including screenwriters, producers, camera operators, and costume and set designers, whose creative and technical work is essential for the production of any film. As the products of multiple authors, the biopic Jesuses have more in common with the main character of the Gospel narratives, who varies somewhat from text to text. Yet while some of the movie Saviors' actions and words resemble those attributed to Jesus in the Gospels, it is unlikely that the Evangelists would recognize their own particular Jesus in any of the films that have been discussed.
Harlow Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178332
- eISBN:
- 9780813178349
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178332.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book tells the remarkable personal and professional story of Lewis Milestone (1895-1980), one of the most prolific, creative and respected film directors of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Among his ...
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This book tells the remarkable personal and professional story of Lewis Milestone (1895-1980), one of the most prolific, creative and respected film directors of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Among his many films are the classics All Quiet on the Western Front, Of Mice and Men, A Walk in the Sun, Pork Chop Hill, the original Ocean’s Eleven and Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando. Born in Ukraine, he came to America as a teenager and learned about film in the U.S. Army in World War I. By the early 1920s he was editing silent films in Hollywood, and soon graduated to shooting his own features. His films were nominated for 28 different Academy Awards during a career that lasted 40 years. Among the many stars whom he directed were Barbara Stanwyck, Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra, Joan Crawford and Kirk Douglas. Providing biographical information, production history and critical analysis, this first major scholarly study of Milestone places his films in a political, cultural and cinematic context. Also discussed in depth, using newly available archival material, is Milestone’s experience during the Hollywood Blacklist period, when he was one of the first prominent Hollywood figures to fall under suspicion for his alleged Communist sympathies. Drawing on his personal papers at the AMPAS library, my book gives Milestone the honored place herichly deserves in the American film canon.Less
This book tells the remarkable personal and professional story of Lewis Milestone (1895-1980), one of the most prolific, creative and respected film directors of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Among his many films are the classics All Quiet on the Western Front, Of Mice and Men, A Walk in the Sun, Pork Chop Hill, the original Ocean’s Eleven and Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando. Born in Ukraine, he came to America as a teenager and learned about film in the U.S. Army in World War I. By the early 1920s he was editing silent films in Hollywood, and soon graduated to shooting his own features. His films were nominated for 28 different Academy Awards during a career that lasted 40 years. Among the many stars whom he directed were Barbara Stanwyck, Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra, Joan Crawford and Kirk Douglas. Providing biographical information, production history and critical analysis, this first major scholarly study of Milestone places his films in a political, cultural and cinematic context. Also discussed in depth, using newly available archival material, is Milestone’s experience during the Hollywood Blacklist period, when he was one of the first prominent Hollywood figures to fall under suspicion for his alleged Communist sympathies. Drawing on his personal papers at the AMPAS library, my book gives Milestone the honored place herichly deserves in the American film canon.
Jeremy Lott
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195374360
- eISBN:
- 9780199871902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195374360.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter reviews critical coverage of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and finds little attempt to understand or portray the movie on its own terms—that it was not any effort at a literal ...
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This chapter reviews critical coverage of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and finds little attempt to understand or portray the movie on its own terms—that it was not any effort at a literal portrayal of the gospels but was structured around a very specifically Catholic piety centered on the Stations of the Cross and the Eucharistic sensibility of Christ’s body and blood. Because they did not grasp these liturgical dimensions, the media instead focused on controversies about the movie’s purported anti-Semitism, its bloodiness, and supposed literalism. This led to many wrong predictions, including that the movie would bomb at the box office, that Gibson would lose his fortune, and that it would ignite a wave of anti-Semitism, and missing a major story—that millions of evangelicals warmly embraced a picture of very Roman Catholic sensibility.Less
This chapter reviews critical coverage of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and finds little attempt to understand or portray the movie on its own terms—that it was not any effort at a literal portrayal of the gospels but was structured around a very specifically Catholic piety centered on the Stations of the Cross and the Eucharistic sensibility of Christ’s body and blood. Because they did not grasp these liturgical dimensions, the media instead focused on controversies about the movie’s purported anti-Semitism, its bloodiness, and supposed literalism. This led to many wrong predictions, including that the movie would bomb at the box office, that Gibson would lose his fortune, and that it would ignite a wave of anti-Semitism, and missing a major story—that millions of evangelicals warmly embraced a picture of very Roman Catholic sensibility.
