The White Savior Film by Matthew Hughey

The White Savior Film by Matthew Hughey

The cinematic trope of the white savior film-think of Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves, or Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai--features messianic characters in unfamiliar or hostile settings discovering something about themselves and their culture in the process of saving members of other races from terrible fates.   In The White Savior Film, Matthew Hughey provides a cogent, multipronged analysis of this subgenre of films to investigate the underpinnings of the Hollywood-constructed images of idealized (and often idealistic) white Americans.   Hughey considers the production, distribution, and consumption of white savior films to show how the dominant messages of sacrifice, suffering, and redemption are perceived by both critics and audiences. Examining the content of fifty films, nearly 3,000 reviews, and interviews with viewer focus groups, he accounts for the popularity of this subgenre and its portrayal of "racial progress."   The White Savior Film shows how we as a society create and understand these films and how they reflect the political and cultural contexts of their time.

"Since the 1980s, Hollywood has released a spate of so-called 'white savior' films, in which heroic white protagonists liberate persons of color from dangerous and decayed environments.. Hughey provides a systematic study of the messages these films convey, as well as how film reviewers and audiences receive them... The author's analysis is sound, and he ultimately offers a convincing critique of how these movies seek to maintain the racial status quo. VERDICT: Scholars of film, sociology, and cultural studies will find this book particularly illuminating." - Library Journal

Matthew Hughey is Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut. He is the co-editor of The Obamas and a (Post) Racial America? (2011), Black Greek-Letter Organizations, 2.0: New Directions in the Study of African American Fraternities and Sororities (2011), and 12 Angry Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America Today (2010), and a frequent voice in national media, including NPR, ABC News, The Huffington Post, Inside Higher Education, and The New York Times

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9781439910016
ISBN 10	1439910014
Titel	The White Savior Film
Autor	Matthew Hughey
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Paperback
Verlag	Temple University Press,U.S.
Erscheinungsjahr	2014-04-14
Seitenanzahl	230
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar