Breaking in to the Movies: Film and the Culture of Politics

Breaking in to the Movies brings together Henry A. Giroux′s best–known essays from the last twenty years, centering on important subjects on the cultural studies and pop culture agenda, including violence, race, class, gender, identity, politics, and children′s culture. The volume charts his career as one of the most astute observers of the Hollywood tradition, from early reflections on Norma Rae and Looking for Mister Goodbar to ground–breaking analyses of more recent movies such as Pulp Fiction , Dead Poets Society , Dangerous Minds , and Fight Club . By addressing the profound pedagogical role of film in contemporary society, Giroux demonstrates how it dramatically shapes the way young people come to terms with today's most charged social issues.

Acknowledgements. Breaking in to the Movies: An Introduction. Part I: Reclaiming the Political in Popular Culture. 1. Norma Rae : Character, Class, and Culture. 2. Hollywood Film and the Challenge of Neofascist Culture. 3. Lina Wertmuller: Film and the Dialectic of Liberalism. 4. Looking for Mr. Goodbar : Gender and the Politics of Pleasure. Part II: Hollywood Film and the War on Youth. 5. Slacking Off : Border Youth and Postmodern Education. 6. Culture, Class, and Pedagody in Dead Poets Society. 7. Children′s Culture and Disney′s Animated Films. 8. The Politics of Pedagogy, Gender, and Whiteness in Dangerous Minds. 9. Media Panics and the War Against " Kids" : Larry Clark and the Politics of Diminished Hopes. Part III: Race and the Culture of Violence in Hollywood Films. 10. Racism and the Aesthetic of Hyper–real Violoence: Pulp Fiction and other Visual Tragedies. 11. Multiculturalism and the Cultural Politics of Race in 187. 12. Brutalized Bodies and Emasculated Politics: Fight Club, Consumerism, and Masculine Violence. Index.

Henry A. Giroux holds the Waterbury Chair Professorship and is currently the Director of the Waterbury Forum in Education and Cultural Studies at Pennsylvania State University. His most recent books include Stealing Innocence: Corporate Culture′s War on Children (2001); Impure Acts: The Practical Politics of Cultural Studies (2000); The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence (1999); and Pedagogy and the Politics of Hope (1997).