American Blockbuster: Movies, Technology, and Wonder PDF
Preview American Blockbuster: Movies, Technology, and Wonder
AMERICAN BLOCKBUSTER SIGN, STORAGE, TRANSMISSION A series edited by Jonathan Sterne and Lisa Gitelman AMERICAN BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES, TECHNOLOGY, AND WONDER charles r. acland duke university press · Durham and London · 2020 © 2020 duke university press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of Amer ic a on acid- free paper ∞ Designed by Matthew Tauch Typeset in Whitman and Helvetica lt Standard by Westchester Publishing Ser vices Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Acland, Charles R., [date] author. Title: American blockbuster : movies, technology, and wonder / Charles R. Acland. Other titles: Sign, storage, transmission. Description: Durham : Duke University Press, 2020. | Series: Sign, storage, transmission | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2019054728 (print) lccn 2019054729 (ebook) isbn 9781478008576 (hardcover) isbn 9781478009504 (paperback) isbn 9781478012160 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Cameron, James, 1954– | Blockbusters (Motion pictures)— United States—History and criticism. | Motion picture industry—United States— History—20th century. | Mass media and culture—United States. Classification: lcc pn1995.9.b598 a25 2020 (print) | lcc pn1995.9.b598 (ebook) | ddc 384/.80973—dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019054728 lc ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019054729 Cover art: Photo by Rattanachai Singtrangarn / Alamy Stock Photo. FOR AVA, STELLA, AND HAIDEE A technological rationale is the rationale of domination itself. It is the coercive nature of society alienated from itself. Automobiles, bombs, and movies keep the w hole thing together. — MAX HORKHEIMER AND THEODOR ADORNO, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 1944/1947 The bud get is the aesthetic. — JAMES SCHAMUS, 1991 (contents) Acknowle dgments ............................................................ix PART I THE SPECTACLE INDUSTRY one. Blockbuster Ballyhoo .............................................3 two. Industrial Regimes of Entertainment ..................... 35 PART II THE RISE OF THE BLOCKBUSTER three. Delivering Blockbusters .................................... 87 four. The Business of Big ...........................................124 five. Hollywood’s Return ............................................160 six. Cosmopolitan Artlessness ..................................... 191 PART III THE TECHNOLOGICAL SUBLIME OF ENTERTAINMENT EVERYWHERE seven. The End of James Cameron’s Quiet Years .............233 eight. The Technological Heart of Movie Culture .......... 266 epilogue. Exhausted Entertainment .............................297 Notes ........................................................................305 Filmography ................................................................ 337 Bibliography ................................................................347 Index ........................................................................ 373 (acknowle dgments) T his book is the product of my boundless affection for movie culture. It equally emerges from an intellectual conviction that popul ar cul- ture is foundational to the formation and understanding of our world, its pleasures and disappointments, its hopes and horrors, its privileges and strug gles. Affective attraction and critical distance are not opposing forces; they create an interlocking dynamic, a productive tension. After all, the goal of cultural critique is not to resolve contradiction but to identify forces at play, investigate them, demonstrate the consequences they have for the way we live, and help point the way toward a more equalitarian existence. Over the years, many teachers, colleagues, friends, and students have shaped my thinking on these matters. One towers over every one: Haidee Wasson. With her unsurpassed critical fac ili ty that she keenly applied through countless conversations about this book, I know that what appears here has been improved immeasurably, and I thank her for that. Among the many dear friends who have expanded my outlook on the top- ics addressed here, most powerfully influential w ere Keir Keightley and Peter van Wyck. Both, in their own ways, helped me with their elevated levels of scholarly and civic conviction, boosted even further by their distinctive wit. Jennifer Holt’s remarkable intellect and spirit inspired me to sharpen and improve my arguments. I offer infinite gratitude to all three. At Concordia University, I ran ideas by scholars and received so much in return, most
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