Books in French are on www.livres-cinema.info
The Cinema of Isolation
A History of Physical Disability in the Movies
(0 vote)Average rating:
| 0 | rating |  = We can do without |
| 0 | rating |  = Good book |
| 0 | rating |  = Excellent book |
| 0 | rating |  = Unique / a reference |
Your rating: -
Book Presentation:
Filmmakers have often encouraged us to regard people with physical disabilities in terms of pity, awe, humor, or fearas "Others" who somehow deserve to be isolated from the rest of society. In this first history of the portrayal of physical disability in the movies, Martin Norden examines hundreds of Hollywood movies (and notable international ones), finds their place within mainstream society, and uncovers the movie industry's practices for maintaining the status quokeeping people with disabilities dependent and "in their place."
Norden offers a dazzling array of physically disabled characters who embody or break out of the stereotypes that have both influenced and been symptomatic of societys fluctuating relationship with its physically disabled minority. He shows us "sweet innocents" like Tiny Tim, "obsessive avengers" like Quasimodo, variations on the disabled veteran, and many others. He observes the arrival of a new set of stereotypes tied to the growth of science and technology in the 1970s and 1980s, and underscores movies like My Left Foot and The Waterdance that display a newfound sensitivity. Nordens in-depth knowledge of disability history makes for a particularly intelligent and sensitive approach to this long-overlooked issue in media studies.
About the Author:
MARTIN F. NORDEN teaches film as a professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has co-authored Movies: A Language in Light and has written many articles on moving-image media.
See the publisher website: Rutgers University Press
> From the same author:
Lois Weber (2019)
Playing Indian in American Popular Culture
Dir. Martin F. Norden
Subject: Director > Lois Weber
> On a related topic:
Cultures of Representation (2016)
Disability in World Cinema Contexts
Dir. Benjamin Fraser
Subject: Sociology
Down Syndrome Culture (2024)
Life Writing, Documentary, and Fiction Film in Iberian and Latin American Contexts
Subject: Sociology
Autism in Film and Television (2022)
On the Island
Dir. Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer
Subject: Sociology
Killing Off the Lesbians (2017)
A Symbolic Annihilation on Film and Television
by Liz Millward, Janice G. Dodd and Irene Fubara-Manuel
Subject: Sociology
Back
