Review: Jenkins, Claire. Home Movies: The American Family in Contemporary Hollywood

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review:

Throughout Home Movies: The American Family in Contemporary Hollywood, Claire Jenkins brings to light the disparity between the changing American familial norms and those presented in popular films. As the title communicates, all of the ideas and theories presented in this book revolve around the family home and the experience of family in contemporary America, be that a black working-class family or an animated superhero one. A scholar of popular media at the University of Leicester in the UK, in her past work, including book chapters on superhero families in Sky High and The Incredibles and aging women in Mamma Mia, Jenkins studied how media presents women and children. In this monograph, she both summarizes circulating opinions on a variety of topics, including the interpretation of black male presidents in disaster films, and contributes original and much-needed examinations, including her study of the father-daughter relationship in American popular films.