Screen Saviors

The study cuts through 84 years of films with many specific and accurate analyses. It will give instructors a new perspective and students tough questions to ask in many classes. Recommended. * CHOICE * Through a careful, detailed examination of an impressive number of significant American films, the authors vividly demonstrate the extent to which notions of white supremacy assert themselves, often unconsciously, even in works in which a liberal, ostensibly anti-racist viewpoint dominates. Screen Saviors is an important contribution to cinema studies and to the growing body of scholarship devoted to the study of white identity. -- Robert Elliot Fox, Southern Illinois University Analyzes the images of white protagonists interacting with people of another race or ethnicity in American movies from 1915's 'Birth of a Nation' to 'Black Hawk Down' in 2001. This book reveals the diverse, often disturbing ways in which movies manufacture the 'white self,' the image and the story of whiteness articulated by white film makers. * Beaches Leader * This book reveals the diverse, often disturbing ways in which movies manufacture the 'white self'the image and story of whiteness articulated by white filmmakers. Avoiding polemical posturing and relying upon historical analysis, the authors provide us with an insightful project that is written with clarity and care. -- Daniel Bernardi, University of Arizona Provocative book. There's plenty to enjoy. * Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal * A pioneering and highly original book. From Birth of a Nation to the latest Hollywood films, Vera and Gordon describe and critically analyze Hollywood movies made by dozens of different white directors, producers, and writers, people with different imaginations and styles. Yet virtually all the movies they have made fit the same mold of not challenging white privilege. -- Joe R. Feagin, from the Foreword If you want to explore a colorful, controversial side of film lore, check out Screen Saviors. At the very least, it'll make you think about what you are watching. * Rockford Register Star * A valuable addition to the growing scholarship of hegemonic whiteness in America. * Contemporary Sociology *

Hernn Vera is professor of sociology at the University of Florida and an author of several books on race relations. Andrew M. Gordon is associate professor of English at the University of Florida and a film critic.

Chapter 1 Foreword: A Nation of Sheep Chapter 2 Learning to Be White through the Movies Chapter 3 The Divided White Self Chapter 4 The Beautiful White American: Sincere Fictions of the Savior Chapter 5 Amistad: Civilization and Its Contentments Chapter 6 Mutiny on the Bounty: Civilization and Its Discontents Chapter 7 Racism as a Project:Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Chapter 8 Scarlett and Mammy Revisited: White Women and Black Women in Hollywood Films Chapter 9 White Out: Racial Masquerade by Whites in American Film I Chapter 10 White Out: Racial Masquerade by Whites in American Film II Chapter 11 Black and White Buddies I Chapter 12 Black and White Buddies II Chapter 13 Conclusion: The Crisis of Whiteness