Michael Bliss (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178141
- eISBN:
- 9780813178134
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178141.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Widely acknowledged as a highly innovative film, Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch was released in 1969. From the outset, the movie was considered controversial because of its powerful, graphic, and ...
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Widely acknowledged as a highly innovative film, Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch was released in 1969. From the outset, the movie was considered controversial because of its powerful, graphic, and direct depiction of violence, but it was also praised for its lush photography, intricate camera work, and cutting-edge editing. Peckinpah’s tale of an ill-fated, aging outlaw gang bound by a code of honor is often regarded as one of the most complex and influential Westerns in American cinematic history. The issues dealt with in this groundbreaking film—violence, morality, friendship, and the legacy of American ambition and compromise—are just as relevant today as when the film first debuted.
To honor the significance of The Wild Bunch, this collection brings together leading Peckinpah scholars and critics to examine what many consider to be the director’s greatest work. The book’s nine essays explore the function of violence in the film and how its depiction is radically different from what is seen in other movies; the background of the film’s production; the European response to the film’s view of human nature; and the role of Texas/Mexico milieu in the narrative.Less
Widely acknowledged as a highly innovative film, Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch was released in 1969. From the outset, the movie was considered controversial because of its powerful, graphic, and direct depiction of violence, but it was also praised for its lush photography, intricate camera work, and cutting-edge editing. Peckinpah’s tale of an ill-fated, aging outlaw gang bound by a code of honor is often regarded as one of the most complex and influential Westerns in American cinematic history. The issues dealt with in this groundbreaking film—violence, morality, friendship, and the legacy of American ambition and compromise—are just as relevant today as when the film first debuted.
To honor the significance of The Wild Bunch, this collection brings together leading Peckinpah scholars and critics to examine what many consider to be the director’s greatest work. The book’s nine essays explore the function of violence in the film and how its depiction is radically different from what is seen in other movies; the background of the film’s production; the European response to the film’s view of human nature; and the role of Texas/Mexico milieu in the narrative.
Bryant Simon
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195167535
- eISBN:
- 9780199789016
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167535.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
Atlantic City's final years as the Queen of Resorts coincided with what a number of scholars have dubbed “the golden age of American cinema”. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people went to the ...
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Atlantic City's final years as the Queen of Resorts coincided with what a number of scholars have dubbed “the golden age of American cinema”. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people went to the movies in Atlantic City. The city had almost one theater seat for every year-round adult resident. With all these movies houses, the resorts offered a range of entertainment choices from neighborhood theaters to bigger, dressier ones. Continuing an Atlantic City tradition, the picture show offered white moviegoers a “luxury experience” at a middle-class price.Less
Atlantic City's final years as the Queen of Resorts coincided with what a number of scholars have dubbed “the golden age of American cinema”. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people went to the movies in Atlantic City. The city had almost one theater seat for every year-round adult resident. With all these movies houses, the resorts offered a range of entertainment choices from neighborhood theaters to bigger, dressier ones. Continuing an Atlantic City tradition, the picture show offered white moviegoers a “luxury experience” at a middle-class price.
Richard J. Meyer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622095861
- eISBN:
- 9789882207080
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622095861.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book tells the story of the “Emperor of Film”, who dominated the golden age of Chinese silent movies. Jin Yan achieved his greatest stardom in the 1930s, when women literally threw themselves at ...
