Popular Culture Review Vol. 15, No. 1 | Page 8

4 Popular Culture Review In the first movie-based essay, Richard A. Voeltz shows us that Hollywood is “Still Dreaming of Africa.” He gives us a short history of Hollywood’s interest in Africa (which appeared as far back as 1929), offering his insightful critique on the way to his destination: discussion of the film I Dreamed o f Africa (released in 2000). He spends the bulk of his time discussing this movie and how awful it was, concluding: “Hollywood will not give up on making cinematic meditations about bored, rich, yet soul-searching and sensitive, white people questing for fulfillment and a new life among the photogenic landscapes of Kenya and Africa.” In “The Ethos of Cool vs. The Ethos of Chill,” Steven Carter talks about how language and changes in language aid the expression of self and the creation of identity, especially in the postmodern world. In particular, it is important to note that the words we as individuals use are critical to the formation and display of our “social selves.” Robert Sickels’ “Pastoral Dreams in Innisfree, Ireland, U.S.A.” is full of ageless themes: death/rebirth, the prodigal son, myths of god/goddess, and the myth of the wonders and joys of the pastoral world. In this case, he argues that Americans tend to hold the view that the past was better than the present and we see it through pastoral, green-tinted glasses, longing to “cleanse” ourselves “of the damage caused by . . . time spent in a complex industrial civilization.” In the end, the questions remain. In this post-9/11 world, do we still believe in the fantasy? Have we lost our naivete? Or will we become ever more sentimental about the past, yearning for a simpler, nicer world? Lynda Walsh’s presentation of Dan De Quille’s hoaxes is a historical story from Pop Culture Review's own backyard: the wilds of nineteenth-century Nevada. De Quille used his masterful tall tales as a form of resistance against changes being imposed on the West under the guidance of authority from the eastern United States. In another blast from the past, Jacqueline Foertsch uses the movie, War o f the Worlds, in her essay “Bombs Away and Smash Hits at Home” to argue that the 1953 cinematic version of H.G. Wells’ literary work epitomizes the fright of the Cold War. In turn, she presents the idea that we were fighting against those who were alien to us and therefore Other. Ultimately this produced the fear of invasion of our national identity bordering on a feeling of personal invasion when the “insulated, protected state, a condition of living within boundaries” was broken. In other words, technological change and what we now know as “globalization” broke this country out of its shell, a fearful process indeed. On a much different note, we are then introduced to a discussion about shopping. The act of shopping is an expression of self, yet it is also entertainment. Because of this, shopping also has a dark side. To borrow a metaphor from the Wizard o f Oz, someone is behind the curtain, behind the scenes, manipulating our feelings and desires. Read Mark Moss’ “Shopping as an