Drawing on texts and theorists of Greek myth, psychoanalysis, and masculinities, Susan Mackey-Kallis and Brian Johnston develop and offer a model of rhetorical and mythic criticism to analyze popular American film. In this book, Mackey-Kallis and Johnston focus their analysis on films that point to the need for father atonement, ego-decentering, and the resurrection of the lost feminine to heal our collective gendered cultural wounds. Many of these "mystic" films, they contend, affirm the role of meaningful suffering, compassion, integration of the feminine, self-sacrifice, and transcendence as antidotes to the inevitable woundedness of the human condition. Ultimately, the authors argue for the importance of digging into the substance of cultural wounds - rather than superficially suturing them over - to change the conversation about woundedness and provide a roadmap for healing gendered relations in contemporary American culture. The book concludes with a discussion of Joseph Campbell's interpretation of the metaphorical power of myth and its transcendent function to argue for a theory of "us", rather than a theory of "us versus them." Scholars of film, gender studies, American studies, cultural studies, gender studies, and psychology will find this book of particular interest.
Susan Mackey-Kallis is professor in the Department of Communication at Villanova University. Brian Johnston is assistant professor of communication in the Department of Language and Literature at Glenville State University.
Contents Introduction: Wounding and Healing: The Search for Self in American Film and Culture Section 1: The Tragic Frame: Suffering, Scapegoating, Mortification, Masculine (White) Fragility, and the Lack/Loss of the Feeling Function Section 1: Preface Chapter 1: There Will Be Blood: "Give Me the Blood" Chapter 2: Million Dollar Baby: "Hits Too Close to the Bone" Chapter 3: Moonlight: "Who Is You, Man?" Section 2: The Comic Frame: Suffering, Scapegoating, Mortification, and the Search for the Feminine Section 2: Preface Chapter 4: Guardians of the Galaxy: "We Are Groot" Chapter 5: Iron Man:"I Am Iron Man" Chapter 6: The Darjeeling Limited: "We Haven't Located Us Yet" Section 3: The Mystic Frame: Reflexivity, Transcendence, Restoration of the Feminine and the Flowering of Compassion Section 3: Preface Chapter 7: Ad Astra: "We're All We've Got" Chapter 8: Big Fish: "To Catch an Uncatchable Fish" Chapter 9: The Fountain: "Dying as an Act of Creation" Conclusion: Final Thoughts: "Thou Art That" Bibliography About the Authors
