2008/12/16 by Jyotsna Kapur · 1 citation
Psychology · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics #Cinema and Media Studies #Gothic Literature and Media Analysis #Paranoia #Movie theater #Comedy #Phenomenon #Capitalism #Subject (documents) #Sociology #Aesthetics #History #Gender studies #Media studies #Art #Literature #Art history #Political science #Law #Psychology #Philosophy #Politics
paper · doi:10.1080/08949460802529027
openalex publication_date 2008/12/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Beginning in the 21st century the American conspiracy thriller, one of the most popular of contemporary genres, became preoccupied with scenarios of protagonists threatened with the loss of children. What had until recently been the subject of light-hearted family films, i.e., on the growing up of children and the growing down of adults, reappeared here as a reason for dread. Tracing the very gendered nature of this fear in the contemporary thriller, this paper contextualizes the phenomenon in the culture of a radicalized globalized capitalism and an outcome of the neo-liberal turn since the 1980s.