Fires in the Mirror

Book Description

Derived from interviews with a wide range of people who experienced or observed New York's 1991 Crown Heights racial riots, Fires In The Mirror is as distinguished a work of commentary on current Black-White tensions as it is a work of drama.

Customer Reviews:

The story......and then the story about the story.......2006-03-22

The play captures the human drama from the highly charged, out-of-control situation in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, over three days of rioting in August of 1991. One of the play's many apoplectic characters says, "There ain't no justice," in response to another character describing separate groups of angry mourners for both Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum, with each group regarded as being "at a political rally rather than a funeral."

Another character talks of "the situation that moved from simplicity to sophistication...to become a powder keg." It is fascinating to hear and watch as each character reflected that powder keg experience uniquely. The play revealed that each one of us is, in fact, the accumulation of our life's experiences, at any given moment in time.

As the viewer watches the rumors spread, there is the realization that, "There always is the story. And then always there is the story about the story."

In a sense, Fires in the Mirror shows how one story is transformed and extended by the Crown Heights citizens into other stories, with each story being somewhat new, usually nuanced, and uniquely shaped by the circumstances surrounding the story-teller's accumulated life experiences. The accumulation is each individual's life. No other individual in the whole world can possibly have the exact same accumulation of experiences. That's a practical example of what diversity looks like.

In a certain sense, all involved are at fault in creating the riots. In quite another sense, the play makes clear that no one is at fault, because at any moment the community is prone to erupt into the confusion and violence that comes from individual bafflement and fear from an unexpected occurrence. In this case the occurrence is the auto crash leading to the murder that evening. The play says it is hard to assign blame. No one but no one wanted to have seven-year-old Cato killed in the auto accident. That evening, the teenagers didn't really want to kill Yankel in retaliation. Rather they were reacting, by automatically and unthinkingly expressing their anger and their oppressively inarticulate grief through knee-jerk violence.

Compelling--that one word describes the play's environmental aesthetic of eruption, noise, and confusion, all of which lead by the end to some clarity, yes, but also to stupefied and inexplicable human silence. That muted end result, the play shows, comes from a lack of absolute certainty regarding something important yet ultimately mysterious.

There is a great deal to be said for undertaking an exploration of the meaning in the moral ambiguity and confusion prevailing within the conflicted Brooklyn neighborhood, the confusion initiated by the two understandable, if terrible, deaths. In this instance, one might ask this: If we are not to assign blame, then what is the human alternative in these particular circumstances of murder leading to the madness of mass mayhem.

Prehaps after all it is forgiveness.

As the audience listens to each interpretation of the unfolding story--of what next happened and why--viewers comes to see that each point of view has some validity. There is never merely two sides to a story, that proverbial and simplistic black and white dichotomy. Humans are too complex for easy categorization into a "this" or a "that" camp or an "us vs. them" position. In truth there are often 10 or 15 sides to a story...at least.

The basis of each character's expressed perspective seems to derive from each character's absolute, even dogmatic, belief in the virtue and rightness of his or her own special position. And that "to-the-death" view necessarily derives from each character's accumulated life experiences in these our troubled and conflicted times of racial and religious tension. In a limited sense, that's a kind of certainty in a very uncertain world. It's the sort of certainty that comes from an individual's unquestioned belief in lived experience. But in a clearly profound way, the play asks the viewer to expand the cultural and social understandings of "lived experience" and what might result from external expressions of that lived experience.

Yet it is true that no virtuous act is as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our own standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of acceptance and love, which is forgiveness.

For me, the play brings into dramatic relief that idea of forgiveness as one humane way--whether in Crown Heights and elsewhere--of dealing with cynicism and despair. Those two attitudes of hopelessness seem automatically sometimes to snap into being from the confusion of unresolved social and moral ambiguity.

Forgiveness is one answer to the mess. Genuine forgiveness is one expression that can help relieve seemingly irreconcilable tension and conflict. Forgiveness is usually tough--that much we reasonably know. Forgiveness demands courage, heart.

