Share

Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream

2019-05-17 Social Science
Download Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2019-05-17
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 324/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream by : Paul A. Cantor

Download or read book Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream written by Paul A. Cantor. This book was released on 2019-05-17. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The many con men, gangsters, and drug lords portrayed in popular culture are examples of the dark side of the American dream. Viewers are fascinated by these twisted versions of heroic American archetypes, like the self-made man and the entrepreneur. Applying the critical skills he developed as a Shakespeare scholar, Paul A. Cantor finds new depth in familiar landmarks of popular culture. He invokes Shakespearean models to show that the concept of the tragic hero can help us understand why we are both repelled by and drawn to figures such as Vito and Michael Corleone or Walter White. Beginning with Huckleberry Finn and ending with The Walking Dead, Cantor also uncovers the link between the American dream and frontier life. In imaginative variants of a Wild West setting, popular culture has served up disturbing—and yet strangely compelling—images of what happens when people move beyond the borders of law and order. Cantor demonstrates that, at its best, popular culture raises thoughtful questions about the validity and viability of the American dream, thus deepening our understanding of America itself.

The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture

2012-11-05 Social Science
Download The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2012-11-05
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 82X/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture by : Paul Arthur Cantor

Download or read book The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture written by Paul Arthur Cantor. This book was released on 2012-11-05. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Popular culture often champions freedom as the fundamentally American way of life and celebrates the virtues of independence and self-reliance. But film and television have also explored the tension between freedom and other core values, such as order and political stability. What may look like healthy, productive, and creative freedom from one point of view may look like chaos, anarchy, and a source of destructive conflict from another. Film and television continually pose the question: Can Americans deal with their problems on their own, or must they rely on political elites to manage their lives? In this groundbreaking work, Paul A. Cantor explores the ways in which television shows such as Star Trek, The X-Files, South Park, and Deadwood and films such as The Aviator and Mars Attacks! have portrayed both top-down and bottom-up models of order. Drawing on the works of John Locke, Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, and other proponents of freedom, Cantor contrasts the classical liberal vision of America -- particularly its emphasis on the virtues of spontaneous order -- with the Marxist understanding of the "culture industry" and the Hobbesian model of absolute state control. The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture concludes with a discussion of the impact of 9/11 on film and television, and the new anxieties emerging in contemporary alien-invasion narratives: the fear of a global technocracy that seeks to destroy the nuclear family, religious faith, local government, and other traditional bulwarks against the absolute state.

The Dark Side of the American Dream

2015-07-07
Download The Dark Side of the American Dream PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2015-07-07
Genre :
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 897/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis The Dark Side of the American Dream by : Ibrahim Abubakari

Download or read book The Dark Side of the American Dream written by Ibrahim Abubakari. This book was released on 2015-07-07. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A modern version of Piri Thomas's, "Down These Mean Streets", Ibrahim Abubakari's "The Dark Side of the American Dream" tells the story of the immigrant experience. Growing up in Ghana, Abubakari moved to America as a young man, expecting freedom, education, and happiness, however life takes a turn for the worst as he falls helplessly into the world of murder, addiction, and homelessness. This is a tale of amazingly powerful inner strength, and Abubakari's rise from the depths of hell.

Behold, America

2018-10-09 History
Download Behold, America PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2018-10-09
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 425/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Behold, America by : Sarah Churchwell

Download or read book Behold, America written by Sarah Churchwell. This book was released on 2018-10-09. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Smithsonian Magazine Best History Book of 2018 The unknown history of two ideas crucial to the struggle over what America stands for In Behold, America, Sarah Churchwell offers a surprising account of twentieth-century Americans' fierce battle for the nation's soul. It follows the stories of two phrases--the "American dream" and "America First"--that once embodied opposing visions for America. Starting as a Republican motto before becoming a hugely influential isolationist slogan during World War I, America First was always closely linked with authoritarianism and white supremacy. The American dream, meanwhile, initially represented a broad vision of democratic and economic equality. Churchwell traces these notions through the 1920s boom, the Depression, and the rise of fascism at home and abroad, laying bare the persistent appeal of demagoguery in America and showing us how it was resisted. At a time when many ask what America's future holds, Behold, America is a revelatory, unvarnished portrait of where we have been.

Summary of Jenn Brandt & Callie Clare's An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US

2022-10-07T22:59:00Z Social Science
Download Summary of Jenn Brandt & Callie Clare's An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2022-10-07T22:59:00Z
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Summary of Jenn Brandt & Callie Clare's An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US by : Everest Media,

Download or read book Summary of Jenn Brandt & Callie Clare's An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US written by Everest Media,. This book was released on 2022-10-07T22:59:00Z. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 On February 1, 2015, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots met in the Super Bowl. The game was watched by an estimated 114 million people, making it the most-watched show in US television history. The commercials, however, were sad and lossy. #2 This book is about examining what we as a culture preoccupy ourselves with on a daily basis. By examining what it is that we as a culture preoccupy ourselves with, we can better understand that culture and our place within it. #3 The term popular culture is used to describe media distractions. The study of popular culture is much more than keeping up with the Kardashians. #4 The academic study of popular culture was born in the 1960s as a response to the cultural climate of the turbulent 1960s.

You may also like...