The Figure of the Refugee in Superhero Cinema

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3948334
AutoresDina Alawadhi (Centre for Multidisciplinary and Intercultural Inquiry, University College London, London, UK, autor correspondente), Jason Dittmer (0000-0002-1022-4978, Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK)
Ano2022
Volume27
Fascículo2
Páginas604-628
Data de publicação2022-03-15
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2020.1820484
OpenAlexW3088152692
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas47

In this paper we argue that superhero cinema offers an opportunity to think through the narratives and affects of the refugee crisis, which are distinct from, but related to, the relatively well-attended-to tropes of journalism. To do so we adopt both the ethical stance of feminist political geography and the analytic methods of popular geopolitics. Our analysis focuses on two films from the burgeoning Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): Thor: Ragnarok and Captain Marvel. Both films are not ‘refugee films’ per se, but they illustrate the ways in which the ongoing ‘refugee crisis’ is being dealt with in mainstream, corporate Hollywood blockbusters. The two films are considered both in their narrative and affective engineering, as part of an effort to understand the ways in which political subjects might be shaped by the act of viewing. Our analysis uncovers three themes: 1) mobility as power, 2) the aesthetic of modernity, and 3) refugee bodies. We conclude that studies like this can contribute to a broader understanding of the role of whiteness and securitisation in the portrayal of refugees in the Global North

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Geopolitics · Hollywood · Journalism · Literature · Mainstream · Media studies · Modernity · Movie theater · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Global Security and Public Health · History · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration