Fantasy Film Post 9/11

216 Pages·2013·1.93 MB·English

by  Frances Pheasant-Kelly (auth.)

Fantasy Film Post 9/11

Fantasy Film Post 9/11
F P -K
RANCES HEASANT ELLY
F ANTASY FILM POST 9/11
Copyright © Frances Pheasant-Kelly, 2013.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-39212-0
All rights reserved.
First published in 2013 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United
States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-35183-1 ISBN 978-0-230-39213-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230392137
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pheasant-Kelly, Frances, 1960–
Fantasy fi lm post 9/11 / by Frances Pheasant-Kelly.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Fantasy fi lms—History and criticism. 2. September 11 Terrorist
Attacks, 2001—Infl uence. I. Title.
PN1995.9.F36P53 2013
791.4(cid:2)361509051—dc23 2012037261
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: March 2013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my parents
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Contents
List of Illustrations i x
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. Settings, Spectacle, and the Other: Picturing Disgust
in Jackson’s T he Lord of the Rings Trilogy 23
2. Bewitching, Abject, Uncanny: Magical Spectacle
in the Harry Potter Films 47
3. Pirate Politics and the Spectacle of the Other:
Pirates of the Caribbean 67
4. Resurrection, Anthropomorphism, and Cold War
Echoes in Adamson’s T he Chronicles of Narnia;
the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 87
5. The Aesthetics of Trauma: Temporality and Multidirectional
Memory in Pan’s Labyrinth 99
6. Reframing the Cold War in the Twenty-First Century:
Action, Nostalgia, and Nuclear Holocaust in I ndiana Jones
and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 115
7. The Ecstasy of Chaos: Mediations of 9/11, Terrorism, and
Traumatic Memory in T he Dark Knight 131
8. Wounding, Morality and Torture: Reflections of the War
on Terror in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 143
9. Shock and Awe: Terror, Technology, and the Sublime
Nature of Cameron’s A vatar 161
viii Contents
Conclusion 179
Notes 183
Bibliography 187
Filmography 203
Index 205
List of Illustrations
1 The Balrog in T he Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 30
2 Gollum (Andy Serkis) in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 39
3 Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) rebirth in Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire 54
4 Harry Potter’s parents in H arry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 54
5 Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in Pirates of the Caribbean:
The Curse of the Black Pearl 69
6 Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) in Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Man’s Chest 76
7 Sparrow and Elizabeth Turner (Keira Knightley) marooned in
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 83
8 Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) in Narnia, in T he Chronicles of
Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 90
9 The toad in P an’s Labyrinth 108
10 The Pale Man (Doug Jones) devouring fairies in
Pan’s Labyrinth 110
11 The nuclear blast in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 126
12 The Joker in The Dark Knight 132
13 Holographic technology in Iron Man 2 152
14 Jake Sully’s (Sam Worthington) avatar in A vatar 167
15 The two trees of Avatar 173