Jim Boushay Metro Chicago Resources Unlimited Foundation

Playing a Life Playing a Role.......2001-05-18

In Fires in the Mirror, Anna Deavere Smith says, "A character from a play does not have a visible identity until the actor creates a body for that character." She goes on to explain that her goal is "to show that no one acts like anyone else." She does this by focusing on the details of her characters, the physical and liguistic subtleties that make people unique. This issue of "personality" of character is strongly emphasized in her work. When interviewing, she doesn't simply record the dialogue of her characters; she analyzes her characters, seeking to discover the true identity or identities of the people she portrays. What she discovers--and shares with us--is that her characters are not only three dimensional, but three dimensional in a multiplicity of roles. When she's successful, as she is in portraying the Jews and Blacks of Crown Heights in 1991, the underlying racial conflicts and hatreds and biases of her many-masked characters rise to the surface. This is Anna Deavere Smith's craft: She doesn't play a role. She plays a life playing a role.

Comentary on Understanding and Racism.......1998-05-01

Having lived in Brooklyn during the riots as well as the afterward subsequent search for meaning among those immediately involved, I find Smith's work to be exceptional. She does not go to academics or political pundits for explanation, but into the heart of the Crown Heights community itself. There she finds and then portrays complete understanding of cultural differences, allowing explanation to come from the source. One has only to read Smith's work here to see that we as human beings could do alot to combat racism if only we would ask questions and seek understanding first, rather than make assumptions and insist on our own meaning.

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Not Free SF Reader
The Best Vorkosigan Novel
Not bad , but not as good as "Young Miles"
Reflection of self...
Mirror Dance

Mirror Dance
Lois McMaster Bujold
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0671876465

Amazon.com

Miles Vorkosigan faces more than his share of troubles as the protagonist in Mirror Dance. Not only is he deformed and undersized but he has a cloned brother who gets into a jam in the free enterprise plague spot known as Jackson's Whole. Miles tries to help his brother but ends up injured, placed on cryogenic suspension and then lost in intergalactic limbo. And that's just in the first 100 pages. The following 300 pages add a wealth more to this fantastic tale that's both humorous and finely written. Mirror Dance won the 1995 Hugo Award for Science Fiction.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

One deadsicle, one schizo.

Mark impersonates his brother to take the Free Mercs off on a liberation mission. A bit of an understatement to say this doesn't go well. The original version is killed and frozen, and Mark is tortured until his not so stable personality fragments into many.

The M & M show has to someone get out of this and wreak some havoc on bad Barons.

The Best Vorkosigan Novel.......2007-08-02

I came late to this series, and had serious doubts about all the awards its author has won after reading Shards of Honor. Luckily, I bought the 2-in-1 "Cordelia's Honor" and forged ahead anyway into Barrayar. Wow. Now that was worth the praise. Then I advanced to Warrior's Apprentice and was further amazed. Could the author continue to churn out action packed smartly written comedy slash adventure slash dramas? She can. She has. Sure there are dips. I found Cetaganda a bit lifeless. But the other books are predominantly very strong and impressive.

Mirror Dance is the culmination of all that came before. Seeing the Vorkosigan's from Mark's perspective is like meeting them all over again. Watching him become human in the face of his newfound family's integrity and acceptance is incredibly moving. I can't lavish enough praise on this series or this book.

Not bad , but not as good as "Young Miles" .......2006-06-15

Not without suprsie I read the previous reviews. Personally I did not like the last three novels : "Mirror Dance", "Brother in Arms" and "Borders of Infinity" as much as the novels in the "Young Miles" book. It seemed to me that inadvertently Bujold's interest to moral dillemmas started to influence too much of the story and characters. I remember how one of my school teachers was telling us how Pushkin ( the author of "Evgenii Onegin" ) was distraught that his characters could not fall in love. To me this is an example how author remains loyal to the world of characters he creates and follows the logic of his own creation.
It also feels sometimes that Bujold falls somewhat victim to romanticising the brutal, ruthless world of Nexus monopolies, intelligencies and political intrigues that she had created herself). For example , suddenly Barrayran Chief Security ( who is described as one of the most feared and paranoid persons in the "mean" society of Mile's home planet) suddenly becomes soft and sentimental and lets Mark just off the hook. It appears that Bujold feels too conflictual about hurting more an "innoncent prey" of sadisctic Kommaran revolutionary.
-But what about the security risk?
-Yeah, but Mile's mother would not want that to happen to the clone of her son ( I think Bujold identifies with the Countess). Of course you could argue both ways.
Again,I would give away my left hemisphere for the poetic beaty of Bujold's right but, but .... I hope to see more "war hawkish" elements in the future novels.

