This book uses large scale social and cultural trends and major world events to analyse the American comedy film.

Film Comedy and the American Dream is an examination of national identity in the era of the American superpower as projected in popular comedic films that center on issues of upward mobility. It is the story of what made audiences laugh and why, and what this says about the changing shape of the American Dream from the end of the Second World War through the first part of the twenty-first century. Through a combination of narrative and thematic analyses of popular comedic films, contextualized within a dynamic historical framework, the book traces the increasing disillusionment with this central ideology in the face of multiple forms of systemic exclusion. It argues that film comedy is a major component of the discourse surrounding the American Dream because these movies often evoke humor by highlighting the incongruities that exist between the ideals that define this nation versus the actual lived experiences of its citizens.

This book contends that Hollywood films help illuminate the incongruities of various periods in American diplomacy. From the war film Bataan to the Revisionist Western The Wild Bunch, cinema has long reflected US foreign policy’s divisiveness both directly and allegorically. Beginning with the 1990s presidential drama The American President and concluding with Joker’s allegorical treatment of the Trump era, this book posits that the paradigms for political reflection are shifting in American film, from explicit subtexts surrounding US statecraft to covert representations of diplomatic disarray. It further argues that the International Relations theorist Walter Mead’s concept of a US polity dominated by contesting beliefs, or a ‘kaleidoscope’, permeates these changing paradigms. This synergy reveals a cultural milieu where foreign policy fissures are increasingly encoded by cinematic representation. The interdisciplinarity of this focus renders this book pertinent reading for scholars and students of American Studies, Film Studies and International Relations, along with those generally interested in Hollywood filmmakers and foreign policy.

This handbook tackles the understudied relationship between music and comedy cinema by analysing the nature, perception, and function of music from fresh perspectives. Its approach is not only multidisciplinary, but also interdisciplinary in its close examination of how music and other cinematic devices interact in the creation of comedy. The volume addresses gender representation, national identities, stylistic strategies, and employs inputs from cultural studies, musicology, music theory, psychology, cognitivism, semiotics, formal and stylistic film analysis, and psychoanalysis. It is organised in four sections: general introductions, theoretical investigations, music and comedy within national cinemas, and exemplary case studies of films or authors.

This book uses large scale social and cultural trends and major world events to analyse the American comedy film. This is a historical and conceptual study discussing the comedy narrative, comic traditions, and role of visual culture. Grounded in the theoretical writing of Jean Baudrillard, Paul Virilio, Friedrich Kittler and Jacques Derrida, Bishop brings a new perspective to comedy in film suggesting that it is central to staging cultural criticism. He discusses themes such as repetition, automation, material systems of information media, the level of address in a communicative act, and the shifting role of the image. Key features Close analysis of two films to illustrate key points in each chapter Relevant both to film and cultural studies Chronological treatment

Long-held associations between women, home, food, and cooking are beginning to unravel as, in a growing number of households, men are taking on food and cooking responsibilities. At the same time, men's public foodwork continues to gain attention in the media and popular culture. The first of its kind, Food, Masculinities and Home focuses specifically on food in relation to how homemaking practices shape masculine identities and transform meanings of 'home'. The international, multidisciplinary contributors explore questions including how food practices shape masculinity and notions of home, and vice versa; the extent to which this gender shift challenges existing gender hierarchies; and how masculinities are being reshaped by the growing presence of men in kitchens and food-focused spaces. With ever-growing interest in both food and gender studies, this is a must-read for students and researchers in food studies, gender studies, cultural studies, sociology, geography, anthropology, and related fields.