Description
Although American films, especially Hollywood fare, are often belittled for their one-dimensional portrayal of sex, a close examination of the history of sex in American motion pictures reveals that American cinema has actually represented sex in myriad ways. A more complete understanding of the ways in which sex has been represented onscreen requires an approach that pays equal attention to cinematic techniques and to the diversity of sexual values and behaviors in American society. It is necessary to frame this discussion within the multiple contradictions of an industry that has both repressed and represented sex with equal fervor over the course of its history; of audiences that have both taken offense at and flocked to films with sexual themes; and a body politic that has regulated the sexual in popular culture even as its discourse has been saturated with sexual images and topics. The History of Sex in American Cinema moves seamlessly between general film and social history to clarify how exactly sex has been expressed cinematically, and how we have responded to those expressions as a culture.
In March of 1965 the Supreme Court put into motion legal changes that marked the end of local film censorship as it had existed since the early years of the twentieth century. In Hollywood that same year, The Pawnbroker was released with a Production Code Seal of Approval, despite nudity that violated that Code. As sexual liberation occurred onscreen, parallel developments occurred in the way we lived our lives, and by the end of the 1960s Americans were having sex more often, and with more partners, than ever before. There was also now a public debate surrounding sexuality, and one of the loudest and most continually active voices in this debate was that of American film.
This work begins with an examination of some of the earliest altercations in what later came to be known as the culture wars, and follows those skirmishes, more often than not provoked by American film, up to the modern day. By looking at how sex in the cinema has contributed to the demise of the fragile consensus between liberals and conservatives on freedom of expression, The History of Sex in American Film suggests a perspective from which today's culture wars can be better understood. This work combines close readings of many representative films-including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate, Blue Velvet, Philadelphia, L.A. Confidential, and Closer-with a social and historical account of the most significant changes in American sexual behavior and sexual representation over the past fifty years.
"An excellent and well-researched cultural history of the representation of sex in American film. Pennington's discussion of underground and alternative cinema alongside mainstream film is particularly useful." -- Aidan Day, Professor of English^LUniversity of Dundee, Scotland "A must-read for anyone interested in representations of sex in American film. Jody Pennington's discussions of individual films, and of censorship legislation and practices, are admirably clear and to the point and offer the reader fresh insights into the vital questions at hand." -- Richard Raskin, Associate Professor, Film Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark "Engaging and informative, Jody Pennington's insightful A History of Sex in American Cinema is a powerful look at how sex functions on the American silver screen, and will quickly become a classic that his audience will turn to again and again. Pennington's thorough research provides a historical and theoretical context for sex in the cinema, illuminating one of the most socially controversial topics in the United States today. This book is a significant contribution to the study of American film. I recommend A History of Sex in American Cinema to anyone who wants to evolve their current knowledge base on film to a place where sex is no longer a singular act, but a complex symbol of personal freedom, of oppression, of joy, of love, of anger--everything apparent in the human condition." -- Rebecca Housel, Professor of English, Rochester Institute of Technology "For mature adults only! This sophisticated treatment of Americans' ambivalence toward sex on the silver screen ranges across a full century and considers sexuality in many forms. Pennington blends the law, cinematic technology, Hollywood economics, public attitudes, and sexual behavior in general into a lively discussion of a controversial but rarely studied topic. Read this book and you'll have a new understanding of today's cinematic culture wars." -- W. Bruce Leslie, Professor of History, State University of New York, College at Brockport
About the Author
Jody W. Pennington is Associate Professor in Media and Culture Studies at the Department of English, University of Aarhus, Denmark, where he teaches Media and Cultural Studies as well as American Studies. He has published articles and presented papers on various aspects of film and popular music, as well as American constitutional law. He is currently president of the Danish Association of American Studies.
Reviews
"Pennington delivers an overview of the intersection of sexual mores, censorship, and film portrayals of sexuality. The volume is a useful introductory tool.... Recommended. Undergraduates; general readers." - Choice
"Pennington traces the development of visual and thematic sexual content, the ensuing conservative vs. liberal controversies, and the impact of resulting censorship codes and legal rulings with their shifting guidelines. Using numerous in-depth examples of films, citing specific plotlines, and offering pertinent descriptions of relevant scenes. Pennington thoughtfully analyzes the interrelationship of film and American society in terms of sexual attitudes and psychology, examining changing values, prejudices, boundaries, and norms within historical and cultural contexts....Throughout, he reveals the close but complex alliance between film and life. For academic and large film collections" - Library Journal
"This work by Pennington is a social and cultural history of the representation of sex and its regulation in American cinema. She takes a chronological approach to the film industry's self-censorship regimes through the mid-1960s, non-mainstream film most affected by obscenity law, sexual themes in the films that helped put an end to the Production Code, changing American attitudes towards sex and their reflection in film through the 1980s, and the present-day conservative counterattack on liberal sexual realignment as it has played out in film. Remaining chapters adopt a more thematic approach and offer analysis of the revision of sexual representation of the past following the demise of the Production Code and representations of homosexuality, adultery, and pedophilia." - Reference & Research Book News
Book Information
ISBN 9780275992262
Author Jody Pennington
Format Hardback
Page Count 232
Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
