This paper explores melodrama as a central genre of the Anthropocene: a mode of staged
(and later, televised and filmed) representation powered by the petrofueled technologies …

This article proposes a philosophy of melodrama, following the example of Noël Carroll in
The Philosophy of Horror (1990). Melodrama is defined by a distinctive mode of address in …

I assume that most have a prima facie suspicion of, if not outright negative attitude toward,
cases of what I call actor-character race-mismatching film fictions—that is, films in which the …

Dumbo never speaks a single word. Everyone around him is as loud and bustling as the
circus itself—the loving mother who gets thrown in a cage for defending her son against …

This article examines Noël Carroll's theory of solidarity from a critical race theoretical
perspective. Using recent work in philosophy of film, philosophy of emotion, and critical …

Based on a fake trailer inserted between the two features that make up Grindhouse (Quentin
Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, 2007), Machete (Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Manquis …

This essay argues that the movie Moonlight (2016) offers an enlightening opportunity to
explore contrasts between film noir and melodrama, in particular how these two genres …

This dissertation argues for the central place of theaters and places of amusement in the
story of the African American fight for citizenship in the northern United States from 1865 to …

(1921). Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto in Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937). Katherine Hepburn as Jade
in Dragon Seed (1942). Charlton Heston as Ramon Miguel Vargas in Touch of Evil (1958) …

The first black women filmmakers frequently remain unacknowledged for their contributions
to the early years of black cinema. This essay examines the life and career of Alice Russell …