Table of Contents

Preface

Getting Started with Definitions: A Refresher List

1. American Character and Image

Andy Warhol, What’s Great About This Country

Anneli Rufus, Marlboro Country: Advertising

Richard Rodriguez, The American “I”

Patrick J. Deneen, Awakening from the American Dream: The End of Escape in American Cinema? 

Jon Gertner, The Futile Pursuit of Happiness 

Questions for Making Connections

2. Gender Roles: Images of Masculinity and Femininity

Dove, StrategyOne, Nancy Etcoff, and Susie Orbach, Only Two Percent of Women Describe

Themselves as Beautiful  

Marie D. Smith, Decoding Victoria’s Secret: The Marketing of Sexual Beauty and Ambivalence

Ralph Donald, From “Knockout Punch” to “Home Run”:  Masculinity’s “Dirty Dozen” Sports Metaphors in American Combat Films

Barbara Ehrenreich, Why Don’t We Like the Human Body?

Questions for Making Connections

3. Children and Family

Jeff J. McIntyre, APA Congressional Testimony on Media Violence and Children: Testimony of Jeff J. McIntyre on Behalf of the American Psychological Association American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Violent Television Programming and Its Impact on Children

Eric Garrison, The Simpsons: A Reflection of Society and a Message on Family

Sandra Tsing Loh, Shopworn: Like the Valley Girls Who Made It Famous, the Suburban Mall Is

Now on the Wrong Side of Forty  

Questions for Making Connections

4. Race and Ethnicity 

Bernard Beck, The Myth That Would Not Die: The Sopranos, Mafia Movies, and Italians in America  

Mireya Navarro, Trying to Get Beyond the Role of the Maid; Hispanic Actors Are Seen as Underrepresented, with the Exception of One Part

Chris Tucker, Different Stories  

Douglas Kellner, Sports, Media Culture, and Race–Some Reflections on Michael Jordan  

Brent Staples, Editorial Observer: How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its Way and Betrayed Its Fans  

Questions for Making Connections

5. Education: Popular Culture and the Academy

Robert Trussell, Scholars Spend as Much Time with Love Boat as with Shakespeare

Alex Ross, Rock 101: Academia Tunes In

Jonathan Franzen, The Reader in Exile  

Marie Warmbold, Harry Potter: Oliver with a Magical Twist

Steven Johnson, The Internet–Everything Bad Is Good for You

Questions for Making Connections

6. Consumerism

James Twitchell, Trash and the Voluntary Simplicity Movement–The Triumph of

American Materialism

Eric Michael Mazur and Tara K. Koda, The Happiest Place on Earth: Disney

James J. Farrell, Shopping for American Culture  

Pete Rojas, Bootleg Culture

Lawrence Lessig, Protecting Mickey Mouse at Art’s Expense

Questions for Making Connections

Credits

Promotional Information

International Views presents international perceptions of the U.S.’s relationship to the world, as well as views of that relationship from inside the United States, offering opportunities for students to examine the lines of political, ideological, and cultural conflict that can both enrich our international experience and threaten our understanding of America’s place in the world.