| Aging Heroes: Growing Old in Popular Culture Contributor(s): Jones, Norma (Editor), Batchelor, Bob (Editor), Allen, Jace (Contribution by) |
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ISBN: 1442250062 ISBN-13: 9781442250062 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers OUR PRICE: $93.06 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2015 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Performing Arts | Film - History & Criticism - Performing Arts | Television - History & Criticism - Social Science | Popular Culture |
| Dewey: 305.26 |
| LCCN: 2014049733 |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (1.15 lbs) 268 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Despite the increasing number and variety of older characters appearing in film, television, comics, and other popular culture, much of the understanding of these figures has been limited to outdated stereotypes of aging. These include depictions of frailty, resistance to modern life, and mortality. More importantly, these stereotypes influence the daily lives of aging adults, as well as how younger generations perceive and interact with older individuals. In light of our graying population and the growing diversity of portrayals of older characters in popular culture, it is important to examine how we understand aging. In Aging Heroes: Growing Old in Popular Culture, Norma Jones and Bob Batchelor present a collection of essays that address the increasing presence of characters that simultaneously manifest and challenge the accepted stereotypes of aging. The contributors to this volume explore representations in television programs, comic books, theater, and other forms of media. The chapters include examinations of aging male and female actors who take on leading roles in such movies as Gran Torino, Grudge Match, Escape Plan, Space Cowboys, Taken, and The Big Lebowski as well as The Expendables, Red, and X-Men franchises. Other chapters address perceptions of masculinity, sexuality, gender, and race as manifested by such cultural icons as Superman, Wonder Woman, Danny Trejo, Helen Mirren, Betty White, Liberace, and Tyler Perry's Madea. With multi-disciplinary and accessible essays that encompass the expanding spectrum of aging and related stereotypes, this book offers a broader range of new ways to understand, perceive, and think about aging. Aging Heroes will be of interest to scholars of film, television, gender studies, women's studies, sociology, aging studies, and media studies, as well as to general readers. |
Contributor Bio(s): Miller, Cynthia J.: - Cynthia Miller is the Film Review Editor of Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies and serves as President of the Literature/Film Association, as well as on the editorial advisory board for The Encyclopedia of Women and Popular Culture.Van Riper, A. Bowdoin: - A. Bowdoin Van Riper is a historian who specializes in depictions of science and technology in popular culture. His publications include Rockets and Missiles: The Life Story of a Technology (2007) and A Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists and Inventors in American Film and Television (Scarecrow, 2011). |