Invented Lives, Imagined Communities
The Biopic and American National Identity
William H. Epstein, R. Barton Palmer, William H. Epstein, R. Barton Palmer
- 352 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Invented Lives, Imagined Communities
The Biopic and American National Identity
William H. Epstein, R. Barton Palmer, William H. Epstein, R. Barton Palmer
About This Book
Biopicsāfilms that chronicle the lives of famous and notorious figures from our national historyāhave long been one of Hollywood's most popular and important genres, offering viewers various understandings of American national identity. Invented Lives, Imagined Communities provides the first full-length examination of US biopics, focusing on key releases in American cinema while treating recent developments in three fields: cinema studies, particularly the history of Hollywood; national identity studies dealing with the American experience; and scholarship devoted to modernity and postmodernity. Films discussed include Houdini, Patton, The Great White Hope, Bound for Glory, Ed Wood, Basquiat, Pollock, Sylvia, Kinsey, Fur, Milk, J. Edgar, and Lincoln, and the book pays special attention to the crucial generic plot along which biopics traverse and showcase American lives, even as they modify the various notions of the national character.