The Politics of Hollywood Cinema : Popular Film and Contemporary Political Theory

The Politics of Hollywood Cinema radically transforms our understanding of cinema's potential to be politically engaging and challenging. Examining several films from Hollywood's classical era, including Marked Woman, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Born Yesterday, On the Waterfront and It Should Happen to You, alongside contemporary theories of democracy advanced by Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, Claude Lefort, Étienne Balibar and Jacques Rancière, Richard Rushton argues that popular films can offer complex subtle, relevant and controversial approaches to democracy and politics. "The Politics of Hollywood Cinema radically transforms our understanding of cinema's potential to be politically engaging and challenging. Examining several films from Hollywood's classical era, including Marked Woman, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Born Yesterday, On the Waterfront and It Should Happen to You, alongside contemporary theories of democracy advanced by Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, Claude Lefort, Etienne Balibar and Jacques Rancire, Richard Rushton argues that popular films can offer complex subtle, relevant and controversial approaches to democracy and politics"-- Provided by publisher Machine generated contents note: What is a Politics of Cinema? Discovering a Politics of Cinema: The Influence of Althusser The Politics of Cinematic Pleasure (with some reflections on The Sound of Music) Politics and Hollywood Cinema: Marked Woman Suture and Political Identity: On the Waterfront Democracy and Totalitarianism: Mr Smith Goes to Washington Égaliberté and Citizenship: Born Yesterday Equality and Democracy: It Should Happen to You Concluding Remarks. Annotation The Politics of Hollywood Cinema argues for a new understanding of the relationship between classical Hollywood films and theories of democracy