Grease: Gender, Nostalgia and Youth Consumption in the Blockbuster Era

by Barbara Jane Brickman

Overview

This book offers the first in-depth look at the history, social context, and industrial practices behind this teen musical phenomenon to suggest that social change, especially in terms of gender and sexuality, comes to the surface despite the film’s retro setting, blockbuster business model, and apparent nostalgic tone. The vast audience for this film over the last thirty-five years and the various "hopelessly devoted" fandoms indicate that Grease exceeds both the confines of its period and the limits of any one ideological message.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367735647
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/18/2020
Series:	Cinema and Youth Cultures
Pages:	116
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Barbara Jane Brickman is an assistant professor of Media and Gender Studies at the University of Alabama. She has published on youth media, female fandom, and 1970s genre films. She is the author of New American Teenagers: The Lost Generation of Youth in 1970s Film.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Rydell High Class of ’78: The Teenager in the Me Decade 2. Exploitation and the New Pop Music Blockbuster 3. ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’: Nostalgia, Camp, and Critique Through Sexual Retrospection 4. Hopelessly Devoted to Grease, or More Than a Little ‘Travolta Fever’ Conclusion