American Film Studies Commons^™

Heroism And Indeterminacy In Oliver Stone's Jfk And Don Delillo's Libra, Tim Engles

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Diversifying Representation In Film: An Examination Of Racial And Ethnic Inclusivity In Black Panther And Crazy Rich Asians, Alexandria Hatchett

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Although Hollywood films are distributed globally, they have historically featured white actors and reflected Western life. As Hollywood influences one’s understanding of race in the United States, Black Panther (2018) and Crazy Rich Asian’s (2018) inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities combat racism and xenophobia and reveal alternate ways in which power is manifested in society. This thesis project utilizes critical rhetoric as its method to give a voice to communities of color that have been marginalized due to colonization and persistent structural racism. It employs Critical Race Theory, postcolonialism, and Afrofuturism as its theoretical lenses to explain how race …

Introduction To Volume Ten: Aiiieeeee! At 45, Tara Fickle, Wei Ming Dariotis

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

The editors of the special issue on Aiiieeeee! locate the seminal anthology within the history of Asian American literature as a scholarly discipline and contextualize contributor's responses to the personal and cumulative effects of Aiiieeeee! on the Asian American literary landscape.

Hear Me Roar, Abigail R. Seethoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Hear Me Roar, a compilation of personal essays interspersed with short forms, grapples with the nuances of compliance versus autonomy in the context of the male gaze, beauty standards, and pop culture. The collection also explores what it means to treasure something—another person, an object—and how to express and deepen that affection.

Cypher [How An Anthology Helped A Mixed-Race Filipino American Writer Draft A Novel], Brian Ascalon Roley

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

In this work of creative nonfiction, Brian Ascalon Roley, the author of American Son (W.W. Norton, 2001) recounts the cultural landscape of the late 20^thc. America for Filipino American and mixed-race writers as he recounts some of the events that influenced his novel’s conception and explains how stumbling upon an anthology helped him to revise the draft. It was one of the first novels to feature mixed-race Filipino American characters, and would go on to receive the Association of Asian American Studies Award.

Movie Review: Ford V. Ferrari, Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The movie asks: do American companies care about making the highest quality goods?"

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie Ford v. Ferrari from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/movie-review-ford-v-ferrari/?highlight=ford%20v.%20ferrari

Review Of The Favourite, Scott Romo

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

Review Of Studio 54: The Documentary, Ryan Rodriguez

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

The Origins Of Classic Hollywood’S Male, Federico Guevara

History in the Making

Male dominance of Hollywood productions solidified inadvertently in the 1930s through the implementation of Catholic morality on screen, which precipitously narrowed the scope of experiences and desires of women depicted in entertainment media for the ensuing decades. Tracing back the behind-the-scenes origins and development of Hollywood’s persistent male gaze, it becomes clear that women in the entertainment industry had some real agency and power in the 1920s, prior to the Catholic Legion of Decency’s interference in movie making. These censorship rules, which became known as the Hays Code and were argued to be good for the whole of society, consequently …

Die Hard: A Case Study Of Masculine Romance, Elizabeth Tretter

Scholars Week

Works of the Romance genre have long been regarded as “chick flicks” or “chick lit,” leaving scholars to question the long-standing, gendering stereotypes of romances as feminine and action/adventure works as masculine. This paper explores the connection between romances and action/adventure films by applying Northrop Frye’s six phases of romance outlined in his Anatomy of Criticism to the traditional masculine adventure film Die Hard. Not only does this application highlight strong evidence of romantic elements in Die Hard, but also, the analysis reveals a major gender disparity when it comes to feminizing the Romance genre. Why this disparity …

Infinity Wars: Post 9/11 Superhero Films And American Empire, Peter J. Bruno

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the last two decades, superhero films have accounted for some of the most popular and financially lucrative films of all time. This thesis analyzes some of the aesthetic and ideological dimensions of various superhero films following their post 9/11 boom. Beginning with America’s response to the events of 9/11 and a subsequent retreat into a Manichean world of good versus evil, I introduce the term “empirical reality” in order to account for the ways daily American life is shielded from the worst effects of U.S. foreign policy. On screen this manifests by perpetuating the myth of the “clean war” …

Movie Review: Toy Story 4, Tom Clark

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"There’s no question that whatever emerged from the animators would be good, but could it be great? Did it need to be made, or should the time and talent have been devoted to a new project, a new story?"

