- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
Although considered a relatively new genre, the mockumentary has existed nearly as long as filmmaking itself and has become one of the most common forms of film and television comedy today. In order to better understand the larger cultural truths artfully woven into their deception, these works demonstrate just how tenuous and problematic our collective understandings of our social worlds can be.
In Too Bold for the Box Office: The Mockumentary from Big Screen to Small, Cynthia J. Miller has assembled essays by scholars and filmmakers who examine this unique cinematic form. Individually, each of these essays looks at a given instance of mockumentary parody and subversion, examining the ways in which each calls into question our assumptions, pleasures, beliefs, and even our senses. Writing about national film, television, and new media traditions as diverse as their backgrounds, this volume's contributors explore and theorize the workings of mockumentaries, as well as the strategies and motivations of the writers and filmmakers who brought them into being.
Reflections by filmmakers Kevin Brownlow (It Happened Here), Christopher Hansen (The Proper Care and Feeding of An American Messiah), and Spencer Schaffner (The Urban Literacy Manifesto) add valued perspective and significantly deepen the discussions found in the volume's other contributions. This collection of essays on films, television programming, and new media illustrates common threads running across cultures and eras and attempts to answer sweeping existential questions about the nature of social life and the human condition.
In Too Bold for the Box Office: The Mockumentary from Big Screen to Small, Cynthia J. Miller has assembled essays by scholars and filmmakers who examine this unique cinematic form. Individually, each of these essays looks at a given instance of mockumentary parody and subversion, examining the ways in which each calls into question our assumptions, pleasures, beliefs, and even our senses. Writing about national film, television, and new media traditions as diverse as their backgrounds, this volume's contributors explore and theorize the workings of mockumentaries, as well as the strategies and motivations of the writers and filmmakers who brought them into being.
Reflections by filmmakers Kevin Brownlow (It Happened Here), Christopher Hansen (The Proper Care and Feeding of An American Messiah), and Spencer Schaffner (The Urban Literacy Manifesto) add valued perspective and significantly deepen the discussions found in the volume's other contributions. This collection of essays on films, television programming, and new media illustrates common threads running across cultures and eras and attempts to answer sweeping existential questions about the nature of social life and the human condition.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weâve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere â even offline. Perfect for commutes or when youâre on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Too Bold for the Box Office by Cynthia J. Miller in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Film & Video. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Prologue: Nothing New under the SunâOr on Film
- Part I: Lost Histories
- Chapter 1: Making Up Mammy: Reenacting Historical Erasure and Recasting Authenticity in Cheryl Dunyeâs The Watermelon Woman
- Chapter 2: Mercuryâs on the Launch Pad, but Cadillacâs on the Moon: The Old Negro Space Program
- Chapter 3: Peter Delpeutâs The Forbidden Quest: History and Truth in Fiction
- Part II: Popular Culture as Commentary
- Chapter 4: Polka Settles the Score in The Schmenges: The Last Polka
- Chapter 5: Experiments in Parody and Satire: Short-Form Mockumentary Series
- Chapter 6: Commando Raids on the Nature of Reality
- Part III: Daring to Believe
- Chapter 7: Aching to Believe: The Heresy of Forgotten Silver
- Chapter 8: âThatâs Not Zen!â Mocking Ethnographic Film in Doris Dörrieâs Enlightenment Guaranteed
- Chapter 9: The Mind behind the Mockumentary: The Proper Care and Feeding of an American Messiah
- Part IV: The War That Wasnât
- Chapter 10: It (Might Have) Happened Here: How Nazi Germany Won the War
- Chapter 11: Between What Is and What If: Kevin Willmottâs CSA
- Chapter 12: The âSeriousâ Mockumentary: The Trivialization of Disaster? The Case of Peter Watkins
- Chapter 13: The Making of It Happened Here
- Epilogue: Mockumentaries Meet New Media
- Selected Filmography
- About the Contributors
- About the Editor