Overview

This is a necessary and urgent read for anyone concerned about the United States' endless wars. Investigating multiple genres of popular culture alongside contemporary U.S. foreign policy and political economy, Imperial Benevolence shows that American popular culture continuously suppresses awareness of U.S. imperialism while assuming American exceptionalism and innocence. This is despite the fact that it is rarely a product of the state. Expertly coordinated essays by prominent historians and media scholars address the ways that movies and television series such as Zero Dark Thirty, The Avengers, and even The Walking Dead, as well as video games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, have largely presented the United States as a global force for good. Popular culture, with few exceptions, has depicted the U.S. as a reluctant hegemon fiercely defending human rights and protecting or expanding democracy from the barbarians determined to destroy it.  

Full Product Details

Author:   Scott Laderman ,  Tim Gruenewald
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.499kg
ISBN:  

9780520299184

ISBN 10:   0520299183
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   14 August 2018
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

Dedication Acknowledgments A Brief Note on Terminology Introduction • Camouflaging Empire: Imperial Benevolence in American Popular Culture Scott Laderman 1 • Imperial Cry Faces: Women Lamenting the War on Terror Rebecca A. Adelman 2 • “Prowarrior, But Not Necessarily Prowar”: American Sniper, Sheep, and Sheepdogs Edwin A. Martini 3 • “The First Step toward Curing the Postwar Blues Is a Return to Nature”: Veterans’ Outdoor Rehabilitation Programs and the Normalization of Empire David Kieran 4 • Exceptional Soldiers: Imagining the Privatized Military on U.S. Television Stacy Takacs 5 • Obama’s “Just War”: Th e American Hero and Just Violence in Popular Television Series Min Kyung (Mia) Yoo 6 • Superhero Films after 9/11: Mitigating “Collateral Damage” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Tim Gruenewald 7 • Humanity’s Greatest Hope: The American Ideal in Marvel’s The Avengers Ross Griffin 8 • The Perfect Cold War Movie for Today? Smoke and Mirrors in Steven Spielberg’s Vision of the Cold War Tony Shaw 9 • Disfiguring the Americas: Representing Drugs, Violence, and Immigration in the Age of Trump Patrick William Kelly 10 • Black Ops Diplomacy and the Foreign Policy of Popular Culture Penny M. Von Eschen About the Contributors Index

Reviews

The essayists make a convincing argument for commercially successful popular culture productions contributing to the soft power of U.S. imperialism by underscoring the message that the United States is a benevolent power in its fight for freedom and by eliding naked self-interest. * Journal of American History *

"""The essayists make a convincing argument for commercially successful popular culture productions contributing to the soft power of U.S. imperialism by underscoring the message that the United States is a benevolent power in its fight for freedom and by eliding naked self-interest."" * Journal of American History *"

Author Information

Scott Laderman is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.  Tim Gruenewald is Assistant Professor and Program Director of American Studies at the University of Hong Kong.

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