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Arts and Humanities

University of South Florida

Theses/Dissertations

2009

Movies

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Reel Images: Representations Of Adult Male Prisons By The Film Industry, Melissa E. Fenwick Jul 2009

Reel Images: Representations Of Adult Male Prisons By The Film Industry, Melissa E. Fenwick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on the criminal justice system, punishment, and media continue to generate academic interest, particularly in the realm of social constructionism. The social construction perspective provides insight into the process through which media-controlled images are translated into social definitions of crime and justice. One new area of interest is the representations of prisons and penal culture by the entertainment media, namely the film industry. In this study, the author contributes to the area of social constructionist literature by administering a content analysis of eleven feature films on male prisons produced between 1979 and 2001. The author examines the frequency and …


Shadows Fall On Main Street: Film Noir Travels Out Of The City, Anthony Laporte Jun 2009

Shadows Fall On Main Street: Film Noir Travels Out Of The City, Anthony Laporte

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

After World War II, film audiences of American crime dramas, later termed film noirs, witnessed the relocation of several film narratives to settings outside of the traditional urban environment. These films began to defy the conventional notion that crime only exists in densely populated cities and began to incorporate alternative spaces, like suburban communities, small towns, and the open road, to tell their stories. This thesis examines how social and geographical spaces contribute to, rather than oppose, a noir sensibility by employing an intertextual analysis of three film noirs set in locations out of the city: Fallen Angel, The Stranger, …


Examining An Acute Environmental Trigger For Dysfunctional Eating: Measuring The Immediate Impact Of Fat Disparagement Media Exposure And Its Effects On Body Dissatisfaction, Negative Affect, Weight Control Practice Intentions, And Sub-Clinical Binge Eating Behavior In College Women, Susan Himes May 2009

Examining An Acute Environmental Trigger For Dysfunctional Eating: Measuring The Immediate Impact Of Fat Disparagement Media Exposure And Its Effects On Body Dissatisfaction, Negative Affect, Weight Control Practice Intentions, And Sub-Clinical Binge Eating Behavior In College Women, Susan Himes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Binge eating is a maladaptive eating practice associated with unhealthy weight control methods (vomiting, laxative abuse) and the development of weight gain and obesity. Isolating psychological and environmental variables that trigger binge eating can prevent or potentially moderate eating disturbance. Previous research implicates media exposure as an environmental contributor to psychological and eating disturbance. The current study sought to uncover whether fat stigmatization media exposure is an acute environmental trigger for psychological disturbance and binge initiation by dismantling fat media messages and experimentally manipulating messages. Undergraduate women (N=197) were assigned to one of four media message conditions: a fat negative …


The Pessimism Of Horror Cinema: A Comparative Study Between Modernist And Postmodernist Horror Cinema, Michael Jeknavorian Apr 2009

The Pessimism Of Horror Cinema: A Comparative Study Between Modernist And Postmodernist Horror Cinema, Michael Jeknavorian

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative thesis examines levels of pessimism as they relate to modern and postmodern horror cinema. Beyond assumed differences in levels of pessimism between the two genres, the study also examines implicit and explicit moralization of these categories. Specifically, the study questions if postmodern horror cinema's characteristic increase in pessimism is simply a change in the genre's convention, yet a change that is irrespective of either genre's capabilities to moralize. First, the study singularly examines the conventions of each genre as it relates to levels of pessimism. Second, the study discusses works that bridge the two genres. And third, the …


Fantasies Of Metal And Wires: Battling Corporate Hegemony And The Achievement Of Posthuman Masculinity In Recent Superhero Cinema, Joseph J. Cook Apr 2009

Fantasies Of Metal And Wires: Battling Corporate Hegemony And The Achievement Of Posthuman Masculinity In Recent Superhero Cinema, Joseph J. Cook

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the summer of 2008 many movies were released with superhero protagonists. Combining textual readings and theoretical accounts to provide a phenomenological analysis of the representation of the counter-hegemonic struggle against corporate control and the achievement of posthuman masculinity in these recent superhero films, this thesis compares and contrasts specific visual and thematic elements that consistently appear in four of these films: The Dark Knight, Wanted, Iron Man, and Speed Racer. Providing intertextual exploration of the cultural status of specific cinematic superheroes, this project explores possible relationships between culture, society, and cinema, treating popular superhero cinema …