Description
The book begins by providing an overview of the gender and racial classifications associated with the male ""Method"" actor and discussing white maleness in the mid-twentieth century. The first chapter explores the popular press's promotion of ""Method"" stars during the 1950s as an extension of Strasberg's rise in celebrity. At the same time, Adler's methodology was defining actor performance as a form of social engagement-rather than just personal expression-welcoming an analysis of onscreen masculinity as culturally-fluid. The chapters that follow serve as case studies of some of Adler's most famous students in notable roles-Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and The Missouri Breaks (1976), Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976), Henry Winkler in Happy Days (1974-84), and Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Balcerzak concludes that the presence of Adler altered the trajectory of onscreen maleness through a promotion of a relatively complex view of gender identity not found in other classrooms.
Beyond Method considers Stella Adler as not only an effective teacher of acting but also an engaging and original thinker, providing us a new way to consider performances of maleness on the screen. Film and theater scholars, as well as those interested in gender studies, are sure to benefit from this thorough study.
About the Author
Scott Balcerzak is associate professor of film and media in the Department of English at Northern Illinois University. He is the author of Buffoon Men: Classic Hollywood Comedians and Queered Masculinity (Wayne State University Press, 2013). He is also the co-editor of Cinephilia in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Film, Pleasure, and Digital Culture, Vols. 1 and 2.
Book Information
ISBN 9780814342916
Author Scott Balcerzak
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Wayne State University Press
Publisher Wayne State University Press
Series Contemporary Approaches to Film and Media Series