Here's Looking at You (Politics, Media, and Popular Culture, Vol. 3) (v. 3) [Paperback]

Ernest Giglio (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0820444219 | ISBN-13: 978-0820444215 | Publication Date: May 13, 2005

Here's Looking at You examines the relationship between Hollywood films and the world of real politics, from the silent era to the dawn of the new millennium. What is discovered contradicts the film industry's patented response that the only messages its films deliver are messages intended for entertainment. While the vast majority of commercial features are designed to attract a mass audience, Hollywood has produced several hundred films that contain political messages. These range from D. W. Griffith's silent classic, The Birth of a Nation, to recent entries like Wag the Dog, Primary Colors, and Bulworth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I used six chapters of Giglio's book for my Politics and Film class. The students loved the text. They found it readable and, perhaps the highest accolade, read the material... Two of the most useful elements of the text are its structure and its relevance. The material is structured to lead students through Giglio's points, which are backed with lots of examples. The students, ignorant of our cultural history, were frequently confronted with films or shots that were unfamiliar. Instead of rejecting the material as irrelevant to their experience, they... asked questions of me, sought out supplementary material, and insisted on seeing films that I had not planned to screen.

The material is relevant. The examples illustrate Giglio's points. The examples from recent decades related to student interests, while older examples drew the students deeper into the subject. As a result, I found the text useful for both political science students with no exposure to film and film students with no exposure to politics... The text was one of the pedagogical highlights of the course. I look forward to using it the next time I teach Politics and Film." -- John W. Williams, Political Science, Principia College, Elsah, Illinois

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing (May 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820444219
• ISBN-13: 978-0820444215
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,495,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Here's Looking at Politics in the Movies, April 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Here's Looking at You (Politics, Media, and Popular Culture, Vol. 3) (v. 3) (Paperback)

Here's Looking at You takes a detailed look at the ever-changing relationship between Hollywood and the political arena. It not only focuses on how Washington affects the films that are made in Hollywood (from the age of the silent films through the end of the 20th century) but also how Hollywood has a certain level of effect on politics and how politics and politicians are viewed by the general public. Giglio uses numerous good examples from popular (and the not-so-popular) films to prove his numerous points. Here's Looking at You is well organized, with sections focusing on the cultural and economic backgrounds for the films made. One of the better and more abundant topics is his look at war, and how Hollywood will either support or deny support in favor of the war effort. Giglio also attemps to explain what it is that makes a film political. Although there is no obvious answer, he does use numerous examples from the media to serve as a basis for comparison. Overall, this book is a teaching tool for the younger generations. Giglio's obvious biased against certain genres or topics in film does make reading a little difficult, but the biased is accepted, if not ignored, for the quality information provided. Here's Looking at You is a fine example of the influence Hollywood has on the world, especially in the political spotlight.

4.0 out of 5 stars Here's Looking at Ernest Giglio, January 23, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Hart "IPE guy" (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Here's Looking at You (Politics, Media, and Popular Culture, Vol. 3) (v. 3) (Paperback)

This is a good book. Giglio does a good job of surveying films with political content that were produced or distributed by Hollywood studios since the turn of the century. He has an interesting chapter on the treatment of lawyers in film with some interesting observations about female lawyers. He does a good job of introducing readers to film theories without going into depth. I used it in my undergraduate course on Politics and Film last semester. The students seemed to like it.