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AME 1 RICA NPAP2014–15 ERS Volume 33 2014–15 AMERICAN PAPERS Faculty Advisor Terri Snyder Layout & Design Dusty Altena Managing Editors Dusty Altena Kacie Hoppe Sophia Islas Mike West Editorial Board Darcy Anderson Danielle Barraza Danielle Lopez Andrew Bahna Courtney Brown Tatiana Pedroza Special Thanks All works published in The American Papers represent the views and work Professor Snyder wishes to thank the editorial board of The of individual authors. The American Papers, its Editorial Board, and pu- blishers disclaim responsibility and liability for statements, either of fact American Papers for their efforts and willingness to give or opinion, made by its contributors. freely of their time—even over summer break! The authors also deserve commendation as well for their good-natured The American Papers (ISSN 10598464) is published once yearly by the responses to the editorial process. American Studies Student Association, California State University, Fuller- ton, P.O. Box 34080, Fullerton, California, 92634-9480. Dusty Altena, Courtney Brown, Kacie Hoppe, Sophia The sources of the quotations used at the section breaks are: Interview Islas, Tatiana Pedroza, and Mike West deserve special with Jumpha Lahiri in “By the Book,” New York Times, September 5, recognition for, in effect, functioning as this volume’s 2013; Aberjhani, The American Poet Who Went Home Again (Savannah, managing editors. Kacie secured our funding and, along GA: Black Skylark Singing, 2008). with Sophia and Mike, edited and proofread the final draft and consulted with Dusty, who provided us with a facebook.com/CSUFassa superb cover design and layout. Together, their efforts made the production of the 2014–2015 American Pa- @ASSACSUF pers possible. amst.fullerton.edu Copyright © 2014 The American Studies Student Association, California State University, Fullerton. All rights reserved. FROM THE EDITORS Welcome to the 2014–15 issue of The American Papers! Additionally, this issue features the winner of the American Studies’ Earl James Weaver prize for the best essay written We invite you to explore the myriad ways in which students by a graduate student. Mike West’s “The Birth of the Pin-Up of American Studies strive to understand American culture Girl: How Footlocker Art Swept the Nation and Influenced in its national and transnational contexts. This issue Gender Roles during World War II” explores the emerging begins with “American Forms,” a selection of essays that role of pin-up girls in gender relations in wartime America. investigate television, literature, and photography—to name only three of the cultural documents represented We hope that while you are reading through this fine in this section—in order to understand American culture. group of essays you learn something new, come across something that sparks your interest, or discover a topic From there, we turn to the essays in “American Identities.” that inspires your own research. Perhaps something will These selections examine the shifting nature of cultural change your point of view and encourage you to think identities of race, class, gender, and region and dem- critically about a certain topic related to American culture. onstrate the constantly fluctuating national and global If any one of these instances occurs, this journal has scene that causes us to continually search for answers to served its purpose. Enjoy! the question of what it means to be an American. iii AMERICAN PAPERS CONTRIBUTORS Danielle Barraza is a third-year American Studies gra- Aaron J. Mezzano is a second-year American Studies duate student. She completed her undergraduate work graduate student. He completed his undergraduate work at Cal State Fullerton, where she received BA degrees at UC Santa Barbara, where he received a BA degree in in American Studies and Communications with an em- History. His research interests include leisure, television, phasis in Entertainment Studies. Her research interests entertainment, and representation. He plans to expand revolve around media representations of race and gen- his research in video games and pursue a PhD. der in American culture. She plans to continue this work in a PhD program. Steven Montes completed his undergraduate work at Cal State Fullerton in 2014, where he received BA degre- Courtney Beachner is a second-year American Studies es in American Studies and Communications, with an graduate student. Her research interests include gender, emphasis in Entertainment and Tourism Studies. popular culture, and media representations. She also serves as the treasurer for the American Studies Student Sarah Printy is an undergraduate student majoring in Association. Graphic Design. After taking an American Studies class in her sophomore year, she found that she enjoyed lear- Brianna Flores is an undergraduate student majoring in ning about history from an American Studies perspecti- American Studies and minoring in Political Science. Her ve. She plans to take more American Studies classes in research interests include popular