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Too far West (dangerous curves ahead)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13079063
AutoresWill Visconti (0000-0002-5963-947X, The University of Sydney, autor de correspondencia)
Año2014
Volumen2
Número4
Páginas95-107
Fecha de publicación2014-11-01
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEuropean Journal of Humour Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2307-700X • E-ISSN: 2307-700X
EditorialCracow Tertium Society for the Promotion of Language Studies (PUBLISHER • PL)
DOI10.7592/ejhr2014.2.4.visconti
OpenAlexW2102923276
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas8

In a career that lasted over eighty years, the performances of Mae West were famous, or infamous, for their power to shock, their transgression of boundaries of class, gender, sexuality and propriety, and for the frequent opprobrium that West seemed to attract. Moreover, there was no subject matter considered "off-limits" within Mae West's work, and her plays and films were marked by her fearless approach to topics that even today are often seen as problematic (substance abuse, abortion, rape, and the idea of the "expiry date" of the female performer and her sexuality). West also broke new ground by both bringing taboo subjects into mainstream view, and by combining a sympathetic and humorous treatment of serious topics. Despite her reputation as a screen icon with a rapier wit, her work as a writer, and indeed, the effort she put into creating and maintaining the style and content of her act is frequently overlooked. Throughout her plays, films, radio appearances and written work, she consistently pushed the envelope in terms of what was deemed acceptable, normal or humorous for her age (and her era). When castigated for going "too far", she simply edited her material and tried again, inching forward and gradually setting a precedent for later generations of comics and comic writers, while situating herself within an extant framework of shocking and subversive performers. This paper is intended as an exploration not only of West's much-publicised transgressive use of humour, or the subversiveness of her humour itself, but also the way in which her career trajectory embodied the notion of going "too far" with her final films, and how Mae West's life so frequently imitated her art

Aesthetics · Art · Betrayal · Comics · Human sexuality · Icon · Literature · Mainstream · Media studies · Political science · Power (physics · Sociology · Style (visual arts · Subject (documents · Taboo · Cinema and Media Studies · Comics and Graphic Narratives · Cultural History and Identity Formation · Gender Studies · History · Law

  • Take me seriously. Now laugh at me! How gender influences the creation of contemporary physical comedy

    Bridget Boyle•Comedy Studies•2015

  • Mae West Live

    Marybeth Hamilton•TDR/The Drama Review•1992

  • Buffoon Men

    Brian Faucette•Historical Journal Of Film Radio…•2014

  • With Amusement for All

    Open Access•Jeffrey Cass•The Journal of Popular Culture•2007

  • Mae West

    Leslie Fishbein, Jill Watts•Journal of American History•2002

  • Guilty Pleasures

    Ann Douglas, Pamela Robertson•Journal of American History•1997

  • Mae West as Censored Commodity

    Ramona Curry•Cinema Journal•1991

  • The Kinda Comedy That Imitates Me

    Pamela Robertson•Cinema Journal•1993

Citas por año0,09
Intervalo de citas2015 - 2015 (1)
Altamente citadoNo

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