704

Life, film, politics
(and nothing else matters)

Please download the PDF to read the collected essays on the Superhero genre and contemporary politics. 

Written during 2022 as part of: HARVARD STAR E-198: Blockbuster, Mythbuster: American Superhero Cinema and Television

Instructor: Charlotte Szilagyi, Ph.D. 

This writing "examines the complex ways in which Hollywood has responded to--and reflected on—social, cultural, and political need for superheroes. The concept of the superhero functions as a structuring idea in American self-understanding and cultural iconography. Originally the stuff of comic books, the superhero has now become associated with the Hollywood blockbuster, a genre in its own right.

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And, above all, what is the place of heroes in American history and today?"