Reflection of self..........2005-10-14

Mirror Dance is a joy. I've read it four times now and each time I gain a greater respect for Bujold's ability to tell a compelling story. This is a difficult book to review because there is just so much going on. The basic plot review is that Mark is back and plans to take Miles' place with the Dendarii and save at least some clones from death. However, Mark forgot one thing--he isn't Miles and doesn't have his experience and knowledge base. Mark also failed to recognize Miles loyalty to a brother he has never know and to his troops. Mark also learns the hard way that people are not things and there are consequences to all actions.

Miles and Mark each make mistakes, misunderstand, and flounder about trying to do the right things in a situation that has no simple answers. In the end, they each learn more about themselves then about each other but at least there's a mutual respect and a willingness to try to be family.

This is truly a book that you'll have a hard time putting down. The action is fast paced, the plot threads are extremely tight, interwoven, and multi-leveled. It's staggering that all this is told in one novel. I laughed I cried and found myself trying to get the characters to listen to reason but alas they are already written and in the end all you can do is read on and hope that the end of the book is worth the joy and pain of the reading.. Brothers in Arms built up to this novel and Mirror Dance is a supreme payoff.

Mirror Dance.......2005-09-03

"Mirror Dance", set two years after the events of "Brothers in Arms", finds our heroes (and our villains, and our miscellaneous other) still running around the labyrinthine political intrigues of the wormhole nexus. Mark, after two years on the lam, impersonates Miles and commandeers a Dendarii ship. Heading towards Jackson's Whole, he launches a desperate attack on House Bharaputa, intending to rescue a batch of clones who will soon be killed to provide transplant bodies. Miles, once he rejoins the Dendarii, is none too happy about this development, partially because the vessel in question was supposed to be traded to a band of anti-Cetagandan rebels.

The plot thickens. Marks' rescue mission doesn't go as planned (they never do), leaving him stranded and needing rescue himself. Bel Thorne, meanwhile, has increasingly unclear loyalties, while the eight-foot-tall Taura is making unwanted advances on the man she thinks is Miles. Meanwhile the real Miles shows up and finds himself having to deal Baron Bharaputa, Baron Ryoval, and Baron Fell, all of whom he left thoroughly jazzed off at the end of "Labyrinth", and ... well you get the idea.

About a third of the way through, though, "Mirror Dance" takes a surprising turn as we follow Mark back to Barrayar. There he faces the complications of delaing with Cordelia and Aral, navigating the social customs of a world he's never seen before, and handling increasingly tricky legal dilemmas brought on by his unusual heritage. In truth science fiction is an art with two main components: imaging weird scenarios, sand figuring out how humans would deal with such scenarios. In "Mirror Dance", Bujold plunges head-first into all the gritty complications of being a clone: physical, family, and physcological. But beyond that, she also plumbs every aspect of Mark's personality. He emerges as one of the most astonishing characters that science fiction has ever seen.

And he's not alone. One of the most incredible facets of the entire series is the way that all the characters work, develop, and progress in tandem. Emperor Gregor Vorbarra, for instance, last seen four books ago in "The Vor Game", re-emerges as a grown and mature and pwerful leader. He's exactly the sort needed to lead a wild and crazy place like Barrayar.

Somewhere it was written that every science ficiton novel needs to end with a bang, or perhasps a whole lot of bangs. "Mirror Dance", with a near perfect beginning and middle, stumbles in the endgame because Bujold tries to cram too much into the grand finale. To wit, both Mark and Miles are captured by various adversaries only to tap their hidden reserves of strength and devise sneaky ways out of their predicaments, just as Miles has already been doing for six books now. The problem is that her endings are now growing repetitive. You know that the good guys must escape in time to save the day and make everything right, so it's tedious to wait for it to happen. But besides that, "Mirror Dance" is a triumph of intelligence and intensity.

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Read her books
It doesn't get any better than this!
Mirror dance: Am I you?

