American Dream — Paul Cantor Complete Work

Posts tagged American Dream

Macbeth of Meth

Breaking Bad and the tragedy of Walter White. Essay

Popular CultureVirginiaMarch 1, 2022Breaking Bad, Macbeth, Shakespeare, American Dream

Introduction

Introduction to Popular Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream. Introduction

VirginiaMay 11, 2020American Dream

Aristocracy in America: Huckleberry Finn and the Democratic Art of the Imposture

Huckleberry Finn is a dark and deeply unnerving work. It is filled with a seemingly endless parade of con artists, impostors, vigilantes, lynch mobs, and other practitioners of fraud and deception or cruelty and inhumanity. Essay

FictionVirginiaMay 10, 2020American Dream, Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn

The Talented Mr. Dukenfield: W.C. Fields and the American Dream

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

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 9, 2020American Dream, W.C. Fields, Essay, Film

I Believe in America: The Godfather Story and the Immigrant's Tragedy

By linking that dream to the immigrant experience, The Godfather I and The Godfather II tell a foundational American story, perhaps the foundational American story. Essay

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 8, 2020American Dream, Popular Culture, The Godfather, Godfather

The Apocalyptic Strain in Popular Culture

We seem to have survived the Mayan apocalypse predicted for December 21, 2012, but maybe we should not get too cocky. American popular culture is overflowing with doomsday prophecies and end-of-the-world scenarios. Essay

Popular CultureVirginiaMay 1, 2020Walking Dead, Popular Culture, American Dream