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This book tells the story of the “Emperor of Film”, who dominated the golden age of Chinese silent movies. Jin Yan achieved his greatest stardom in the 1930s, when women literally threw themselves at his feet. Married first to the Chinese actress Wang Renmei, his movie roles with “the Goddess” Ruan Ling-yu spurred public demand for more of them together in films made by the leading studio, Lianhua. It was Jin who made Ruan aware of film's awesome power to portray social problems while evading the censors with melodramatic soap opera formats. Jin's life spanned the most turbulent period in modern Chinese history — a childhood escape from Japanese-occupied Korea, through the long civil war, the bitter Cultural Revolution, and Deng Xiaoping's reformation. Jin's embodiment of the modernizing May Fourth ideals of the 1920s and 30s added a new layer of sexuality to the liberal movement, but the Communists later cast Jin aside in their campaign to “learn from Lei Feng”, a humble young soldier. As Jin's second wife Qin Yi rose to new heights in the politically charged film world, the sick and aging star languished in obscurity. This book reproduces dozens of stills from the personal collection of Qin Yi and the China Film Archive, and contextualizes Jin's tragic transformation with details on many fellow performers.Less
This book tells the story of the “Emperor of Film”, who dominated the golden age of Chinese silent movies. Jin Yan achieved his greatest stardom in the 1930s, when women literally threw themselves at his feet. Married first to the Chinese actress Wang Renmei, his movie roles with “the Goddess” Ruan Ling-yu spurred public demand for more of them together in films made by the leading studio, Lianhua. It was Jin who made Ruan aware of film's awesome power to portray social problems while evading the censors with melodramatic soap opera formats. Jin's life spanned the most turbulent period in modern Chinese history — a childhood escape from Japanese-occupied Korea, through the long civil war, the bitter Cultural Revolution, and Deng Xiaoping's reformation. Jin's embodiment of the modernizing May Fourth ideals of the 1920s and 30s added a new layer of sexuality to the liberal movement, but the Communists later cast Jin aside in their campaign to “learn from Lei Feng”, a humble young soldier. As Jin's second wife Qin Yi rose to new heights in the politically charged film world, the sick and aging star languished in obscurity. This book reproduces dozens of stills from the personal collection of Qin Yi and the China Film Archive, and contextualizes Jin's tragic transformation with details on many fellow performers.
Gina Marchetti
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622098015
- eISBN:
- 9789882206601
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622098015.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Infernal Affairs has received journalistic, popular and corporate notice but little vigorous critical attention. This book explores the way this example of Hong Kong's cinematic eclecticism has ...
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Infernal Affairs has received journalistic, popular and corporate notice but little vigorous critical attention. This book explores the way this example of Hong Kong's cinematic eclecticism has crossed borders as a story, a commercial product and a work of art; and has had an undeniable impact on current Hong Kong cinema. Moreover the author uses this film to highlight the way Hong Kong cinema continues to be inextricably intertwined with global film culture and the transnational movie market.Less
Infernal Affairs has received journalistic, popular and corporate notice but little vigorous critical attention. This book explores the way this example of Hong Kong's cinematic eclecticism has crossed borders as a story, a commercial product and a work of art; and has had an undeniable impact on current Hong Kong cinema. Moreover the author uses this film to highlight the way Hong Kong cinema continues to be inextricably intertwined with global film culture and the transnational movie market.
Raymond J. Haberski
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813124292
- eISBN:
- 9780813134918
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813124292.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
In the postwar era, the lure of controversy sold movie tickets as much as the promise of entertainment did. This book investigates the movie culture that emerged as official censorship declined and ...
