Pretty People: Movie Stars of the 1990s

Published by Rutgers University Press 2012

Pretty People

Movie Stars of the 1990s

Edited by: Anna Everett
With contributions by: Murray Pomerance , Mary Beth Haralovich , Toby Miller , Linda Ruth Williams , Laura Isabel Serna , Tara McPherson , Mia Mask , Melvin Donalson , Cynthia Fuchs , Tracey Hoover , Gilberto M Blasini , Karen Hollinger , Donna Peberdy and R. Barton Palmer

In the series Star Decades: American Culture/American

https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813553252

Overview
Contents

About this book

In the 1990s, American civil society got upended and reordered as many social, cultural, political, and economic institutions were changed forever. Pretty People examines a wide range of Hollywood icons who reflect how stardom in that decade was transformed as the nation itself was signaling significant changes to familiar ideas about gender, race, ethnicity, age, class, sexuality, and nationality.

Such actors as Denzel Washington, Andy Garcia, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and Antonio Banderas became bona fide movie stars who carried major films to amazing box-office success. Five of the decade’s top ten films were opened by three women—Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, and Whoopi Goldberg. “Chick flick” entered the lexicon as Leonardo DiCaprio became the “King of the World,” ushering in the cult of the mega celebrity. Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise defined screen masculinity as stark contrasts between “the regular guy” and “the intense guy” while the roles of Michael Douglas exemplified the endangered “Average White Male.” A fascinating composite portrait of 1990s Hollywood and its stars, this collection marks the changes to stardom and society at century’s end.

Author / Editor information

ANNA EVERETT is a professor of film and media studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Returning the Gaze: A Genealogy of Black Film Criticism, 1909–1949 and Digital Diaspora: A Race for Cyberspace and founding editor of the journal Screening Noir.

Reviews

"Everett assembles a coterie of capable scholars to investigate changes in society, popular culture, and stardom during the 1990s. Several chapters shine with insight. Everett's chapter on the talents of the iconoclastic Johnny Depp delights as it instructs. Recommended."

— Choice

"Everett assembles a coterie of capable scholars to investigate changes in society, popular culture, and stardom during the 1990s. Several chapters shine with insight. Everett's chapter on the talents of the iconoclastic Johnny Depp delights as it instructs. Recommended."

— Choice

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Stardom in the 1990s Anna Everett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Arnold Schwarzenegger: Corporeal Charisma Linda Ruth Williams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2 Jodie Foster: Feminist Hero? Karen Hollinger Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
3 Denzel Washington: A Revisionist Black Masculinity Melvin Donalson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
4 Julia Roberts: Cultural Phenomenon R. Barton Palmer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
5 Leonardo DiCaprio: King of the “World” Murray Pomerance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
6 Antonio Banderas, Andy Garcia, and Edward James Olmos: Stardom, Masculinity, and “Latinidades” Laura Isabel Serna Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
7 Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise: The Box Office and “True Masculinity” Mary Beth Haralovich Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
8 Angela Bassett and Halle Berry: African American Leading Ladies Mia Mask Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	166
9 Michael Douglas: An Ordinary Man Donna Peberdy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
10 Pierce Brosnan: Licensed to Sell Tracey Hoover and Toby Miller Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
11 Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves: Hollywood and the Iconoclasts Anna Everett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
In the Wings Anna Everett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269

Language: English
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 288
Illustrations
- Other: 51 photograghs

eBook

Published: May 14, 2012
ISBN: 9780813553252