Australian comedy films of the 1930s : Modernity, the urban and the international
- Authors: Speed, Lesley
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book
- Relation: The Moving Image
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Comedy has been a perpetual part of Australian film, in which humour reflects Australia's adaptation in times of crisis, social change and technological advances. This was never more so than in the 1930s, when Australia produced more comedy feature films than in any other decade before 1970. These films of the 1930s embraced the new technology of sound, made local vaudeville performers into movie stars, offered escape from the Depression and revealed a diverse and international Australia. In these films, Australia moved further from Empire and the bush, forged the Digger legend, responded to cultural diversity and viewed itself as a modern, urban nation. Influenced by Hollywood, Australian comedies of the 1930s adapted international styles to local points of view. Based on research at the National Film and Sound Archive, Lesley Speed's book provides new insight into Australian comedy films of the 1930s and the extraordinary period of social change in which they were produced.
Clueless : American Youth in the 1990s
- Authors: Speed, Lesley
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Book
- Relation: Cinema and Youth Cultures series
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Clueless: American Youth in the 1990s is a timely contribution to the increasingly prominent academic field of youth film studies. The book draws on the social context to the film's release, a range of film industry perspectives including marketing, audience reception and franchising, as well as postmodern theory and feminist film theory to assert the cultural and historical significance of Amy Heckerling's film and reaffirm its reputation as one of the defining teen films of the 1990s. Lesley Speed examines how the film channels aspects of Anita Loos' 1925 novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the 1960s television series Gidget and Jane Austen's Emma, to present a heightened, optimistic view of contemporary American teenage life. Although seemingly apolitical, Speed makes the case for Clueless as a feminist exploration of relationships between gender, comedy and consumer culture, centring on a contemporary version of the 'dumb blonde' type. The film is also proved to embrace diversity in its depiction of African American characters and contributing to an increase in gay teenagers on screen. Lesley Speed concludes her analysis by tracking the rise of the Clueless franchise and cult following. Both helped to cement the film in popular consciousness, inviting fans to inhabit its fantasy world through spinoff narratives on television and in print, public viewing rituals, revivalism and vintage fashion. © 2018 Lesley Speed. All rights reserved.