The American MonomythJewett and Lawrence examine the American monomyth in popular culture and mass media, driven by recurrent patterns in television, movies, real-life legends, and books. They find tales of redemption that include selfless servants who impassively give their lives for others and zealous crusaders who destroy evil. Starting with the Bionic Woman Jamie Sommers and continuing to such examples as Star Trek, Playboy, Superman, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Little House on the Prairie, the authors find a myth that is rooted in pop materials. It replaces the Christ figure, which has been eroded by scientific explanation, but allows the American culture to remember "supersaviors" who are woven throughout society. |
Contents
Star Trek and the Bubblegum Fallacy | 1 |
Trekkie Religion and the Werther Effect | 23 |
The Golden Way to Violence in Death Wish | 40 |
Copyright | |
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aggressive American monomyth Amity Island Angeles artifacts audience become behavior Books Brody Buffalo Bill Buford Pusser campaign Captain cartoon catastrophe films Clark Kent Cody Comics Copyright cowboy Death Wish depiction destruction Disney Disney's dramatic Edenic episode evil fans fantasy female Gene Roddenberry Gerrold Heidi hero heroic human ibid icons Ingalls innocent Jaws Kersey killed Kirk Lois Lane Lone Ranger male Marshak Mary Poppins materials miraculous moral movie murder myth mythic paradigm never novel paradise pattern pictured play Playboy Playboy's Playmate pop culture popular culture provides punishment reality redeemer figure redemption scheme religious Reprinted by permission retribution role scene segmentation selfless sense sent sexual renunciation shark Spock Star Trek Star Trek Lives stereotypical story superhero Superman symbol technomythic television theme tion traditional ture vigilante violence Virginian Walking Tall Walt Werther Werther effects West Western woman yearning York