Jeff Menne
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038822
- eISBN:
- 9780252096785
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038822.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Acclaimed as one of the most influential and innovative American directors, Francis Ford Coppola is also lionized as a maverick auteur at war with Hollywood's power structure and an ardent critic of ...
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Acclaimed as one of the most influential and innovative American directors, Francis Ford Coppola is also lionized as a maverick auteur at war with Hollywood's power structure and an ardent critic of the postindustrial corporate America it reflects. However, this book argues that Coppola exemplifies the new breed of creative corporate person and sees the director's oeuvre as vital for reimagining the corporation in the transformation of Hollywood. Reading auteur theory as the new American business theory, the book reveals how Coppola's vision of a new kind of company has transformed the worker into a liberated and well-utilized artist, but has also commodified individual creativity at a level unprecedented in corporate history. Coppola negotiated the contradictory roles of shrewd businessman and creative artist by recognizing the two roles are fused in a postindustrial economy. Analyzing films like The Godfather (1972) and the overlooked Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) through Coppola's use of opera, the book illustrates how Coppola developed a defining musical aesthetic while making films that reflected the idea of a corporation as family—and how his studio, American Zoetrope, came to represent a new brand of auteurism and the model for post-Fordist Hollywood.Less
Acclaimed as one of the most influential and innovative American directors, Francis Ford Coppola is also lionized as a maverick auteur at war with Hollywood's power structure and an ardent critic of the postindustrial corporate America it reflects. However, this book argues that Coppola exemplifies the new breed of creative corporate person and sees the director's oeuvre as vital for reimagining the corporation in the transformation of Hollywood. Reading auteur theory as the new American business theory, the book reveals how Coppola's vision of a new kind of company has transformed the worker into a liberated and well-utilized artist, but has also commodified individual creativity at a level unprecedented in corporate history. Coppola negotiated the contradictory roles of shrewd businessman and creative artist by recognizing the two roles are fused in a postindustrial economy. Analyzing films like The Godfather (1972) and the overlooked Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) through Coppola's use of opera, the book illustrates how Coppola developed a defining musical aesthetic while making films that reflected the idea of a corporation as family—and how his studio, American Zoetrope, came to represent a new brand of auteurism and the model for post-Fordist Hollywood.
Judith Yaross Lee
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617036439
- eISBN:
- 9781621030577
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617036439.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
Samuel L. Clemens lost the 1882 lawsuit declaring his exclusive right to use “Mark Twain” as a commercial trademark, but he succeeded in the marketplace, where synergy among his comic journalism, ...
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Samuel L. Clemens lost the 1882 lawsuit declaring his exclusive right to use “Mark Twain” as a commercial trademark, but he succeeded in the marketplace, where synergy among his comic journalism, live performances, authorship, and entrepreneurship made “Mark Twain” the premier national and international brand of American humor in his day. So it remains in ours, because Mark Twain’s humor not only expressed views of self and society well ahead of its time, but also anticipated ways in which humor and culture coalesce in today’s postindustrial information economy—the global trade in media, performances, and other forms of intellectual property that began after the Civil War. This book traces four hallmarks of Twain’s humor that are especially significant today. Mark Twain’s invention of a stage persona comically conflated with his biographical self lives on in contemporary performances by Garrison Keillor, Margaret Cho, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jon Stewart. The postcolonial critique of Britain that underlies America’s nationalist tall tale tradition not only self-destructs in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court but also drives the critique of American Exceptionalism in Philip Roth’s literary satires. The semi-literate writing that gives Adventures of Huckleberry Finn its “vernacular vision”—wrapping cultural critique in ostensibly innocent transgressions and misunderstandings—has a counterpart in the apparently untutored drawing style and social critique seen in The Simpsons, Lynda Barry’s comics, and The Boondocks.Less
Samuel L. Clemens lost the 1882 lawsuit declaring his exclusive right to use “Mark Twain” as a commercial trademark, but he succeeded in the marketplace, where synergy among his comic journalism, live performances, authorship, and entrepreneurship made “Mark Twain” the premier national and international brand of American humor in his day. So it remains in ours, because Mark Twain’s humor not only expressed views of self and society well ahead of its time, but also anticipated ways in which humor and culture coalesce in today’s postindustrial information economy—the global trade in media, performances, and other forms of intellectual property that began after the Civil War. This book traces four hallmarks of Twain’s humor that are especially significant today. Mark Twain’s invention of a stage persona comically conflated with his biographical self lives on in contemporary performances by Garrison Keillor, Margaret Cho, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jon Stewart. The postcolonial critique of Britain that underlies America’s nationalist tall tale tradition not only self-destructs in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court but also drives the critique of American Exceptionalism in Philip Roth’s literary satires. The semi-literate writing that gives Adventures of Huckleberry Finn its “vernacular vision”—wrapping cultural critique in ostensibly innocent transgressions and misunderstandings—has a counterpart in the apparently untutored drawing style and social critique seen in The Simpsons, Lynda Barry’s comics, and The Boondocks.
