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Alien-Invasion Films

Imperialism, Race and Gender in the American Security State, 1950-2020

  • Book
  • © 2022

Overview

Authors:
  1. Mark E. Wildermuth

    1. Literature & Languages, University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, USA

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  • Relates to post-9/11 culture
  • Relevant in wake of ongoing imperialism in the world including invasion of Ukraine
  • Picks up on ongoing divisiveness of US culture

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
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  2. Introduction

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 1-12

  3. An Overview of the History of American Imperialism and the American Security State

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 13-45

  4. The First Postwar Security State Invasion Films, 1950–1956

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 47-80

  5. Invasion Films in the 1960s Post-Camelot Security State

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 81-107

  6. Nixon, Post-détente, and Invasion Films in the 1970s

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 109-143

  7. Invasion Films and the Reagan Era

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 145-178

  8. Invasion Films and the 1990s Interregnum

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 179-228

  9. Invasion Narratives After 9/11: The Bush and Obama Regimes

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 229-262

  10. Invasion Films After 9/11 in the Trump Regime

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 263-281

  11. Conclusions

    • Mark E. Wildermuth
    Pages 283-287

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 289-315
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Keywords

About this book

This book studies American science fiction films depicting invasions of the USA and Earth by extra- terrestrials within the context of imperialism from 1950–2020. It shows how such films imagine America and its allies as objects of colonial control. This trope enables filmmakers to explore the ethics of American interventionism abroad either by defending the status quo or by questioning interventionism. The study shows how these films comment on American domestic hegemonic practices regarding racial or gender hierarchies, as well as hegemonic practices abroad. Beginning with the Cold War consensus in the 1950s, the study shows how hegemony at home and abroad promotes division in the culture.

Reviews

Alien invasions have been a staple of science-fiction film for decades. In this thorough analysis, Mark Wildermuth unpacks the ways in which the use of this trope has reflected varying ideas over time about national security, paranoia, inclusion and exclusion of the Other, and constructed identity. Both film scholars and fans of science fiction will find this a thought-provoking study.

- Aeon J. Skoble, Professor of Philosophy, Bridgewater State University

Authors and Affiliations

  • Literature & Languages, University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, USA

    Mark E. Wildermuth

About the author

Mark E. Wildermuth is Dunagan Professor of English at the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas, USA, where he has taught since 1992. He has published articles in journals like The Journal of Popular Film and Television and Philosophy and Rhetoric. He has published 4 books: Blood in the Moonlight: Michael Mann and Information Age Cinema; Print, Chaos and Complexity: Samuel Johnson and Eighteenth-Century Media Culture; Gender, Science Fiction Television and the American Security State, 1958–Present; and Feminism and the Western in Film and Television.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Alien-Invasion Films

  • Book Subtitle: Imperialism, Race and Gender in the American Security State, 1950-2020

  • Authors: Mark E. Wildermuth

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11795-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-11794-7Published: 17 November 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-11797-8Published: 18 November 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-11795-4Published: 16 November 2022

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 315

  • Topics: Genre, American Cinema and TV

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