Celluloid Mushroom Clouds: Hollywood And Atomic Bomb (critical Studies In Communication And In The Cultural Industries)
by Joyce Evans /
1999 / English / PDF
31 MB Download
Celluloid Mushroom Clouds
Celluloid Mushroom Clouds is a historical account of how
the movie industry responded to specific economic and political
forces over the postwar years. Joyce Evans investigates the
transformation of the imagery associated with atomic technology
found in Hollywood film produced and distributed between 1947 and
1964. Incorporating qualitative and quantitative research
methods, over 90 films are analyzed in terms of their historical
context and the context of film production and distribution.The
industry-focused approach presented in the book views cultural
production as a material process unfolding under specific
economic, political, and cultural conditions and emphasizes the
pressures and limits” of production that are inscribed in
cinematic texts. The study illustrates in concrete detail how the
cinematic texts negotiated by audiences are produced in highly
concentrated industries and are constructed as a result of often
contradictory determinants. These determinants work to shape the
texts produced by encouraging, for example, the production of
particular genres and by privileging a specific set of images
over others. Evans argues that through these images, Hollywood
articulated a limited critique of the Cold War ideology, which it
also helped to create. She concludes that Hollywood’s overall
ideological effect has been to restrict the discursive means
available for defining social reality.
is a historical account of how
the movie industry responded to specific economic and political
forces over the postwar years. Joyce Evans investigates the
transformation of the imagery associated with atomic technology
found in Hollywood film produced and distributed between 1947 and
1964. Incorporating qualitative and quantitative research
methods, over 90 films are analyzed in terms of their historical
context and the context of film production and distribution.The
industry-focused approach presented in the book views cultural
production as a material process unfolding under specific
economic, political, and cultural conditions and emphasizes the
pressures and limits” of production that are inscribed in
cinematic texts. The study illustrates in concrete detail how the
cinematic texts negotiated by audiences are produced in highly
concentrated industries and are constructed as a result of often
contradictory determinants. These determinants work to shape the
texts produced by encouraging, for example, the production of
particular genres and by privileging a specific set of images
over others. Evans argues that through these images, Hollywood
articulated a limited critique of the Cold War ideology, which it
also helped to create. She concludes that Hollywood’s overall
ideological effect has been to restrict the discursive means
available for defining social reality.