The Matter of Images: Essays on Representations

by Richard Dyer

The Matter of Images explores what "representation" means, analyzing images in terms of why they matter, what they are made of and the material realities they refer to. Richard Dyer moves from considerations of strongly negative representations of "out" groups to representations of dominant groups in society--men, heterosexuals, whites. His discussion encompasses the eclectic texts of contemporary culture, from royalty to dykes, politically correct labels, representations of Empire and films such as Gilda, Papillon, and Night of the Living Dead.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Queer, Philosophy, Sociology, LGBT, Essays

184 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 1993

Reviews

[Diána M G]

This man established the way we perceive and appreciate cinéma and I understand why.

[Carter Brown]

Wow genius!!

Super interesting piece of critical theory on the representations of race, gender, and sexuality in film and media! People really are so smart and it amazes me all the time!

My favorite essay was probably “In a word” because it talked about the politics of language change, political correctness, and liberalism.

Second favorite would have to be “Male sexuality in the media”. I love semiotics!

Probably will read this again!

[Bella]

This book is absolutely fascinating but a little hard to read. All the essays were academic ones, and it shows in the writing. I know Richard Dyer has other books and work that is more readable, so I’m chalking the convoluted nature of some of these essays up to academia’s bad writing style.

[Dom M-G]

More please!?

[Daniel Muleady]

I never thought that I would enjoy a collection of essays on a topic that I felt no connection to (straight, white-enough, male). I was terribly wrong...

[camillalilla]

vedo tutto in maniera diversa da quando l’ho finito
più banalmente: vedo

[Ashley]

I read this book for my class on women and minorities in movies. I took this class in England and I learned a lot from this author. Definetely a good read.

[Alan]

Another one for my thesis, the sections were divided very well.