culture, feminism, and the future. law. After graduating she plans to pursue a JD. Nicole Rehnberg is a second-year English graduate Jessica Fortinberry completed her undergraduate work student. Her research interests focus on storytelling and at Cal State Fullerton in 2014, where she received a BA comic books. She hopes to pursue a career as a comic degree in English with a minor in American Studies. book historian. She has been taking time off since graduation, and can be found reading and spending time with her family. Sara Roberts is an undergraduate student majoring in American Studies as well as Fine Arts, with an emphasis Brandon Kyle Goco completed his undergraduate in sculpture. She enjoys exploring American history thro- work at Cal State Fullerton in 2014, where he received ugh a critical lens by challenging preconceived notions BA degrees in American Studies and Radio-TV-Film. His and popularly held beliefs. After graduating she hopes research interests include film theory, queer history, and to attain an apprenticeship where she can further her transnational studies. In 2014, Brandon was the recipient skills in the field of sculpture. of the Academic Achievement Award by the CSUF Ameri- can Studies Department. He is currently working for the Mike West is a third-year American Studies graduate Directors Guild of America in Hollywood, CA. student. He completed his undergraduate work at UC Santa Cruz, where he received a BA in American Stu- Elliot Lam is a second-year American Studies graduate dies. His research interests include the role of pin-ups student. He completed his undergraduate work at Cal in shaping gender roles in the mid-twentieth century, State Fullerton, where he received a BA degree in Politi- American folk music, and race and baseball. He plans to cal Science. His research interests include U.S. wars and continue this work in a PhD program. racial formation. He hopes to one day develop critical theory on refugees. CONTENTS v AMERICAN FORMS Defying Documentary 2 In Search of Truth in Non-Fiction Cinema by Brandon Kyle Goco Pretty Big Lies 9 Media Coverage of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars by Brianna Flores Mark Twain and Henry James 13 Interpreting American Nationalism in the Late Nineteenth Century by Jessica Fortinberry Just a Game? 19 Modern Warfare, Ideologies, and Popular Culture by Aaron J. Mezzano Great American Novel or Great American Myth? 27 The Last of the Mohicans Film Review by Sarah Printy THE EARL JAMES WEAVER PRIZE The Birth of the Pin-Up Girl 32 How Footlocker Art Swept the Nation and Influenced Gender Roles during World War II by Mike West AMERICAN IDENTITIES Rationalizing, Coping, and Healing 44 The Use of Humor and Comedy during Times of War by Steven Montes Anticommunist Killer 50 How the Murder Trials of Minh Van Lam Shaped the Image of the Perpetual Refugee by Elliot Hai-Long Lam Yearning for the Other Half 58 Disclosing Women’s Contributions to American History by Sara Roberts The Nerd Postulate 60 Subcultural Capital, Regeneration, and Carnival in The Big Bang Theory by Courtney Beachner The All but Vanishing Race 70 Native American Identity through Photography by Danielle Barraza In Search of Lost Things 74 Proust and the Importance of Material Culture by Nicole Rehnberg AMERICAN FORMS From the beginnings of literature, poets and writers have based their narratives on crossing borders, on wandering, on “ exile, on encounters beyond the familiar. The stranger is an archetype . The tension between alienation and assimilation has always been a basic theme.” – Jhumpa Lahiri 2 AMERICAN FORMS 401: AMERICAN CULTURE THROUGH SOCIAL SCIENCE Defying Documentary In Search of Truth in Non-Fiction Cinema BRANDON KYLE GOCO century old, the cinema was thus introduced to the potential- This essay was written for Dr. Leila Zender- ity of non-fiction as a genre sustainable in long form. land’s American Culture Through Social Nanook of the North broke boundaries. Boldly sidestep- ping the already cinematic tradition of theatricality for an Science course in the fall of 2013. It examines ostensibly frank depiction of “real life.” Yet, despite Flaherty the often-opaque relationship between the going to great lengths filming Nanook in the “actual Arctic,” documentary film genre and the concept of much of the story, sequences, and characters were fabricat- “truth,” chronicling the evolution of the genre ed to benefit the need for drama. Most Inuit people by that during the 1930s and 1970s. time were not as blissfully unaware of the outside world as Nanook appeared to have been when confronted with the “white man’s” gramophone—the tools and clothing used by Nanook had, by then, been long outdated in favor of a variety of Western gear to combat the harshness of the tundra and pon entering the tradesman’s tent—a journey itself, even the man who played Nanook actually went by the name long and arduous through the Arctic tundra—Nanook, Allakariallak.3 John Grierson, a disciple of Flaherty and the Uthe eponymous hero from Robert J.

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