Too Much of a Good Thing: Mae West As Cultural Icon - Brossura

Curry, Ramona

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0816627916 ISBN 13: 9780816627912

Casa editrice: Univ of Minnesota Pr, 1996

Riassunto

Before Madonna, before Marilyn, there was Mae. The impact of Mae West - through her films, attitude, and aphorisms ("Too much of a good thing can be wonderful"; "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?") - continues to reverberate through American popular culture more than fifteen years after her death. In Too Much of a Good Thing, Ramona Curry examines the interplay between West's bawdy, worldly persona and twentieth-century gender and media politics.
Although West has remained an important figure, her image has fulfilled varied cultural functions. In the thirties, she was a lightning rod for debates over morality and censorship. In the seventies, the complexity of her portrayal of gender made her a controversial figure for both the gay rights and feminist movements. Curry not only analyzes the symbolic roles West has occupied, arguing that the entertainer represents a carefully orchestrated transgression of race, class, and gender expectations, she also illustrates how icons of pop culture often distill contested social issues, serving diverse and even contradictory political functions. A pithy and innovative look at what Mae West means, Too Much of a Good Thing is must reading for fans, film buffs, and anyone interested in how popular culture evolves and circulates in the United States.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull'autore

Ramona Curry is assistant professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Univ of Minnesota Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 1996
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0816627916
• ISBN 13: 9780816627912
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 240
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile