Children in the Films of Steven Spielberg (eBook)

Debbie Olson, Adrian Schober (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2016
326 Seiten
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-4985-1885-7 (ISBN)

Infos

This collection, representing the work of scholars from a range of theoretical frameworks and disciplines, examines aspects of the preoccupation with children and childhood in Steven Spielberg’s films. It includes essays on such films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Empire of the Sun, Hook, Jurassic Park, and more.

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To say that children matter in Steven Spielbergs films is an understatement. Think of the possessed Stevie in Something Evil (TV), Baby Langston in The Sugarland Express, the alien-abducted Barry in Close Encounters,Elliott and his unearthly alter-ego in E.T, the war-damaged Jim in Empire of the Sun, the little girl in the red coat in Schindler's List, the mecha child in A.I., the kidnapped boy in Minority Report, and the eponymous boy hero of The Adventures of Tintin. (There are many other instances across his oeuvre). Contradicting his reputation as a purveyor of ';popcorn' entertainment, Spielberg's vision of children/childhood is complex. Discerning critics have begun to note its darker underpinnings, increasingly fraught with tensions, conflicts and anxieties. But, while childhood is Spielberg's principal source of inspiration, the topic has never been the focus of a dedicated collection of essays. The essays in Children in the Films of Steven Spielberg therefore seek to address childhood in the full spectrum of Spielberg's cinema. Fittingly, the scholars represented here draw on a range of theoretical frameworks and disciplinescinema studies, literary studies, audience reception, critical race theory, psychoanalysis, sociology, and more. This is an important book for not only scholars but teachers and students of Spielbergs work, and for any serious fan of the director and his career.

Autor

Adrian Schoberserves on the editorial board of Red Feather: An International Journal of Children’s Popular Culture.Debbie Olson is lecturer at the University of Texas at Arlington, and for Dallas County Community College District.

Inhalt

Introduction: Adrian Schober Chapter 1: Spielberg and the Kidult, Noel BrownChapter 2: Unconditional Love, Hysterical Motherhood and the Lost/Possessed Child: Steven Spielberg’s Something Evil, Adrian SchoberChapter 3: Ambiguous Loss: The Depiction of Child Abduction in Spielberg’s Early Films, James KendrickChapter 4: “I’ll be right here!” Dealing with Emotional Trauma in and through E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Peter KrämerChapter 5: Children, Innocence and Agency in the Films of Steven Spielberg, Ingrid E. CastroChapter 6: Childhood, Race, and the Politics of Dirt in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple, Debbie OlsonChapter 7: Betwixt-and-Between: Reclaiming Childhood in Hook, Jen Baker Chapter 8: Hooked on Happy Thoughts: New Sincerity and Spielberg’s Troubled Nostalgia for Mythic Childhood, Jessica Balanzategui and Gabrielle Kristjanson Chapter 9: Bipolar Boys: Spielberg's Manic-Depressive Children, Andrew M. GordonChapter 10: Trauma, Loss, Anxiety: Spielberg’s Missing Children in Minority Report, Jurassic Park and War of the Worlds, Fran Pheasant-KellyChapter 11: Body Consciousness and Adolescence in The Adventures ofTintin: The Secret of The Unicorn, Leonie Rutherford

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 13.4.2016
• Reihe/Serie: Children and Youth in Popular Culture
• Co-Autor: Jen Baker, Leonie Rutherford, Jessica Balanzategui, Noel Brown, Ingrid E. Castro, Andrew M. Gordon, James Kendrick, Peter Kramer, Gabrielle Kristjanson, Fran Pheasant-Kelly
• Zusatzinfo: 27 Illustrations including: - 6 Halftones, Black & White including Black & White Photographs; - 20 Halftones, Color including Color Photographs; - 1 Tables.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Medienwissenschaft
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik
• Schlagworte: American Culture • American film • childhood studies • Children's films • Children studies • cinema studies • Family Films • Fantasy • Horror • popular culture • Race • Romanticism • Science Fiction
• ISBN-10: 1-4985-1885-0 / 1498518850
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4985-1885-7 / 9781498518857