Mirror Dance
Lois McMaster Bujold
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0671722107

Customer Reviews:

Read her books.......1997-06-15

Mirror Dance is a touching, gripping, and hair-raising book on several levels. A major character is killed and then goes missing and the hunt is up. But the strengths of this book are in the relationships among the characters and how both the relationships and the characters themselves change. I was in such a sweat to know whther he lives or dies that I actually read the end about halfway through. Bujold makes you care for her characters as if they were your friends. I bought 2 of Bujold's books because they were Hugo winners. I have since read and reread everything she has written. If you have not read any of her work, I envy you, as you get to experience Miles' universe for the first time.

It doesn't get any better than this!.......1997-06-02

Bujold's series of novels about Miles Naismith Vorkosigan (one of SF's all-time best characters) are some of the best space-operas ever written. And Mirror Dance may well be her best yet. If you haven't read the others, start with Shards of Honor and then Barrayar (which are about his parents, and both quite good), then the Warrior's Apprentice, The Borders of Infinity, The Vor Game, Cetaganda, and Brothers in Arms (all very good). Of course, if you just can't wait, can't find them, or can't afford them, Mirror Dance is still outstanding on its own, but it's even better if you've read all the pre-quels. (Cetaganda was written after Mirror Dance, but takes place earlier in Miles's life.) Another sequel, Memory, is in the works (a 3-chapter teaser is included in Cetaganda) and looks to take up pretty much where Mirror Dance Leaves off

Mirror dance: Am I you?.......1996-07-19

Miles is dead, lost, presumed...
Lost.

Mark is taken to Barrayar and discovers that he now is Lord Mark Vorkosigan. But he caused Miles' death, and now there's only one thing left to do: Mark has to return to Jackson's whole and find his brother, and maybe himself.

But they both are wanted by the Great Houses, for different reasons.

And of course nothing is as simple as it should be...

Customer Reviews:

Have some water nearby..........2001-12-05

Make sure to have some water nearby. This book is as dry as the Sahara Desert. Nonetheless, the book contains invaluable insights and instruction on classical ballet. This is an important and helpful book to have in one's library.

Scholarly and masterly written work on ballet technique.......1998-07-30

Ms. Paskevska - a one time pupil of Cleo Nordi, who was a dancer with Pavlova, who in her turn was a pupil of Legat. That is ballet tradition at its very highest level - need one say more? A truly wonderful volume, full of wisdom and knowledge. It is a must for every teacher of ballet, every serious ballet student and also for parents. Do not let the technicalities and French terms daunt you! The historical details are interesting, ex- plaining how the art has evolved during the centuries. As a fellow student of Ms. Paskevska back in the fifties in London I can only congratulate her on her achievement - in due course the book will be a standard work like "Basic principles" by Vaganova.

The Mirror Dance: Identity in a Women's Community

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The Mirror Dance: Identity in a Women's Community
Susan Krieger
Manufacturer: Temple University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0877223149

Book Description

"A day draws to a close. Helen worries about when her children will get home; Gloria considers her day at work and, again, thoughts cross her mind about telling them at church that she is a lesbian; Gayle prepares for a meeting at the Women's Shelter...; Ellen gets ready for a class. Chip and Jessica plan another party at their house; Diana paces her kitchen, troubled that Meg still intends to see Bronwyn...."

These are some of the people who come to life in this unique book about a lesbian community. It is an experiment, both in women's language and in social science method, and is composed of an interplay of voices that echo, again and again, themes of self and community, sameness and difference, merger and separation, loss and change.

Although the method of presentation is unusual, the book is based on solid research. The author lived for a year with the community and then spent two intensive months interviewing 78 women who were either members of the community or importantly associated with it. The author began by addressing several basic questions about privacy that quickly led her to explore dilemmas of identity. In time an even more compelling problem emerged: the loss of sense of self, how it occurs and how it may be dealt with in a social setting. The nature of the community itself raised this issue because it was a community of likeness, intimacy, and ideology. It was also a stigmatized or deviant community—and of women, individuals with life experiences that tended to encourage the giving up of the self to others.

