BOOK REVIEWS
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Hollywood’s “dark star,” by virtue of her talent and leading roles, eventually
internalized the industry’s image of herself, which ultimately led to her
victimization.
This is an important historical film study, one which draws attention to the
struggles and contributions of pioneering African American actresses.
Examining the film roles and the industry’s positioning (and invariable
marginalizing) of these immensely talented women, Regester also documents
their resistance, as well as the consequences of that resistance upon their careers.
Her study will serve as an invaluable resource for one who wishes to gain
knowledge and insight into the careers and lives of black actresses from the turn
of the 20^^ century to the civil rights era.
Frank E. Dobson, Jr., Independent Scholar
Star Trek as Myth
Edited by Matthew William Kapell
MacFarland, 2010
The problem with parsing American symbolism and archetype in terms of
modem content is an understood lack of respect for storytelling via modem
technology. Although television serials have acquired some legitimacy in this
area, they suffer from an in-bred cousin view in relation to traditional story
telling formats. Mainstream serials still have to overcome the criticism that they
are superficial descendents of the classic mythologies that spawned them. The
book Star Trek as Myth, (edited by Matthew Wilhelm Kapell) defends the
notion that television serials and this series in particular are good enough to take
seriously in a philosophical and academic sense.
Star Trek as Myth is a collection of serious and entertaining essays that
assess Star Trek in all its iterations. This collection, which i ncludes analysis of
the successes and failures of American frontier ideology and individualism,
resuscitates the discussion about the sources and results of the American dream.
It does so by viewing the whole culture through the landscape created by Gene
Roddenberry.
According to these texts, by creating a fictional universe with an unending
and largely unexplored landscape Star Trek reinvigorates discussions of real
world social conflicts. Authors here note the unusual collection of archetypal
characters, cultures, and conundmms that are clearly reflections of an American
notion of empire. These essays also remind us of Star Trek's connection to, and
recovery of the classic hero. They in fact insist that Star Trek celebrates the
value of the epic journey because it sets up a wholly imaginary landscape. The
new turf offers possibilities for discussion not available if the talk was limited to