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Parallel Lines: Post-9/11 American Cinema

Online ISBN:
9780231850728
Print ISBN:
9780231172035
Publisher:
Columbia University Press
Book

Parallel Lines: Post-9/11 American Cinema

Published online:
19 November 2015
Published in print:
21 October 2014
Online ISBN:
9780231850728
Print ISBN:
9780231172035
Publisher:
Columbia University Press

Abstract

This book describes how post-9/11 cinema, from Spike Lee's 25th Hour (2002) to Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty (2012), relates to different, and competing, versions of US national identity in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. The book combines readings of individual films (World Trade Center, United 93, Fahrenheit 9/11, Loose Change) and cycles of films (depicting revenge, conspiracy, torture, and war) with extended commentary on recurring themes, including the relationship between the US and the rest of the world, narratives of therapeutic recovery, questions of ethical obligation. The volume argues that post-9/11 cinema is varied and dynamic, registering shock and upheaval in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, displaying capacity for critique following the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal mid-decade, and seeking to reestablish consensus during Obama's troubled second term of office.

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