Echoes of Reaganism in Hollywood Blockbuster Movies from the 1980S to the 2010S

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Echoes of Reaganism in Hollywood Blockbuster Movies from the 1980S to the 2010S Echoes of Reaganism in Hollywood Blockbuster Movies from the 1980s to the 2010s AMERICAN CULTURE Herausgegeben von / Edited by Astrid Böger, Bettina Friedl, Michaela Hampf und Martin Klepper BAND 15 AMERICAN CULTURE Ilias Ben Mna Herausgegeben von / Edited by Astrid Böger, Bettina Friedl, Michaela Hampf und Martin Klepper BAND 15 Echoes of Reaganism in Hollywood Blockbuster Movies from the 1980s to the 2010s Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2019 The publication of this work was supported by the Open Access Publication Fund of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Cover Illustration: © igoriss/istockphoto.com 11 ISSN 1615-567X • ISBN 978-3-631-83780-1 (Print) E-ISBN 978-3-631-84349-9 (E-PDF) • E-ISBN 978-3-631-84350-5 (EPUB) E-ISBN 978-3-631-84351-2 (MOBI) • DOI 10.3726/b17914 Open Access: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY 4.0 license. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © Ilias Ben Mna, 2021 Peter Lang – Berlin · Bern · Bruxelles · New York · Oxford · Warszawa · Wien This publication has been peer reviewed. www.peterlang.com Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Dedicated to my parents—and my two older brothers, who raised me on a healthy diet of 1980s action movies Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2019 The publication of this work was supported by the Open Access Publication Fund of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Cover Illustration: © igoriss/istockphoto.com 11 ISSN 1615-567X • ISBN 978-3-631-83780-1 (Print) E-ISBN 978-3-631-84349-9 (E-PDF) • E-ISBN 978-3-631-84350-5 (EPUB) E-ISBN 978-3-631-84351-2 (MOBI) • DOI 10.3726/b17914 Open Access: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY 4.0 license. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © Ilias Ben Mna, 2021 Peter Lang – Berlin · Bern · Bruxelles · New York · Oxford · Warszawa · Wien This publication has been peer reviewed. www.peterlang.com Contents Acknowledgements �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11 Introduction ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 13 Blockbusters and Reaganism ���������������������������������������������������������� 13 The Long Shadow of the 1980s ������������������������������������������������������� 15 How to Trace Ideology in Blockbusters? ��������������������������������������� 17 Focal Points for Analysis ����������������������������������������������������������������� 19 Why Does Reaganism in Blockbusters Matter? �������������������������� 25 ������������������������������������������������������������ 29 Chapter 1 Tracing Echoes in Film Chapter Overview ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29 The Case for the Continued Reaganization of Hollywood Blockbusters �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29 The Media Spectacle According to Douglas Kellner ������������������� 32 The Hollywood “Hard Body” According to Susan Jeffords ������� 37 George Lakoff’s “Strict Father Model” as a Political Framing Device �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 42 Roland Barthes’ Concept of Mythologies as a Tool for Deconstructing Capitalist Imagery ����������������������������������������������� 47 Defining Hollywood Blockbusters as a Formula ������������������������ 50 Key Ideological and Methodological Terms ��������������������������������� 55 Neoliberalism ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 55 Neoconservatism ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 57 Messianic Americanism ���������������������������������������������������������� 59 Metatexts/Subtexts ������������������������������������������������������������������� 59 Potentials and Limitations �������������������������������������������������������������� 61 8 Contents ������ 67 Chapter 2 Key Myths and Metaphors in Reagan’s Rhetoric Chapter Overview �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 67 The “Small-Government” Metaphor ������������������������������������������ 68 The “Star Wars” Program as a Pop Culture Invocation for Cold War Rearmament ����������������������������������������������������������������� 76 Counter-Terrorism as “War” against the Other ������������������������ 84 The White Male Entrepreneur as Mythical Hero for the Nation ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 94 Chapter 3 E.T.—The Extra-Terrestrial as a Reaganite “Small- Government Fable” ������������������������������������������������������������������ 105 Introduction and Chapter Overview ������������������������������������������� 105 Hollywood Studios at Heaven’s Gate: The Production Background of E.T. ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 110 Film Analysis ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 114 The Dystopian Nature of Government and Bureaucracy in E.T. ������������������������������������������������������������������ 114 The Restoration of the Father through White, Male, Middle-Class Individualism ������������������������������������������������� 128 The Pop Cultural Legacy of E.T.—The Extra-Terrestrial ����������� 141 Chapter 4 The Recycling of Reagan’s Cold War Rhetoric in Independence Day ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 147 Introduction and Chapter Overview ������������������������������������������� 147 When Disaster Strikes at the Box Office: The Production Background of Independence Day ������������������������������������������������ 151 Film Analysis ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 156 Technological Superiority in Outer Space as an Expression of US-American Hegemony ����������������������������� 156 The Role of “Messianic Americanism” in Defeating the Other ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 173 The Pop Cultural Legacy of Independence Day ������������������������� 192 Contents 9 Chapter 5 The Dark Knight as an Echo Chamber for Reaganite Counter-Terrorism Rhetoric ������������������������ 197 Introduction and Chapter Overview ������������������������������������������ 197 A New Class of Criminals: The Production Background of The Dark Knight ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 202 Film Analysis ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 207 “War on Terror” and “Terror War” in The Dark Knight ��� 207 “Terror” Is What Others Do: Racial Otherness in The Dark Knight and in Neoconservative Rhetoric ����������� 228 The Pop Cultural Legacy of The Dark Knight ���������������������������� 244 ��� 251 Chapter 6 Hard-Bodied Entrepreneurialism in The Avengers Introduction and Chapter Overview ������������������������������������������� 251 The Superhero (Formula) Keeps Coming Back: The Production Background of The Avengers ����������������������������������� 256 Film Analysis ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 262 Entrepreneurialism and National Defense in The Avengers ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 262 Gendered “Hard Bodies” in Times of War ������������������������� 287 The Pop Cultural Legacy of The Avengers ���������������������������������� 305 Conclusions and Outlook ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 311 Main Conclusions and their Relevance for Contemporary Discussions �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 311 Implications for Blockbuster Movies as a Formula ������������������ 320 From Ronald to Donald: When Blockbuster Logic Meets Political Spectacles ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 326 List of Figures ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 341 Bibliography ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 343 Acknowledgements With special thanks to these wonderful individuals for their amazing assistance: Patrick Bradshaw, Claire J� Davis, Helen Gibson, Spencer Kohan, John Nordstrom, and Tyler Olson� This book was originally conceived and written as a doctoral thesis during the author’s candidacy for the degree of Doctor Philosophiae at Humboldt University of Berlin� The author submitted the original manuscript on 6 February 2019 to the Department of English and American Studies, Humboldt University of Berlin, Unter den Linden
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