Shannon Gleeson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451218
- eISBN:
- 9780801465772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451218.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
This introductory chapter presents statistical and analytical data on immigrant labor conditions in the United States. It explains that immigrant—particularly undocumented—workers labor in nearly ...
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This introductory chapter presents statistical and analytical data on immigrant labor conditions in the United States. It explains that immigrant—particularly undocumented—workers labor in nearly every low-wage industry across the country. However, in today's de-unionized, postindustrial economy, they continue to experience such breaches of their rights as unpaid wages, dangerous workplaces, and outright discrimination. Yet ironically, unlike the laborers of a hundred years ago, immigrant workers today have access to a range of formal protections. Their implementation is, however, not a given, particularly for vulnerable populations like undocumented workers. As union membership has declined, workplace rights have become even more important. Nonetheless, ensuring that worker rights exist is only half the battle: getting workers to make claims on those rights, and getting responsible agencies to follow up on those claims, is the other half.Less
This introductory chapter presents statistical and analytical data on immigrant labor conditions in the United States. It explains that immigrant—particularly undocumented—workers labor in nearly every low-wage industry across the country. However, in today's de-unionized, postindustrial economy, they continue to experience such breaches of their rights as unpaid wages, dangerous workplaces, and outright discrimination. Yet ironically, unlike the laborers of a hundred years ago, immigrant workers today have access to a range of formal protections. Their implementation is, however, not a given, particularly for vulnerable populations like undocumented workers. As union membership has declined, workplace rights have become even more important. Nonetheless, ensuring that worker rights exist is only half the battle: getting workers to make claims on those rights, and getting responsible agencies to follow up on those claims, is the other half.
Michael Oluf Emerson and Kevin T. Smiley
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479856794
- eISBN:
- 9781479882922
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479856794.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter details the history of Copenhagen and Houston. In Copenhagen, we showcase the medieval roots of the city and how it was compacted into a relatively small area until the mid-nineteenth ...
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This chapter details the history of Copenhagen and Houston. In Copenhagen, we showcase the medieval roots of the city and how it was compacted into a relatively small area until the mid-nineteenth century. Since that time, many economic, governmental, and population changes have occurred. In Houston, we study how the younger city took off with the rise of the oil and gas industries, particularly after World War II. We discuss rising ethnic diversity in the context of the city’s tradition of guidance by economic and civic elites. We conclude by focusing on two points of crisis in the cities – in the mid-nineteenth century and in the 1980s and early 1990s – and how those shaped how they came to be Market Cities and People Cities.Less
This chapter details the history of Copenhagen and Houston. In Copenhagen, we showcase the medieval roots of the city and how it was compacted into a relatively small area until the mid-nineteenth century. Since that time, many economic, governmental, and population changes have occurred. In Houston, we study how the younger city took off with the rise of the oil and gas industries, particularly after World War II. We discuss rising ethnic diversity in the context of the city’s tradition of guidance by economic and civic elites. We conclude by focusing on two points of crisis in the cities – in the mid-nineteenth century and in the 1980s and early 1990s – and how those shaped how they came to be Market Cities and People Cities.
