Great American Makeover

DANA HELLER is Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Institute at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

'The Great American Makeover historicizes the makeover mania that has taken over contemporary television and shows how the recurring promise of personal transformation that unites makeovers past and present intersects with art, consumer culture, citizenship, gender and race. An important and timely contribution to critical studies of popular culture.' - Laurie Ouellette, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota; Co-editor of Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture

• Introduction: Things Just Keep Getting Better; D.Heller PART ONE: THE MAKEOVER MYTHOS, PAST TO PRESENT A Theatrical Manager: John Brown and the Radical Politics of the American Makeover Mythos; Z.Trodd Race, Myths and Violations: Joel Chandler Harris's Plantation Makeover; C.Pamplin Making Over the New Adam; M.Crawley What Paris Reveals: The Sartorial and Sensual Transformation of American Girls; A.Chase Making Over Body and Soul: In His Steps and the Roots of Evangelical Popular Culture; C.Motley Metrosexuality: See the Bright Light of Commodification Shine! Watch Yanqui Masculinity Made Over; T. Miller PART TWO: MAKEOVER TELEVISION FORMATS, 1950 - TODAY The Cinderella Makeover: Glamour Girl, Television Misery Shows and 1950s Femininity; M.F.Cassidy Queen for a Day: Remaking Consumer Culture, One Woman at a Time; A.Watts Interior Design: Commodifying Self and Place in Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and The Swan; J.Deery "Help Is On the Way!" Supernanny, Nanny 911 and the Neoliberal Politics of the Family; R.Becker Extreme Makeover: Home(land Security) Edition; J.Gillan Changing Properties: The Makeover Show Crosses the Atlantic; M.Kavka Conclusion: The Reveal; L.Spigel