Book Description

This book which will serve as an introduction to the Indian dramatic technique and its essentials which imply not merely a thorough understanding of the natya, mrtta and nrtya but also the conditioning aesthetic qualities of rasa, bhava, etc.

A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance: The Yogini's Mirror

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The first book of its kind
Beautiful book packed with more beauty
Wonderful Book
Three in one
A Hidden World Revealed

A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance: The Yogini's Mirror
Roxanne Kamayani Gupta
Manufacturer: Inner Traditions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 0892817658
Release Date: 2000-03-01

Book Description

The yoga and classical dance traditions of India have been inextricably entwined for millennia. The exacting hand gestures, postures and movements of Indian classical dance can only be achieved through yogic concentration. Conversely, the esthetics, symmetry, and dynamism of dance enhance the practice of yoga. These two traditions, so complementary and essential to one another, are united and explicated for the first time in A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance.

Twenty-five years ago Roxanne Kamayani Gupta embarked on a journey of dance and yoga, yearning to unlock their mysteries and discover their common origins. As a twenty-year-old student from America she was miraculously and mysteriously absorbed into Indian culture, became a Hindu, and began an odyssey so unusual and unique that the reader will be enchanted by its telling. Choosing the path of the dancer, Roxanne Gupta accomplished what no Western woman had done before: being accepted and trained by Indian masters and then performing in the Indian classical traditions--from the palaces of maharajas to the arts festivals of Europe and America--while at the same time achieving a doctorate in the anthropology of religion and being initiated into a number of yogic traditions. Having mastered the classical form of Kuchipudi dance and studied with teachers of the hatha and kriya yoga traditions, she brings together these two great streams of consciousness and practice.

In this tantric approach to yoga and dance, expressed through the body and through a yoga of emotions, we see the traditions embodied in a manner that embraces the totality of the human experience. The result is the dance of the yogini, the sacred feminine initiatress who dances with one foot in nature and the other in the realm of the gods. With extensive photographs of innovative yoga routines, Roxanne Kamayani Gupta distills her experience into techniques for yogic study certain to assist students of all levels to achieve a dynamic, beautiful, and graceful practice.

Customer Reviews:

The first book of its kind.......2007-01-30

It is indeed the first and - so far - the only book that attempts to introduce - to the western readership - the spiritual aspects of the classical Indian dance form of Kuchipudi. The author is clearly not a Bharata Muni or even a devadasi or a Siddhendra Yogi, but is obviously a very intellectual (and often a bit too philosophical) lady and made the book easily understandable for the non-Indian readership.

I have never watched Roxanne Kamayani Gupta dance, but, to judge from her book, she is (and has never been) not a contemporary Kuchipudi star like Varsha Ramesh who, true, cannot boast of a PhD and is too young to understand the western mentality.

To have some idea of what is inside the book:

I. Intro (Understanding Yoga and Indian Classical Dance)
1. Discipline and Desire (My Initiation into Indian Spirituality) - page 8
2. Dance of the Gurus (Meetings with Remarkable Men and Women) - page 32
3. Stillness at the Center (The Yoga of Indian Dance) - page 51
4. The Dance of Yoga (The sixty-Four Yogini Asanas) - page 59
5. Yoga of the Emotions (Spiritual Dimensions of Indian Dance) - page 150
6. The Dance of the Yogini (Tantric Dimensions of Indian Classical Dance) - page 162
7. Yoga of the Elements (Nature, Culture and Spirituality) - page 173

So, half of the book is dedicated to the asanas but gives hardly anything beyond the instructions for the physical body. So, where is the Kriya Yoga element here then? The author fails to establish the connection between the asanas and the classical Indian dance.

Of course, nobody in India performs the yoga asanas in those kind of tights - sitting in a garden on a deer skin. And nobody in India understands what is "Yogini Asanas". Yoga Asanas is what is known. There is a bit too much of the romantic American feminism here. Roxanne does not know why the founder of Kuchipudi, Siddhendra Yogi, taught it only to men... So, why?

