Alien-Invasion Films: Imperialism, Race and Gender in the American Security State, 1950-2020

by Mark E. Wildermuth

Overview

This book studies American science fiction films depicting invasions of the USA and Earth by extra- terrestrials within the context of imperialism from 1950–2020. It shows how such films imagine America and its allies as objects of colonial control. This trope enables filmmakers to explore the ethics of American interventionism abroad either by defending the status quo or by questioning interventionism. The study shows how these films comment on American domestic hegemonic practices regarding racial or gender hierarchies, as well as hegemonic practices abroad. Beginning with the Cold War consensus in the 1950s, the study shows how hegemony at home and abroad promotes division in the culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031117978
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	11/16/2022
Edition description:	1st ed. 2022
Pages:	315
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mark E. Wildermuth is Dunagan Professor of English at the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas, USA, where he has taught since 1992. He has published articles in journals like The Journal of Popular Film and Television and Philosophy and Rhetoric. He has published 4 books: Blood in the Moonlight: Michael Mann and Information Age Cinema; Print, Chaos and Complexity: Samuel Johnson and Eighteenth-Century Media Culture; Gender, Science Fiction Television and the American Security State, 1958–Present; and Feminism and the Western in Film and Television.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction.- 2: An Overview of the History of American Imperialism and the American Security State.- 3: The First Post-War Security State Films, 1950-1956.- Chapter 4: Invasion Films in the 1960’s Post-Camelot Security State.- Chapter 5: Nixon, Post-Détente and Invasion Films in the 1970s.- Chapter 6: Invasion Films in the Reagan Era.- Chapter 7: Invasion Films and the 1990s Interregnum.- Chapter 8: Invasion Films After 9/11: the Bush and Obama Regimes.- Chapter 9: Invasion Films After 9/11 in the Trump Regime.- Chapter 10: Conclusions.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Alien invasions have been a staple of science-fiction film for decades. In this thorough analysis, Mark Wildermuth unpacks the ways in which the use of this trope has reflected varying ideas over time about national security, paranoia, inclusion and exclusion of the Other, and constructed identity. Both film scholars and fans of science fiction will find this a thought-provoking study.

- Aeon J. Skoble, Professor of Philosophy, Bridgewater State University