Flying Solo: The Aviator and Libertarian Philosophy

Deadwood has a different take on the common myth of the western. What is commonly billed as the triumph of civilization over barbarism is reinterpreted by Milch as the imposition of a remote and uncaring government on people hitherto living in freedom on the frontier. Essay

What is a Western? How and when did The Western emerge as an art form? Paul Cantor shares his perspective. Conversation

W.C. Fields lived the American Dream, but he struggled enough to do so that he became extremely aware of its dark side.Essay

Frankenstein can teach us a valuable lesson about culture—the way that high art grows out of and can in turn influence commercial culture, even the mass media. Essay

The many con men, gangsters, and drug lords portrayed in popular culture are examples of the dark side of the American dream. Viewers are fascinated by these twisted versions of heroic American archetypes, like the self-made man and the entrepreneur. Applying the critical skills he developed as a Shakespeare scholar, Paul A. Cantor finds new depth in familiar landmarks of popular culture. Book

Jane Austen films remind the us that it is still possible to sell movies on the basis of time- honored literary qualities: engaging characters, articulate dialogue, well- shaped plots, and serious themes. Essay

The standard film-noir view of American values as empty and American institutions as hollow may indeed be another strange instance of what happened when European ideas and attitudes were transported to America as a result of the convulsions in Europe.

W.C. Fields made the endless struggle to become someone else the theme of his films, as he debunked a variety of incarnations of the American Dream.