Bored to Distraction
Cinema of Excess in End-of-the-Century Mexico and Spain
Published on 9. October 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
211 pages
978-0-7914-5888-4 (ISBN)
Description
Examines how recent Mexican and Spanish films act as untroubling distractions from everyday routines.
Popular culture in the 1990s, especially cinema, can be considered a showcase for the accumulated hopes and fears of the twentieth century. From the promise of material goods to the profusion of despair, from devastating tragedy to exaggerated rapture, a dizzying array of images assaults the eye. Drawing on recent films from Mexico and Spain, Bored to Distraction navigates this visual terrain, from melodrama to horror, looking for what, if anything, might be excessive enough to rouse us from our comfortable everyday routines.
Popular culture in the 1990s, especially cinema, can be considered a showcase for the accumulated hopes and fears of the twentieth century. From the promise of material goods to the profusion of despair, from devastating tragedy to exaggerated rapture, a dizzying array of images assaults the eye. Drawing on recent films from Mexico and Spain, Bored to Distraction navigates this visual terrain, from melodrama to horror, looking for what, if anything, might be excessive enough to rouse us from our comfortable everyday routines.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Albany, NY
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
290 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7914-5888-4 (9780791458884)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2012
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€35.99
Available for download
Person
Claudia Schaefer is Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at the University of Rochester and the author of Danger Zones: Homosexuality, National Identity, and Mexican Culture and Textured Lives: Women, Art, and Representation in Modern Mexico.
Content
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
1. At the Millennium: Boredom Theory and Middle-Class Desires
2. Jaime Humberto Hermosillo's La tarea: Not Your Average Afterschool Special
3. How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Danzon and the Myth of Getting Away from It All
4. Amores perros: Throwing Politics to the Dogs
5. Still Just a Dress Rehearsal?: From Archibaldo de la Cruz to Penelope Cruz
6. The Demonic Side of Modernity: Waiting for Satan at the Movies
7. A Few Last Words: Waiting in the Anteroom of the Twenty-First Century
Notes
Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgements
1. At the Millennium: Boredom Theory and Middle-Class Desires
2. Jaime Humberto Hermosillo's La tarea: Not Your Average Afterschool Special
3. How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Danzon and the Myth of Getting Away from It All
4. Amores perros: Throwing Politics to the Dogs
5. Still Just a Dress Rehearsal?: From Archibaldo de la Cruz to Penelope Cruz
6. The Demonic Side of Modernity: Waiting for Satan at the Movies
7. A Few Last Words: Waiting in the Anteroom of the Twenty-First Century
Notes
Works Cited
Index