And - my god! - "Tantric Dimensions" are of course in line with the popular western (sex-obsessed) interpretation of the Left Path of Tantra. Roxanne believes that "since the advent of the birth control pill women's sexuality no longer inevitably results in pregnancy...". Roxanne could never explain why the original devadasis were celibate and why nobody was allowed to watch them dance in the temples' shrine's. Explaining it would hurt the pride of the sexually active (majority) part of the potential readership in the USA, of course. It would be shocking for them to read something like the Irumbai legend portraying the devadasi Valli. After reading Roxanne, an average American woman may be lead to wonder if the ancient devadasis, indeed, used to pull condoms over the lingams in the temples!

As for "Yoga of Emotions" section, there are full-page photos of Roxanne attempting to demonstrate the navarasas. While some of the expressions are ok, others (such as Raudra, Sringara, Vira, Adbhuta) are not clearly expressed. Roxanne should better learn what real expressions should be by, for example, watching the DVDs of SriDevi Nrithyalaya's virtuosos.

Ok, all in, if you were not brought up in India, the book is a must-read for all those interested in the yoga side of Kuchipudi. Even if 2% of the book gives you some kind of answer to the question, "Where on earth is Yoga in Kuchipudi???", these 2% are worth gleaning from reading the entire book.

I am quite satisfied with this book's price.

Beautiful book packed with more beauty.......2005-08-28

Ms Gupta is such a talented lady. A westerner who has really taken the art of kuchipudi to such a spiritual level, its so heartwarming really. Her pics are all so clear and she teached some excellent yoga postures. She explains them all so clearly and correctly. This lady is so dedicated to the art form it gives us an insight into what dedication really is. She has lots of history as well and everything is so informative i cant get my hands off this book. Its a work of wonder!! My aunt and i virtually compete to read this beautiful book. For those indians like me who love and embrace everything abt being indian this is a great one too. and for those art enthusiasts theres alot to learn from this beautiful lady@!!!

Wonderful Book.......2001-06-26

Roxanne creates this book by combining her experiences living in India, learning classical dance and yoga. Her style of writing is exquisite and authentic. I grew up in Hyderabad speaking Telugu language. Reading about her experiences from Hyderabad, I felt like I'm back home. I met Dr. Nataraja Rama Krishna, great dance teacher few times. Teachers like him and others expect nothing but the best from their students.

Roxanne incorporates some of the dance movements and hand gestures in the yoga exercises she recommends. It clearly shows, how classical dance and yoga are inter related. Any dance teacher would benefit greatly from reading this book.

Three in one.......2001-06-26

This book is beautifully packaged, and Ms. Gupta links Yoga asanas and classical Indian dance, something so obvious, and yet the dance masters fail to do this to any extent in the present-day Indian classical dance training. The Yoga portion of the book consists of basic gentle yoga asanas, with photos of the author doing the asanas, good especially for beginners, but a video to accompany the book would have made it more complete and easier to follow (though, as photos go, it's as good as it can get without a video). It's a memoir and a journey of the author's first trip to India and how she, as an American, got interested in the East. It is full of hundreds of photos, large and small, of the author who shares her earthly and sometimes not-so-earthly experiences in words and pictures, making it a book on yoga, a biography and an introduction to Indian classical dance.

A Hidden World Revealed.......2001-05-09

Inspiring and scholarly, The Yogini's Mirror reflects undiscovered worlds inside the reader, moving the reader into a realm where anything is possible. Sincerity and Grace are humbly conveyed through personal experience and practical methods. This book is a way to easy yoga, accessible and full of joyous enlightenment.

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The Lied: Mirror of Late Romanticism
Edward F. Kravitt
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300063652

Book Description

The German lied, a song form that fuses music and poetry, provides a key to understanding far-reaching cultural changes at the turn of the century, says Edward F. Kravitt in this definitive book. As artistic politics pitted tradition against innovation, naturalism against symbolism, and nationalism against universalism, the lied became an important vehicle in the German people`s search to rediscover their national roots.

Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society

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Crime films
Enjoying Crime Films
Scholarship & Hollywood: Crime Film as a Social Mirror

Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society
Nicole Rafter
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0195129822

Book Description

Movies play a central role in shaping our understanding of crime and the world generally, helping us define what is good and bad, desirable and unworthy, lawful and illicit, strong and weak. Crime films raise controversial issues about the distribution of social power and the meanings of deviance, and they provide a safe space for fantasies of rebellion, punishment, and the restoration of order. In this first comprehensive study of its kind, well-known criminologist Nicole Rafter examines the relationship between society and crime films from the perspectives of criminal justice, film history and technique, and sociology. Dealing with over 300 films ranging from gangster and cop to trial and prison movies, Shots in the Mirror concentrates on works in the Hollywood tradition but also identifies a darker strain of critical films that portray crime and punishment more bleakly.