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie Toy Story 4 from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/movie-review-toy-story-4/

Anna May Wong: Chinese-American Actress, Katherine Anielak

Undergraduate Research Journal

The United States’ film industry has an extensive and rich history that also offers insight into the development of American culture. However, the history of Hollywood includes many cases of discrimination, racism, and the use of stereotypes within roles. Films reflect societal constructs and beliefs, including stereotypes that European Americans had against non-white immigrants and citizens. Asian-Americans especially suffered from stereotypes and discrimination within the United States in the early 20th Century. Such stereotypes and racism appeared in both the films produced in Hollywood, and within Hollywood and the film industry itself. Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American film actress, …

'Tomboy' Is Anachronistic. But The Concept Still Has Something To Teach Us, Lynne Stahl

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This article explores the tomboy trope in film and literature and the "taming" that characterizes it, framing both in relation to contemporary debates about gender and sexual identity as well as cultural anxieties around queer, trans, and nonbinary identity. Examining texts from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women to the 1980 film Little Darlings, the article argues that even while the term tomboy may be obsolete, tomboy narratives document processes of rebellion that hold continuing value.

John Wick: Chapter Three - Parabellum (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The Wick movies center around allegiances that recall ancient and medieval ideas about duty."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie John Wick: Chapter Three - Parabellum from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/movie-review-john-wick-chapter-3-parabellum/

Superhero Movies And Politics: The Moral Obligations Of Film Makers According To Virtue Ethics, Russell Hendrickson

Senior Theses

The theory of virtue ethics implies that filmmakers have a moral obligation to explore political themes within superhero films. My thesis is comprised of four main sections. I begin by discussing the general theory of virtue ethics and what moral obligations are placed upon someone who subscribes to this moral theory. From there, I establish my argument for why film can be used as a tool of moral education, and I outline a framework for how artists can work to cultivate virtue in themselves through the use of Arnold Berleant’s Artists and Morality: Toward an Ethics of Art as a …

The Psychos, Paula N. Stevenson

Graduate School of Art Theses

My current body of work is a series of drawings that juxtapose characters of fiction and reality in an attempt to explore the relationship between horror film and contemporary social issues. I strive to render an accurate portrayal of the face to draw the viewer into questioning the troubling narrative these characters illuminate. I focus on retelling stories of fear and horror, and crime and infamy. I want my work to convey ethical dilemmas as they are present within the relationship between horror movie antagonists and the audience (all of us). It is these concerns I attempt to visualize in, …

Are The Trailers The Real Star Of Star Wars: The Last Jedi?, Zachariah Lanis

Student Research Symposium

A literature review was conducted that found overwhelming evidence that movie trailers are physiologically stimulating to the viewer. An observational experiment was conducted that involved surveying a total of 204 subjects from randomly selected clusters. They were grouped into categories for further study. Of those 204, 102 had not seen Star Wars: the Last Jedi at the time of surveying. (Responses for movie satisfaction were not recorded from this group.) 31 of them had seen the movie but hadn't seen the trailer, 34 had seen the movie and saw the trailer by happenstance, and 37 had seen the movie and …

Diversity And Democracy At War: Analyzing Race And Ethnicity In Squad Films From 1940-1960, Lara K. Jacobson

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

Both the Second World War and the Korean War presented Hollywood with the opportunity to produce combat films that roused patriotic spirit amongst the American people. The obvious choice was to continue making the popular squad films that portrayed a group of soldiers working together to overcome a common challenge posed by the war. However, in the wake of various racial and ethnic tensions consistently unfolding in the United States from 1940 to 1960, it became apparent to Hollywood that the nation needed pictures of unity more than ever, especially if America was going to win its wars. Using combat …

The Sigh Of Triple Consciousness: Blacks Who Blurred The Color Line In Films From The 1930s Through The 1950s, Audrey Phillips

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis will identify an over looked subset of racial identity as seen through film narratives from the 1930’s through the 1950’s pre-Civil Rights era. The subcategory of racial identity is the necessity of passing for Black people then identified as Negro. The primary film narratives include Veiled Aristocrats (1932), Lost Boundaries (1949), Pinky (1949) and Imitation of Life (1934). These images will deploy the troupe of passing as a racialized historical image. These films depict the pain and anguish Passers endured while escaping their racial identity. Through these stories we identify, sympathize and understand the needs of Black …