War Games: Ender's Game,The Monuments Men,and Movies for Peace     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2015,17(1):21-24

The popularity of adolescent fantasy movies about cosmic war and the enjoyment of military adventures that we find in World War II movies suggest the unique importance of war-themed culture in fostering solidarity in large, complex, and factionalized societies. War movies offset the power of sub-cultural movements by emphasizing the togetherness to be found in patriotic attachment to the whole society. A review of the history of recent war movies such as Ender's Game and The Monuments Men raises the possibility of a new militarism among young people. However, the persistence of war-weariness indicates that young people may differentiate fantasies of combat from the recognition of the horrors of real war.  相似文献   

Runaway Train: Ex Machina and the Rebel Girls     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2016,18(1):29-32

Courtship is a fertile setting for culturally defined strategies. A common form of competition is criticizing the other group for being inadequate mates. Stories about romance between human beings and non-human participants allow such criticism. Movies about men finding mechanical partners are common. Non-human females are seen as more satisfactory than women, especially when women are transforming their roles to be less subservient.  相似文献   

Gulliver's Travels: Michael Moore the Explorer in Who to Invade Next     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2016,18(4):202-205

America is identified as a nation of immigrants. These immigrants are thought to be the source of its subcultures. It is also a nation of individual explorers and inventors. Their activities are also a source of diverse subcultures. Many notable movies have made heroes of such innovators in different fields of endeavor. Michael Moore's movie Who to Invade Next is a documentary about his trips to other countries in search of more successful institutions of work, education, health services, and incarceration. The premise of the movie is Moore has come to invade the other countries and steal the secrets of their successes in order to reform similar American institutions. Moore finds only mild amusement rather than amazement from his “victims.” He discovers the advances he attributes to other countries were originally American innovations, adopted in other societies but abandoned in America, which has become strangely timid about progress and reform.  相似文献   

The Big,Bad Wolf: Resisting Corporate Evil in “Damages” and State of Play     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2013,15(1):26-28

Popular culture requires readily identifiable villains. Subcultural groups often serve this role, creating controversies. Controversies based on religion are especially bitter. As a rule, religion in the movies is inoffensively sentimental, but The Da Vinci Code is both popular and provocative, treading on the dangerous ground of Jesus's mortality. An Inconvenient Truth, another unexpectedly popular recent movie, is not as amusing, but it concerns issues Jesus cared more about.  相似文献   

Outcasts of Echo Park,Heroes of Brentwood: Quinceañera,Keeping Up with the Steins and Coming of Age in Ethnic L.A.     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2013,15(2):26-28

The challenge of maintaining a national identity as a subculture in America is most evident in connection with special occasions, like transition rites. Coming of age is such an event. The continuity and transformation of the subculture is at stake. In American cities, as exemplified by Los Angeles, the ethnic neighborhood becomes a New Old Country. Those who welcome change and those who resist change may belong surprisingly to unexpected categories, and the roles of the generations can also be more nuanced than popular stereotypes suggest.  相似文献   

Book reviews     

Burton R. Clark  Robert Beck  Barbara B. Burn  Robert F. Arnove  Abraham E. Haspel  John S. Duley  Elsie J. Smith  Lionel S. Lewis  Frank Brown  Staughton Lynd 《Higher Education》1978,7(4):465-487

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Media images     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2013,15(2):25-28

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After the Fall: Awakening from the Dream in The Rider and Red Sparrow     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2013,15(4):216-219

Two recent movies, The Rider and Red Sparrow, are in contrast to a large number of movies celebrating the triumph of afflicted persons over obstacles that seem insurmountable. Through commitment, hard work, and determination, these characters are able to do the impossible. However, these two movies instead focus on the dire consequences of an inability to overcome obstacles. This change may reflect an increasing pessimism about current challenges and individuals’ ability to meet them.  相似文献   

No Company for Old Men: Adventures in Unemployment in The Company Men     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2013,15(4):205-208

Cultural diversity is often attributed to groups in a society from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Assimilation then blends subcultures into a mainstream culture. However, history and circumstance give rise to new groups whose experiences and activities produce new diversity. Big events and big changes give rise to important differences between groups. Popular culture brings new subcultures to the attention of the mainstream. Examples are The Grapes of Wrath, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Company Men, discussed as a step in bringing awareness of current unemployment issues.  相似文献   

Reaping the Whirlwind: The Wind That Shakes the Barley,Liberation and After in the Movies     

Bernard Beck 《Multicultural Perspectives》2013,15(1):24-26

Popular culture includes stories that define and justify the existence of groups and nations. Among those stories are creation accounts, especially stories of the forming of nations through struggles for liberation from oppression. The useful liberation myths are exemplified by two recent films: V for Vendetta and Children of Men. Another recent film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, gives a sober and nuanced account of the Irish Rebellion. It includes the ambiguities of liberation events and the problems that arise and continue after the glorious moment of liberation.  相似文献