Customer Reviews:

Crime films.......2001-02-21

A must read for students - and fans - of crime films! I enjoyed it a great deal!

Enjoying Crime Films.......2001-02-08

This wonderful book grew out of a college course that Nicole Rafter developed on crime films and society. It will interest general readers, too--those of us who enjoy crime films and are curious about their history and enduring appeal. The book, covering American film from the early 1900s through 1998, begins with an introductory chapter on the history of crime films, followed by chapters on specific genres, such as cop films and courtroom dramas, and other topics.

Rafter's guiding focus is the interaction between crime films and their eras' dominant beliefs and controversies. Crime films mirror cultural ideas about crime and help shape them. Thus, she features films that have received critical or popular recognition and provide provocative entree to significant social issues of their times. Crime films, Rafter argues, are social tools, as well. They help build consensus, expose our differences, and chart new courses of action. While readers will not always agree with Rafter's interpretations and analyses, they will become more sensitive observers, more active players in the ongoing exchange between crime films and everyday social life. In addition, readers will come away from this engaging book with a long list of films to see and to rethink. (Rafter mentions over 300 crime films in all, discussing over 100 in some depth.)

On a personal note, I share the author's observation that students in criminology are well versed in crime films and interested in their import. SHOTS IN THE MIRROR provides a marvelous vehicle for capitalizing on their interest and broadening the study of crime, as well. The book's historical perspective and its sensitivity to issues of race and gender could also prove useful for other courses in the social sciences.

Scholarship & Hollywood: Crime Film as a Social Mirror.......2001-02-05

Nicole Rafter's text offers a rigorous analysis of important social issues facing not only scholars and students of criminality and criminal justice but members of our own communities as well. Film- like other media- provides a viable avenue for academic study and discourse and should be used both as a tool for instruction as well as a subject for critical inspection. Rafter addresses seminal, contemporary "crime and justice" issues by considering the various genres of crime films, namely cop films, courtroom dramas, prisons, and crime itself. She contends that crime films in each of these genres make two general arguments. First, they all criticize society to a certain extent, whether the issue concerns excessive use of force by the police or the violent crime rate. Secondly, these films provide the audience with resolution by displaying the triumph of "justice" over corruption and brutality. As Rafter explains, crime films offer us an uncomfortable sense of gratification.

One of the many strengths of this text concerns its accessibility to both members of the academy and the general public. Rafter's text steps outside the boundaries of criminology and criminal justice and embraces a variety of disciplines and perspectives. As she maintains throughout her book, crime films reflect our ideas about social, economic, and political issues, and they shape the way in which we think about them. By examining the interrelationships between film history and technique, social history, criminal justice and criminological theory from multiple interdisciplinary perspectives, Rafter offers a fresh and (enjoyably) enlightening approach to the study and understanding of crime, criminality, and criminal justice within the context of film. Albeit a scholarly text, Rafter's book reads like a novel; extremely engaging in its description of crime films throughout various genres and generations, readers from various academic disciplines and those outside academia alike will find this book to be both widely entertaining and intellectually rigorous and stimulating.

Average customer rating:

Almost unreadable, meandering nonsense

Some interesting insights, but pedantic and overwritten.

Smoke and Mirrors: Violence, Television, and Other American Cultures
John Leonard
Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
History & Criticism | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1565844432

Amazon.com

You can't find a smarter, more savvy, and learned couch potato than John Leonard, the literary editor of The Nation and television critic for New York magazine and CBS Sunday Morning. In the pages of Smoke and Mirrors he accomplishes something close to the unthinkable: he creates a convincing case for the merits of our collective viewing habits through thoughtful essays on what television tells us about ourselves. At times Leonard's knowledge of television programming can be overwhelming, as he clicks through the history of long-canceled programs with a frightening intimacy. In contrast to real T.V., Leonard always offers up something worth tuning into. He treats our tired, media-saturated eyes to such topics as what detective programs reveal about out confidence in the individual, how our sense of national coherence has fractured into multitudinous channels of individual identity, and what talk shows express about the need for a collective legitimation. Leonard's arguments might not always sway the reader, but unlike the boob tube, he rarely disappoints.

