{"product_id":"framing-monsters-joshua-david-bellin-9780809326242","title":"Framing Monsters: Fantasy Film and Social Alienation","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe canon of popular cinema has long been rife with fantastic tales, yet critical studies have too often expediently mixed the fantasy genre with its kindred science fiction and horror films or dismissed it altogether as escapist fare. \u003ci\u003eFraming Monsters: Fantasy Film and Social Alienation\u003c\/i\u003e reconsiders the cultural significance of this storytelling mode by investigating how films seemingly divorced from reality and presented in a context of timelessness are, in fact, encoded with the social practices and beliefs of their era of production.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSituating representative fantasy films within their cultural moments, Joshua David Bellin illustrates how fantastic visions of monstrous others seek to propagate negative stereotypes of despised groups and support invidious hierarchies of social control. In constructing such an argument, \u003ci\u003eFraming Monsters\u003c\/i\u003e not only contests dismissive attitudes toward fantasy but also challenges the psychoanalytic criticism that has thus far dominated its limited critical study. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeginning with celebrated classics, Bellin locates \u003ci\u003eKing Kong\u003c\/i\u003e (1933) within the era of lynching to evince how the film protects whiteness against supposed aggressions of a black predator and reviews \u003ci\u003eThe Wizard of Oz \u003c\/i\u003e(1939) as a product of the Depression's economic anxieties. From there, the study moves to the cult classic animated \u003ci\u003eSinbad\u003c\/i\u003e Trilogy (1958-1977) of Ray Harryhausen, films rampant with xenophobic fears of the Middle East as relevant today as when the series was originally produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdvancing to more recent subjects, Bellin focuses on the image of the monstrous woman and the threat of reproductive freedom found in \u003ci\u003eAliens\u003c\/i\u003e (1986), \u003ci\u003eJurassic Park\u003c\/i\u003e (1993), and \u003ci\u003eSpecies\u003c\/i\u003e (1995) and on depictions of the mentally ill as dangerous deviants in \u003ci\u003e12 Monkeys\u003c\/i\u003e (1996) and \u003ci\u003eThe Cell \u003c\/i\u003e(2000). An investigation into physical freakishness guides his approach to \u003ci\u003eEdward Scissorhands\u003c\/i\u003e (1990) and \u003ci\u003eBeauty and the Beast\u003c\/i\u003e (1991). He concludes with a discussion of \u003ci\u003eX-Men \u003c\/i\u003e(2000) and \u003ci\u003eLord of the Rings\u003c\/i\u003e (2001-2003), commercial giants that extend a recent trend toward critical self-reflection within the genre while still participating in the continuity of social alienation. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten to enhance rather than undermine our understanding of fantastic cinema, \u003ci\u003eFraming Monsters\u003c\/i\u003e invites filmmakers, critics, and fans alike to reassess this tremendously popular and influential film type and the monsters that populate it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joshua David Bellin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0809326248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780809326242\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Southern Illinois University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/10\/2005\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.78lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.74w x 0.62d","brand":"Joshua David Bellin","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43926322643199,"sku":"9780809326242","price":31.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_f2c14d5f-2034-4e20-9c93-24867536ed20.jpg?v=1681082428","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/framing-monsters-joshua-david-bellin-9780809326242","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}