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In the postwar era, the lure of controversy sold movie tickets as much as the promise of entertainment did. This book investigates the movie culture that emerged as official censorship declined and details how the struggle to free the screen has influenced our contemporary understanding of art and taste. These conflicts over film content were fought largely in the theaters and courts of New York City in the decades following World War II. Many of the regulators and religious leaders who sought to ensure that no questionable content invaded the public consciousness were headquartered in New York, as were the critics, exhibitors, and activists who sought to expand the options available to moviegoers. Despite Hollywood's dominance of film production, New York proved to be not only the arena for struggles over film content but also the market where the financial fates of movies were sealed. Advocates for a wider range of cinematic expression eventually prevailed against the forces of censorship, but Freedom to Offend is no simple homily on the triumph of freedom from repression. In this analysis of controversies surrounding films from The Bicycle Thief to Deep Throat, the book offers a cautionary tale about the responsible use of the twin privileges of free choice and free expression. It calls attention to what was lost as well as what was gained when movie culture freed itself from the restrictions of the early postwar years. It exposes the unquestioning defense of the doctrine of free expression as a form of absolutism that mirrors the censorial impulse found among the postwar era's restrictive moral guardians. Beginning in New York and spreading across America throughout the twentieth century, the battles between these opposing worldviews set the stage for debates on the social effects of the work of artists and filmmakers.Less
In the postwar era, the lure of controversy sold movie tickets as much as the promise of entertainment did. This book investigates the movie culture that emerged as official censorship declined and details how the struggle to free the screen has influenced our contemporary understanding of art and taste. These conflicts over film content were fought largely in the theaters and courts of New York City in the decades following World War II. Many of the regulators and religious leaders who sought to ensure that no questionable content invaded the public consciousness were headquartered in New York, as were the critics, exhibitors, and activists who sought to expand the options available to moviegoers. Despite Hollywood's dominance of film production, New York proved to be not only the arena for struggles over film content but also the market where the financial fates of movies were sealed. Advocates for a wider range of cinematic expression eventually prevailed against the forces of censorship, but Freedom to Offend is no simple homily on the triumph of freedom from repression. In this analysis of controversies surrounding films from The Bicycle Thief to Deep Throat, the book offers a cautionary tale about the responsible use of the twin privileges of free choice and free expression. It calls attention to what was lost as well as what was gained when movie culture freed itself from the restrictions of the early postwar years. It exposes the unquestioning defense of the doctrine of free expression as a form of absolutism that mirrors the censorial impulse found among the postwar era's restrictive moral guardians. Beginning in New York and spreading across America throughout the twentieth century, the battles between these opposing worldviews set the stage for debates on the social effects of the work of artists and filmmakers.
Steve Reich
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195151152
- eISBN:
- 9780199850044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195151152.003.0048
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter describes The Cave as a new type of music theater, with aspects of both opera and movies. Throughout the work, five large video projection screens (each approximately 6 ft. X 8 ft.) ...
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This chapter describes The Cave as a new type of music theater, with aspects of both opera and movies. Throughout the work, five large video projection screens (each approximately 6 ft. X 8 ft.) present interviews, landscapes, and architectural footage in sequences timed with live music. In addition, in the first and last acts, texts from biblical sources are rhythmically typed out, and sung.Less
This chapter describes The Cave as a new type of music theater, with aspects of both opera and movies. Throughout the work, five large video projection screens (each approximately 6 ft. X 8 ft.) present interviews, landscapes, and architectural footage in sequences timed with live music. In addition, in the first and last acts, texts from biblical sources are rhythmically typed out, and sung.
Joshua Grimm
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325581
- eISBN:
- 9781800342354
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325581.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Amid a recent resurgence in horror films, David Robert Mitchell's It Follows stands out as a particularly bold entry, a horror fan's dream come true that sparked a renewed creativity. Pulling a ...
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Amid a recent resurgence in horror films, David Robert Mitchell's It Follows stands out as a particularly bold entry, a horror fan's dream come true that sparked a renewed creativity. Pulling a robust 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, It Follows was hailed as a “teen movie you've never seen before”, a “creepy, mesmerizing exercise in minimalist horror”, “the best horror film in years”, and simply, “so damn good.” Mitchell uses a variety of approaches to reinvent genre bromides while simultaneously embracing and challenging tropes that audiences and filmmakers rely on a little too heavily. It Follows is one of the best because it is one of the most unique. This book focuses on how this film helped reinvent the rules of a horror movie, particularly along the lines of genre, style, sex, and gender.Less
Amid a recent resurgence in horror films, David Robert Mitchell's It Follows stands out as a particularly bold entry, a horror fan's dream come true that sparked a renewed creativity. Pulling a robust 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, It Follows was hailed as a “teen movie you've never seen before”, a “creepy, mesmerizing exercise in minimalist horror”, “the best horror film in years”, and simply, “so damn good.” Mitchell uses a variety of approaches to reinvent genre bromides while simultaneously embracing and challenging tropes that audiences and filmmakers rely on a little too heavily. It Follows is one of the best because it is one of the most unique. This book focuses on how this film helped reinvent the rules of a horror movie, particularly along the lines of genre, style, sex, and gender.
