Sex Radical Cinema

Carol Siegel (Author)

9780253018069

Paperback / softback, published 18 November 2015

244 pages, 15 b&w illus. - 15 Illustrations, black and white
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.313 kg

This is a blunt and passionate book about an absolutely essential topic of discussion. . . . Essential.

In this provocative study of cinematic and televisual representations of "sex radicalism," Carol Siegel explores how representations of sexually explicit content on film have shaped American cultural visions of sex and sexual politics in the 21st century. Siegel distinguishes between a liberal approach to visual representations, which has over-emphasized normative equal opportunity while undervaluing our distinctive erotic selves, and a radical approach to visual representation, which portrays forbidden sexualities and desires. She illustrates how visual media participates in and even drives political policies related to pedophilia, prostitution, interracial relationships, and war. By examining such popular film and television shows as Mystic River, The Wire, Fifty Shades of Grey, Batman Returns, and the HBO hits, Sex and the City and Girls, Siegel takes the discussion of radical sex in the movies out of the margins of political discussions and puts it in the center, where, she argues, it has belonged all along.

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Recent Changes in the Representation of Sex and Politics in American Cinema
1. The Sexuality of Minors: Family Values and Mysteries of Pedophilia
2. Sex Trafficking Films, Or Taken for a Ride
3. Sex and Anti-Militarism
4. Interracial Sex and Architectures of American Horror
5. Tim Burton's Films, Children, and Perversity
Conclusion: The Future, No Future
Notes
Bibliography
Index