Magical Thinking, Fantastic Film, and the Illusions of Neoliberalism

by Michael J. Blouin

Overview

This book analyzes how contemporary popular films with fantastic themes, including Candyman, Frozen, The Cabin in the Woods, and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, cultivate neoliberal subjectivities. These films promise dramatic change, but they too often deliver more of the same. Although proponents maintain the illusion that the militant enforcement of freemarket economics will resolve racism, climate change, and imperialism, their magical thinking actually fuels the crises. Magical Thinking, Fantastic Film, and the Illusions of Neoliberalism explores the ways in which the visual economies of Hollywood fantasy compliment this particular political economy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349958993
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	12/19/2018
Edition description:	1st ed. 2016
Pages:	245
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael J. Blouin is Assistant Professor at Milligan College, USA. He maintains research interests in film studies, critical theory, transnationalism, and popular culture. Blouin’s publications include Japan and the Cosmopolitan Gothic: Specters of Modernity, as well as articles in academic journals including The Journal of American Studies and Extrapolation.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction: Neoliberal Fantasies.- 2 (Neo)liberalism and the Banal Apocalypse.- 3 Cinematic Enchantment and the Magic of the Market.- 4 Candyman and Neoliberal Racism.- 5 Climate Change and the “Greenwashing” of Hollywood Fantasies.- 6 American Horror, Global Commons, and The Cabin in the Woods.- 7 Biopolitics and Movies about Magic.- Coda: The Hunger Games, The Watchmen, and The Confused Critic.