Reelpolitik II moves past typical left-right political distinctions to examine political ideologies cycling through U.S. history during the '50s and '60s. These eight Cold War movies especially equipped the moviegoer with a unique vantage point to scrutinize the arms race, the Red Scare, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War. They also helped audiences to observe the way film functions as a purveyor of American mythology, a megaphone to shout political messages, a metaphorical route to the emotions, a flattering mirror, an unflattering microscope, and a magic carpet ride back to the future.
Beverly Merrill Kelley is full professor and founder of the communication department at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 1 Introduction: A Tale of Two Cities, Parameters, the Language of Politics Chapter 2 2 Populism in The Last Hurrah Chapter 3 3 Elitism in Advise and Consent Chapter 4 4 Fascism in A Face in the Crowd Chapter 5 5 Antifascism in Seven Days in May Chapter 6 6 Interventionism in The Green Berets Chapter 7 7 Isolationism in The Steel Helmet Chapter 8 8 Cold War Hawkism in The Manchurian Candidate Chapter 9 9 Cold War Dovism in Dr. Strangelove; or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb Chapter 10 10 Conclusion: Myth, Megaphone, Metaphor, Mirror, Microscope, and Magic Carpet Chapter 11 Ideological Filmolgoy Chapter 12 Selected Bibliography