Book Description

The probing, provocative examination of television that Rolling Stone called "dense, funny, and smart as hell." In Smoke and Mirrors, John Leonard, one of the nation's leading media critics, offers a provocative challenge to conventional ideas about television. Instead of scapegoating television as the cause of crime in our streets, stupidity in our schools, and spectacle rather than substance in our government, Leonard sees something else inside the box: an echo chamber and a feed-back loop, a medium neither wholly innocent of, nor entirely responsible for, the frantic disorder it brings to our homes.

Customer Reviews:

Almost unreadable, meandering nonsense.......2004-03-12

The introduction almost holds together as John Leonard ignores the scientific basis of television research and counters it with indefensible but plausible-sounding arguments. Then he talks a little about Ed Sullivan. Then he wanders around for another few hundred pages tossing factlets into our faces, seemingly without ever making a point, using logic, or doing anything other than showing off his immense knowledge of TV trivia and inability to use reason. This is the worst book I have ever read, and that's saying something.

Each chapter is a wandering group of lists, as Leonard tosses out name after name after name, dazzling us with both the amount of time spent in front of the TV and his wonderful memory for actors and series - but there is no depth behind anything. No point seems to ever be made. It's like watching the images flashed in movie commercials - but for hours instead of 30 seconds. Watching too much TV seems to have left Leonard without the ability to focus his attention for any length of time.

Do yourself a favor and find a book written by someone who (a) can actually make arguments, (b) understands how research is conducted, (c) has something to say, and/or (d) can actually provide information rather than rambling on and on for nearly 300 pages about his opinions on this, that, and the other thing, in the end without imparting any information other than some useless facts about Ed Sullivan (in chapter one so you can save lots of time by stopping there).

I borrowed this book for free from the library and did not find it to be worth the price.

PS> Most of my other reviews have all been positive so I'm not some sort of crank ... nor do I think I disagree with whatever Leonard's main point is, though I have no idea what that might be. And ignore the "this refers to the hardcover edition" comment, it's both!

Some interesting insights, but pedantic and overwritten........2000-06-21

Leonard has never really been my cup of tea for a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, this is a book of important, if limited value.

Unlike most people who write about television, Leonard is neither contemptous and condescending toward the medium, nor does he write publicist vetted puff pieces. Rather, he is an obviously learned and literate man who feels television is an undeniably important part of the cultural scene and worthy of taking seriously. There are some perceptions and insights here that are striking in their originality and in their ability to link some of TV's conventions with those of other art forms.

HOWEVER...In order to get to these few nuggets one has to wade through reams of prose that is almost unbearably purple and self-concious. On virtually ever page Leonard sees fit to let fly with a string of overblown metaphors that more often than not collapse under their own weight into one large puddle of incoherence. It often seems that Leonard is more interested in showing off his superior erudition and word-wizardry than he is in cleary and effectively communicating his ideas. As with other stuff by Leonard that I've read, this book either had no editor to speak of, or s/he was asleep at the switch.

The other major flaw in this book (from my perspective), is Leonard's flaunting of his puerile, tiresome (far)leftism. While he's admirably upfront about his biases, unlike some other cultural commentators, this doesn't make his inanities any easier to take(in some cases he is downright mean, if not mendacious). The gist of any point that he makes seems to be that if you disagree or deviate in any way from the world according to JL, you are not merely wrong, but also most likely an evil, selfish, hateful human being.His opinion on many TV shows seems unduly influenced by whether or not he approves of the program's politics (if a program has NO political agenda, he either has to huff and puff to invent one for it, or he feels it is unworthy of serious consideration)and whether it deals appropriately (or at all) with what Leonard has decreed are the burning issues of the day.

All in all, Mr. Leonard's continuing career is proof that the political right by no means has a monopoly on tiresome, hectoring, self-righteous gasbags.

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