Insights from Film into Violence and Oppression: Shattered Dreams of the Good Life

by John P. Lovell (Editor)

This book brings specialists in religious studies, African-American studies, history, and political science, together with a media librarian to examine violence as it is presented in films and how instructors can use films to teach about violence. The object of inquiry is the vulnerability of socially oppressed people to physical violence and to institutionalized patterns of discrimination, herein termed structural violence. The susceptibility of women to violence provides an example that is discussed in detail, revealing both merits and weaknesses in film treatment of gender. The full effect of violence is considered, from the abuse of the individual to the wartime mobilization of entire societies. Chapters also look at the benefits and problems of using films in the classroom and provide resources helpful to instructors, such as sample discussion and study guides, a bibliography, and a filmography.

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 1998

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a text for research this book is great. It combines both references to literature and cinema to analyze themes of violence and oppression toward marginated groups in society. The essays are short but very insightful and varied, since they are from different authors. The language and style are very fluid and easy to understand, without neglecting being scholarly.