Review: Susanne Kord and Elisabeth Krimmer, Contemporary Hollywood Masculinities
Kord, Susanne. Contemporary Hollywood masculinities: gender, genre, and politics, by Susanne Kord and Elisabeth Krimmer. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 280p bibl index ISBN 0-230-33841-0, $85.00; ISBN 9780230338418, $85.00.
49-6776 PN1995 2011-21690 CIP
Kord (University College, London, UK) and Krimmer (Univ. of California, Davis) deliver an interesting work on the intersection of genre and masculinity in modern American film. The authors consider a large body of work from the Clinton-Bush years (1992-2008). Focusing on the nexus of the political and the cinematic, "because they both draw on the same reservoir of cultural values and myths," the authors do some deep readings of films that have been outside the purview of contemporary theorists. Kord and Krimmer wisely also take on huge blockbusters and franchises (The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Spiderman) in their attempt to demonstrate the iconic importance of such films in negotiating the terrain of masculinity. The authors' readings are remarkably insightful and deliberate when they steer clear of moralizing. Emphasizing "destabilized masculinity," they illustrate how this body of films differs from the hard-body action films of the Reagan 1980s. Many of the readings illustrate the reconciliation between violence and softness in such texts. The chapter on the Pierce Brosnan-Daniel Craig transition in the Bond series deserves special recognition for its brilliant analysis of how star charisma, changing political circumstances, and reconsiderations of masculinity can mold a seminal franchise. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above. -- G. R. Butters Jr., Aurora University
In: Choice 49 no. 12, August 2012
Kord, Susanne. Contemporary Hollywood masculinities: gender, genre, and politics, by Susanne Kord and Elisabeth Krimmer. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 280p bibl index ISBN 0-230-33841-0, $85.00; ISBN 9780230338418, $85.00.
49-6776 PN1995 2011-21690 CIP
Kord (University College, London, UK) and Krimmer (Univ. of California, Davis) deliver an interesting work on the intersection of genre and masculinity in modern American film. The authors consider a large body of work from the Clinton-Bush years (1992-2008). Focusing on the nexus of the political and the cinematic, "because they both draw on the same reservoir of cultural values and myths," the authors do some deep readings of films that have been outside the purview of contemporary theorists. Kord and Krimmer wisely also take on huge blockbusters and franchises (The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Spiderman) in their attempt to demonstrate the iconic importance of such films in negotiating the terrain of masculinity. The authors' readings are remarkably insightful and deliberate when they steer clear of moralizing. Emphasizing "destabilized masculinity," they illustrate how this body of films differs from the hard-body action films of the Reagan 1980s. Many of the readings illustrate the reconciliation between violence and softness in such texts. The chapter on the Pierce Brosnan-Daniel Craig transition in the Bond series deserves special recognition for its brilliant analysis of how star charisma, changing political circumstances, and reconsiderations of masculinity can mold a seminal franchise. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above. -- G. R. Butters Jr., Aurora University
In: Choice 49 no. 12, August 2012