Hollywood raises political consciousness Political messages in feature films Edited by Michael Haas Nonfiction; Paperback: $39.95 ISBN: 978-1-4331266-0-4 Hardcover: $149.95 ISBN: 978-1-4331266-1-1 E-Book from www.peterlang.com ISBN: 978-1-4539-1372-7 Editor: Michael Haas is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee for his work on behalf of human rights in a career as an academic political scientist. Besides the University of Hawai‘i, he has taught at Northwestern University, Loyola Marymount University, Occidental College, Purdue University, the University of California (Riverside), the University of London, and six campuses of California State University. Feature films establish images of politics and political systems because they depict, often subliminally, a structure of power in any situation involving humans and a procedure for raising problems and making decisions. Films sometimes explicitly depict historical situations, social problems, and also can propagandize. Those who see films, therefore, have a grasp of politics without taking a course in political science and may be galvanized to action as a result. Those who teach political science often have to correct errors and misunderstandings in films. Accordingly, the present volume undertakes three tasks: (1) To define the “ political film” as a distinct genre. (2) To demonstrate how films have defined politics to film audiences. (3) To illustrate how films treat specific issues politically, including civil society, disasters, and elections. To do so, the editor Michael Haas brings together the following outstanding political scientists, who undertake the three tasks in a professional manner through scholarly essays that serve to develop a theory of the political film: Andrew L. Aoki (Augsburg College) Michael A. Genovese (Loyola Marymount University) Ernest D. Giglio (Lycoming College) Elizabeth Haas (Fairfield University) Hans Noel (Georgetown University) John W. Williams (Principia College) It's indisputable that films contain messages. Most messages have meaning to the sender, some consciously intended, some not. Many of these messages, whether intended or not, have social impact, much of which eventually must be understood as political. I know of no one who has made more of a study of the political impact of the messages we ingest, whether we're aware of it or not, than has Michael Haas.—Mike Farrell, star of M*A*S*H and Providence and author of Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist" and Of Mule and Man. Contents Introduction (by Michael Haas) explains the design of the book. Part I. Defining the Political Film Chapter 1. Films Contain Political Messages (by Michael Haas) provides a history of political film and a list of the components of filmmaking, from initial conception to box office screening, indicating where political content may be inserted or deleted. Chapter 2. Art and Politics: The Political Film as a Pedagogical Tool (by Michael A. Genovese) points out that films, the most accessible and popular art form in the contemporary world, must overcome four barriers—the desire of filmviewers for light entertainment, the fast pace of public issues, resistance to overly preachy dialog, and the fear of producers that political films will not sell at the box office. Thus, political films continue to seek acceptance by clever artistic innovation. Chapter 3. Search for the Political Film (by Ernest D. Giglio) traces political films within four purposes—as ideology, propaganda, history, and as an agent of change. To be a “political film,” he insists that the producer, filmmaker, or studio must consciously want to make a political statement, and that audiences must perceive the film as conveying a political message. Part II. How Films Define the Political Chapter 4. The Real Oliver North Loses: The Reel Bob Roberts Wins (by John W. Williams) contrasts four candidates for the U.S. Senate—two fictional and two real. Employing cultivation analysis, the author analyzes the media’ s social construction of candidates in creating images of politics—focus on everyday topics, make cultural or literary allusions, exaggerate traits of the candidates, and provide background in the form of timely events, issues, and personalities. Chapter 5. Escape from the Bowling Alley: Traditional Associations as the Antagonist in Popular Film (by Hans Noel) refutes Robert Putnam’s influential view that Americans do not socialize together as in the past, undermining civil society, and instead finds in six films how the younger generation rejects traditional associations as inappropriate for their more diverse lives. Chapter 6. The Politics of Disaster Films (by Elizabeth Haas). The 21st century’s steady stream of disasters, more real than imagined, has stimulated films that exploit fears to demonstrate that individual heroism is possible, though government is ineffective, as in disaster films of the past. Chapter 7. Liberalism and the Blending of a Kaleidoscopic Culture (by Andrew L. Aoki) demonstrates assimilationist tensions experienced by Asian Americans in recent popular films. He concludes that amalgamationism, wherein one can both be American and Asian, is the cinematic answer to those who fear a balkanization of American into separate ethnic groups. Chapter 8. Films about Thailand and Vietnam (by Michael Haas) contrasts stereotypic portrayals of Thais and Vietnamese in films made outside the two countries, whereas the film industries in both countries show considerable diversity in film content. Epilog. Using Political Films in the Classroom (by Michael A. Genovese) demonstrates five ways in which films used in undergraduate teaching yield extraordinary benefits. Appendix. Films Nominated by the Political Film Society, 1986–2014 Combined References Film Index Subject Index ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]