Jeffrey Spivak
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813126432
- eISBN:
- 9780813135663
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813126432.003.0020
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Buzz was interred at Wiefels and Son Funeral Directors in Palm Springs. Etta Dunn Berkeley was named as executor and sole beneficiary of her husband's estate, which was valued at $100,000 even. Eight ...
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Buzz was interred at Wiefels and Son Funeral Directors in Palm Springs. Etta Dunn Berkeley was named as executor and sole beneficiary of her husband's estate, which was valued at $100,000 even. Eight years after Buzz's death, he was paid tribute to during the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic Games at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. Etta lived on for more than two decades after Buzz's passing, well into her nineties. Sadly, financial hardship may have been the instigating factor in her decision to auction off most of Buzz's personal property. Years after his passing, Hollywood and cable channels such as Turner Classic Movies remembered Buzz whenever a tribute to the heyday of 1930s musicals was held. In Hollywood, nothing could be more appropriate than the inclusion of “Busby Berkeley” to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's Walk of Fame.Less
Buzz was interred at Wiefels and Son Funeral Directors in Palm Springs. Etta Dunn Berkeley was named as executor and sole beneficiary of her husband's estate, which was valued at $100,000 even. Eight years after Buzz's death, he was paid tribute to during the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic Games at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. Etta lived on for more than two decades after Buzz's passing, well into her nineties. Sadly, financial hardship may have been the instigating factor in her decision to auction off most of Buzz's personal property. Years after his passing, Hollywood and cable channels such as Turner Classic Movies remembered Buzz whenever a tribute to the heyday of 1930s musicals was held. In Hollywood, nothing could be more appropriate than the inclusion of “Busby Berkeley” to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's Walk of Fame.
Robert Wyatt and John Andrew Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195327113
- eISBN:
- 9780199851249
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327113.003.0063
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This chapter presents an excerpt from Alec Wilder's 1972 book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators focusing on his review of the movie musical A Damsel in Distress. Wilder suggests that the ...
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This chapter presents an excerpt from Alec Wilder's 1972 book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators focusing on his review of the movie musical A Damsel in Distress. Wilder suggests that the most popular tune in this musical was A Foggy Dance composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by his brother Ira. He notes Gershwin's use of repeated notes in this song and argues that it was one of the best-known lyrics by Ira.Less
This chapter presents an excerpt from Alec Wilder's 1972 book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators focusing on his review of the movie musical A Damsel in Distress. Wilder suggests that the most popular tune in this musical was A Foggy Dance composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by his brother Ira. He notes Gershwin's use of repeated notes in this song and argues that it was one of the best-known lyrics by Ira.
Vaclav Smil
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195168747
- eISBN:
- 9780199835522
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168747.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
A rapid succession of technical advances laid the foundations for massive dissemination of information and created new forms of communication. The former innovations included automated typesetting ...
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A rapid succession of technical advances laid the foundations for massive dissemination of information and created new forms of communication. The former innovations included automated typesetting (linotypes) and typewriting, chemical processes for papermaking based on wood pulp, affordable photographic cameras, convenient films, movies, and sound recordings. New means of communication included telephones and the epochal discovery of Hertzian waves that were soon used for the first wireless broadcasts and later developed into the still expanding universe of electronic devices.Less
A rapid succession of technical advances laid the foundations for massive dissemination of information and created new forms of communication. The former innovations included automated typesetting (linotypes) and typewriting, chemical processes for papermaking based on wood pulp, affordable photographic cameras, convenient films, movies, and sound recordings. New means of communication included telephones and the epochal discovery of Hertzian waves that were soon used for the first wireless broadcasts and later developed into the still expanding universe of electronic devices.
