Apocalyptic Dread

Kirsten Moana Thompson

Description

In Apocalyptic Dread, Kirsten Moana Thompson examines how fears and anxieties about the future are reflected in recent American cinema. Through close readings of such films as Cape Fear, Candyman, Dolores Claiborne, Se7en, Signs, and War of the Worlds, Thompson argues that a longstanding American apocalyptic tradition permeates our popular culture, spreading from science-fiction and disaster films into horror, crime, and melodrama. Drawing upon Kierkegaard's notion of dread—that is, a fundamental anxiety and ambivalence about existential choice and the future—Thompson suggests that the apocalyptic dread revealed in these films, and its guiding tropes of violence, retribution, and renewal, also reveal deep-seated anxieties about historical fragmentation and change, anxieties that are in turn displaced onto each film's particular "monster," whether human, demonic, or eschatological.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

1. Apocalyptic Dread, Kierkegaard, and the Cultural Landscape of the Millennium

2. Cape Fear and Trembling: Familial Dread

3. Strange Fruit: Candyman and Supernatural Dread

4. Dolores Claiborne: Memorial Dread

5. Se7en in the Morgue: Dystopian Dread

6. Signs of the End of the World: Apocalyptic Dread

7. War of the Worlds: Uncanny Dread

Notes
Works Cited
Index

Sujets

• Popular culture
• History of film

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791480335
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

American Film at the Turn of the Millennium

K I R S T E N M O A N A T H O M P S O N

Apocalyptic Dread

Also in the series

William Rothman, editor,Cavell on Film

J. David Slocum, editor,Rebel Without a Cause

Joe McElhaney,The Death of Classical Cinema

Apocalyptic Dread

American Film at the Turn of the Millennium

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Kirsten Moana Thompson

S TATE  U NIVERSITYOF  N EW  Y ORK  P RESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2007 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210-2384

Production by Marilyn P. Semerad Marketing by Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thompson, Kirsten Moana. Apocalyptic dread : American film at the turn of the millenium / Kirsten Moana Thompson. p. cm. — (SUNY series, horizons of cinema) Includes bibiographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-7043-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-7044-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Horror films—United States—History and criticism. 2. Disaster films—United States—History and criticism. 3. Science fiction films— United States—History and criticism. 4. Apocalypse in motion pictures. I. Title. II. Series.

PN1995.9.H6T47 2006 791.43'6160973—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2006013425

To Noelle Couvreur, With love.

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List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

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Contents

Apocalyptic Dread, Kierkegaard, and the Cultural Landscape of the Millennium

Cape FearTrembling: Familial Dread and

Strange Fruit:Candymanand Supernatural Dread

Dolores Claiborne: Memorial Dread

Se7enin the Morgue: Dystopian Dread

Signs of the End of the World: Apocalyptic Dread

War of the Worlds: Uncanny Dread

Notes

Works Cited

Index

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Table 2.1

Figure 2.1

Figure 2.2

Figure 2.3

Figure 2.4

Figure 3.1

Figure 3.2

Figure 3.3

Figure 3.4

Figure 4.1

Illustrations

Principal Differences between Book and Films (Cape Fear).

Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) and Peggy Bowden (Polly Bergen) inCape FearCourtesy (1962). of Photofest. Negative Image of Danielle Bowden’s Eyes in Cape Fear (1991). Robert De Niro as Max Cady inCape Fear (1991). Courtesy of Photofest. Après le deluge: Family in the Mud: Leigh Bowden (Jessica Lange) inCape Fear (1991). In Front of the Bathroom Mirror, Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) and Bernadette Walsh (Kasi Lemmons) Dare Each Other to Call Candyman Five Times.Candyman (1992). The Hookman (Tony Todd) inCandyman (1992) Courtesy of Photofest. Cabrini-Green “White” Towers featured in CandymanPhoto courtesy of (1992). Ronit Bezalel. Helen enters Candyman’s lair through his mouth.Candyman (1992). Selena St. George and Mirror Trauma in Dolores Claiborne (1995).

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