Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream

Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream
Author :
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages : 224
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780813177328
ISBN-13 : 0813177324
Rating : 4/5 (28 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream by : Paul A. Cantor

Download or read book Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream written by Paul A. Cantor and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2019-05-17 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The many con men, gangsters, and drug lords portrayed in popular culture are examples of the dark side of the American dream. Viewers are fascinated by these twisted versions of heroic American archetypes, like the self-made man and the entrepreneur. Applying the critical skills he developed as a Shakespeare scholar, Paul A. Cantor finds new depth in familiar landmarks of popular culture. He invokes Shakespearean models to show that the concept of the tragic hero can help us understand why we are both repelled by and drawn to figures such as Vito and Michael Corleone or Walter White. Beginning with Huckleberry Finn and ending with The Walking Dead, Cantor also uncovers the link between the American dream and frontier life. In imaginative variants of a Wild West setting, popular culture has served up disturbing—and yet strangely compelling—images of what happens when people move beyond the borders of law and order. Cantor demonstrates that, at its best, popular culture raises thoughtful questions about the validity and viability of the American dream, thus deepening our understanding of America itself.


Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream Related Books

Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream
Language: en
Pages: 224
Authors: Paul A. Cantor
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-05-17 - Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The many con men, gangsters, and drug lords portrayed in popular culture are examples of the dark side of the American dream. Viewers are fascinated by these tw
The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture
Language: en
Pages: 430
Authors: Paul A. Cantor
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-11-30 - Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“Analyzes how ideas about economics and political philosophy find their way into everything from Star Trek to Malcolm in the Middle.” —Wall Street Journal
The American Dream
Language: en
Pages: 258
Authors: Lawrence R. Samuel
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-08-27 - Publisher: Syracuse University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

There is no better way to understand America than by understanding the cultural history of the American Dream. Rather than just a powerful philosophy or ideolog
Behold, America
Language: en
Pages: 368
Authors: Sarah Churchwell
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-10-09 - Publisher: Basic Books

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A Smithsonian Magazine Best History Book of 2018 The unknown history of two ideas crucial to the struggle over what America stands for In Behold, America, Sarah
Gilligan Unbound
Language: en
Pages: 308
Authors: Paul Arthur Cantor
Categories: Performing Arts
Type: BOOK - Published: 2003 - Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Cantor demonstrates how, during the 1960s, Gilligan's Island and Star Trek reflected America's faith in liberal democracy and our willingness to project it uni