Bad history and the logics of blockbuster cinema : titanic, gangs of new york, australia, ... inglourious basterds

McGee studies historical representation in commodified, popular cinema as expressions of historical truths that more authentic histories usually miss and argues for the political and social significance of mass culture through the interpretation of four recent big-budget movies: Titanic, Gangs of New York, Australia, and Inglourious Basterds. In his latest book, Patrick McGee argues for the political and social significance of mass culture through the interpretation of four recent big-budget movies:Titanic, Gangs of New York, Australia, andInglourious Basterds. Through philosophical and historical contextualization, he reveals the logic of what appears on the screen, a logic that shows how these films both represent and distort the historical record in order to articulate a truth that challenges conventional history as a discipline. Counterdisciplinary in its method, this exciting work asserts that no movie can ever be reduced to the absolutely authentic or the absolutely inauthentic Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction: Truth, History, and Counterdisciplinary Practices in Film Studies....Pages 1-19 Terrible Beauties....Pages 21-67 Infinite History....Pages 69-144 “No Dreaming, No Story, Nothing”....Pages 145-179 Conclusion: The Glorious Truth about Inglorious History in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds....Pages 181-194 Back Matter....Pages 195-209