Marilyn Ann Moss
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813133935
- eISBN:
- 9780813135595
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813133935.003.0017
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Raoul Walsh was known as Hollywood's adventurous, often impishly irreverent “one-eyed bandit.” He carved out a career that spanned over half a century and upward of 200 movies—and helped transform ...
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Raoul Walsh was known as Hollywood's adventurous, often impishly irreverent “one-eyed bandit.” He carved out a career that spanned over half a century and upward of 200 movies—and helped transform the Hollywood studio yarn into a breathless art form. Walsh also walked in the land of his imagination, his great adventures. But, in his American scene, so iconic in its depiction, understanding, and inventions of American types, no such community, large or small, exists. Walsh's imaginary world is large and contains multitudes. He also never won an Academy Award and, some say, never received the recognition he should have gotten in his lifetime. Walsh was considered an action director who could dive into the heart of his sad, doomed characters trying to outrun the cruel social world for a world of adventure and escape.Less
Raoul Walsh was known as Hollywood's adventurous, often impishly irreverent “one-eyed bandit.” He carved out a career that spanned over half a century and upward of 200 movies—and helped transform the Hollywood studio yarn into a breathless art form. Walsh also walked in the land of his imagination, his great adventures. But, in his American scene, so iconic in its depiction, understanding, and inventions of American types, no such community, large or small, exists. Walsh's imaginary world is large and contains multitudes. He also never won an Academy Award and, some say, never received the recognition he should have gotten in his lifetime. Walsh was considered an action director who could dive into the heart of his sad, doomed characters trying to outrun the cruel social world for a world of adventure and escape.
Lindsay Hallam
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325642
- eISBN:
- 9781800342385
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325642.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
When David Lynch's film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a prequel to the television series Twin Peaks, premiered at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, it was met with met with outright hostility. ...
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When David Lynch's film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a prequel to the television series Twin Peaks, premiered at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, it was met with met with outright hostility. Subsequent reviews from critics were almost unanimously negative, and many fans of the show felt betrayed, as their beloved town was suddenly revealed as a personal hell. Yet in the years since the film's release, there has begun to be a gradual wave of reappraisal and appreciation, one that accelerated with the broadcast of Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017. What has been central to this reevaluation is the realization that what Lynch had created was not a parody of soap opera and detective television but a horror movie. This book argues that the horror genre aids Lynch's purpose in presenting the protagonist Laura Palmer's subjective experience leading to her death as the incorporation of horror tropes actually leads to a more accurate representation of a victim's suffering and confusion. The book goes on to explore how the film was an attempt by Lynch to take back ownership of the material and to examine the initial reaction and subsequent reevaluation of the film, as well as the paratexts that link to it and the influence that Fire Walk with Me now has on contemporary film and across popular culture.Less
When David Lynch's film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a prequel to the television series Twin Peaks, premiered at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, it was met with met with outright hostility. Subsequent reviews from critics were almost unanimously negative, and many fans of the show felt betrayed, as their beloved town was suddenly revealed as a personal hell. Yet in the years since the film's release, there has begun to be a gradual wave of reappraisal and appreciation, one that accelerated with the broadcast of Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017. What has been central to this reevaluation is the realization that what Lynch had created was not a parody of soap opera and detective television but a horror movie. This book argues that the horror genre aids Lynch's purpose in presenting the protagonist Laura Palmer's subjective experience leading to her death as the incorporation of horror tropes actually leads to a more accurate representation of a victim's suffering and confusion. The book goes on to explore how the film was an attempt by Lynch to take back ownership of the material and to examine the initial reaction and subsequent reevaluation of the film, as well as the paratexts that link to it and the influence that Fire Walk with Me now has on contemporary film and across popular culture.
