The Politics of Big Fantasy

Bringing critical attention to a particular set of science fiction and fantasy films—Larry and Andy Wachowski’s The Matrix, George Lucas’ Star Wars saga, and Joss Whedon’s Avengers—this book utilizes a wide-ranging set of critical tools to illuminate their political ideologies, while also examining any resistant and complicating turns or byways the films may provide.

John C. McDowell is the Morpeth chair in theology & religious studies at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. He is associate editor and book review editor for Colloquium.

John C. McDowell

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 232
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7488-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1820-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments  ix
Preface  1
Abbreviations  4
Introduction: Why So Serious?  5
1. The Super ­Body-Politic: Nationally Assembling Joss Whedon’s Exceptional The Avengers 25
2. “He was deceived by a lie”: Tragedy and the Dark Plague of the Politics of Fear in George Lucas’ Star Wars 67
3. Dystopian Polyvalence: Emancipating the Mediated Life from The Matrix 132
Chapter Notes  179
Bibliography  197
Index  213