21st Century Superhero: Essays on Gender, Genre and Globalization in Film

ISBN-13: 9780786463459 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 212 str.

Richard J Gray

Opis

Superhero films are one of the most enduring genres of cinema, and their popularity is only increasing in the 21st century. These ten critical essays explore the phenomenon of the superhero film through the lens of numerous academic disciplines, and cover topics such as the role of globalization in the formation of superhero narratives, the shifting nature of masculinity and femininity in the superhero world and the state of the genre today. Of particular interest is the way these narratives, however fantastic, abstract, futuristic or simplistic, resonate with specific events in the globalized world and function as starting points for discussion of contemporary sociopolitical conflicts.

Spis treści

Table of Contents Acknowledgments vi Introduction RICHARD J. GRAY II and BETTY KAKLAMANIDOU 1 Part 1. Globalization Exceptional Recognition: The U.S. Global Dilemma in The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Avatar ANTHONY PETER SPANAKOS 15 “You Took My Advice About Theatricality a Bit ... Literally”: Theatricality and Cybernetics of Good and Evil in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man, and X- Men JOHANNES SCHLEGEL and FRANK HABERMANN 29 Power, Choice, and September 11 in The Dark Knight CHRISTINE MULLER 46 Part 2. Gender The Mythos of Patriarchy in the X- Men Films BETTY KAKLAMANIDOU 61 Vivacious Vixens and Scintillating Super- Hotties: Deconstructing the Superheroine RICHARD J. GRAY II 75 Evolving Portrayals of Masculinity in Superhero Films: Hancock CHRISTINA ADAMOU 94 Part 3. Genre Genre and Super- Heroism: Batman in the New Millennium VINCENT M. GAINE 111 Super- Intertextuality and 21st Century Individualized Social Advocacy in Spider- Man and Kick- Ass JUSTIN S. SCHUMAKER 129 The Watchmen, Neo- Noir and Pastiche PHILLIP DAVIS 144 Smallville: Super Puberty and the Monstrous Superhero SHAHRIAR FOULADI 161 Films and Television Programs 179 Works Cited 187 About the Contributors 197 Index 199