Articles and Chapters by Laura Cook Kenna
Italian American Review, 2016
This article investigates the reception of two of the most popular TV programs depicting Italia... more This article investigates the reception of two of the most popular TV programs depicting Italian American mafiosi: The Untouchables (1959-63) and The Sopranos (1999-2007). Italian American organizations protested against both these ethnic representations, winning concessions from producers in the 1960s but coming up empty by the turn of the last century. The paper argues that the relative success or failure of these antidefamation efforts is not a mere barometer of white ethnics' cultural status nor aesthetic achievement. Rather, the cultural status of television itself affected the ways the protesters made their claims and whether or not their demands were met.
Ch 10 in Beyond Blaxploitation, Novotny Lawrence and Gerald R. Butters, Jr., eds (Wayne State, 20... more Ch 10 in Beyond Blaxploitation, Novotny Lawrence and Gerald R. Butters, Jr., eds (Wayne State, 2016)
This chapter reconnects the industrial conditions that led to the blaxploitation cycle with histories of black film criticism, exploitation films, and 1970s black cinema. By doing so, it reveals how much the aesthetic practices and marketing strategies of the black movie boom were connected to a half-century-old mode of production that was characteristic of neither "mainstream" Hollywood nor "race films."
Las Vegas has been linked with Frank Sinatra since the 1950s. The highly‐publicized performances ... more Las Vegas has been linked with Frank Sinatra since the 1950s. The highly‐publicized performances of the Rat Pack (consisting of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford) at the Sands crystallized the image of Las Vegas as a place that mingled economic mobility with excess. This excess was often associated with ethnicity and frequently linked to crime. It was, however, the excess that made Las Vegas and Sinatra glamorous to many audiences.
Page 1. DANGEROUS MEN, DANGEROUS MEDIA: CONSTRUCTING ETHNICITY, RACE, AND MEDIA'S IM... more Page 1. DANGEROUS MEN, DANGEROUS MEDIA: CONSTRUCTING ETHNICITY, RACE, AND MEDIA'S IMPACT THROUGH THE GANGSTER IMAGE, 1959-2007 by Laura Cook Kenna BA, 1999, The Pennsylvania State University A Dissertation submitted to ...
Papers by Laura Cook Kenna
Page 1. DANGEROUS MEN, DANGEROUS MEDIA: CONSTRUCTING ETHNICITY, RACE, AND MEDIA'S IM... more Page 1. DANGEROUS MEN, DANGEROUS MEDIA: CONSTRUCTING ETHNICITY, RACE, AND MEDIA'S IMPACT THROUGH THE GANGSTER IMAGE, 1959-2007 by Laura Cook Kenna BA, 1999, The Pennsylvania State University A Dissertation submitted to ...
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Articles and Chapters by Laura Cook Kenna
This chapter reconnects the industrial conditions that led to the blaxploitation cycle with histories of black film criticism, exploitation films, and 1970s black cinema. By doing so, it reveals how much the aesthetic practices and marketing strategies of the black movie boom were connected to a half-century-old mode of production that was characteristic of neither "mainstream" Hollywood nor "race films."
Papers by Laura Cook Kenna
This chapter reconnects the industrial conditions that led to the blaxploitation cycle with histories of black film criticism, exploitation films, and 1970s black cinema. By doing so, it reveals how much the aesthetic practices and marketing strategies of the black movie boom were connected to a half-century-old mode of production that was characteristic of neither "mainstream" Hollywood nor "race films."