Southerners on Film : Essays on Hollywood Portrayals Since the 1970s

The representation of Southerners on film has been a topic of enduring interest and debate among scholars of both film and Southern studies. This collection of 15 essays examines the problem of Southern identity in film since the civilrights era. Fresh insights are provided on such familiar topics as the redneck image, transitions to modernity and the prevalence of the Southern gothic. Other essays reflect the reinvigorated and expanding field of new Southern studies and topics include the transnational South, the intersection of ethnicity and environment and the cultural significance of Southern identity outside the South. This Collection Of 15 Essays Examines The Problem Of Southern Identity In Film Since The Civil Rights Era. Fresh Insights Are Provided On Familiar Topics, Such As The Redneck Image, Transitions To Modernity And The Prevalence Of The Southern Gothic. Other Essays Reflect The Reinvigorated And Expanding Field Of New Southern Studies And Topics.--provided By Publisher. Introduction / Andrew B. Leiter -- Multiculturalism And Melodrama: Southern White Heroines Of The 1980s / Amy Corbin -- You're Only As Good As Your Last Game: Remember The Titans Remembers Civil Rights / Oliver Gruner -- Every Man Has The Right To Contribute A Verse: Representin' Black Masculinity And The South In Three Popular Hip Hop Films / Courtney George -- That Old-timey Music: Nostalgia And The Southern Tradition In O Brother, Where Art Thou? / Andrew B. Leiter -- American Dreams And Country Music: Nashville And Payday / Hugh Ruppersburg -- Gender, Regional Identity, And The Civil War: Politics Of The North And South In Sweet Home Alabama And Junebug / Landon Palmer -- The Screen Kallikak: White Trash For White Guilt In Post-vietnam American Film / C. Scott Combs -- The Haunting Of A Black Southern Past: Considering Conjure In To Sleep With Anger / Phillip Lamarr Cunningham -- Practice In A Cemetery: Ross Mcelwee's North Carolina Documentaries / Stephen Broomer -- The Junebug Dilemma / Bryan Giemza -- Imagined Realities: Appalachia, Arabia, And Orientalism In Songcatcher And The Sheik / Thomas R. Britt And Usame Tunagur -- Adaptation And Sunshine State: Nature And Nostalgia In Contemporary Florida Films / Marlisa Santos -- Reel Horror: Louisiana's Vanishing Wetlands And The Threat Of Hollywood (mis)representation / Maria Hebert-leiter -- An Aesthetic Of Play: A Contemporary Cinema Of South-sploitation / James A. Crank -- You Taste Of America: Talladega Nights, Deliverance, And Southern Studies / Tara Powell. Edited By Andrew B. Leiter. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 I. Multiculturalism and Melodrama......Page 24 II. You’re Only as Good as Your Last Game......Page 41 III. “Every Man Has the Right to Contribute a Verse”......Page 56 IV. “That Old-Timey Music”......Page 71 V. American Dreams and Country Music......Page 85 VI. Gender, Regional Identity, and the Civil War......Page 98 VII. The Screen Kallikak......Page 115 VIII. The Haunting of a Black Southern Past......Page 132 IX. Practice in a Cemetery......Page 143 X. The Junebug Dilemma......Page 156 XI. Imagined Realities......Page 170 XII. Adaptation and Sunshine State......Page 184 XIII. Reel Horror......Page 196 XIV. An Aesthetic of Play......Page 213 XV. “You Taste of America”......Page 226 About the Contributors......Page 240 Index......Page 244 The representation of Southerners on film has been a topic of enduring interest and debate among scholars of both film and Southern studies. These 15 essays examine the problem of Southern identity in film since the civil rights era. Fresh insights are provided on such familiar topics as the redneck image, transitions to modernity and the prevalence of the Southern gothic. Other essays reflect the reinvigorated and expanding field of new Southern studies and topics include the transnational South, the intersection of ethnicity and environment and the cultural significance of Southern identity outside the South.