Fantasy Film Post 9/11
Fantasy Film Post 9/11 FRANCES PHEASANT-KELLY
FANTASY FILM POST 9/11 Copyright Frances Pheasant-Kelly, 2013. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-39212-0 All rights reserved. First published in 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-35183-1 DOI 10.1057/9780230392137 ISBN 978-0-230-39213-7 (ebook) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pheasant-Kelly, Frances, 1960 Fantasy film post 9/11 / by Frances Pheasant-Kelly. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Fantasy films History and criticism. 2. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001 Influence. I. Title. PN1995.9.F36P53 2013 791.43 61509051 dc23 2012037261 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: March 2013 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my parents
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Contents List of Illustrations A ck n o w l e d g m e n t s ix xi I nt r o d u c t i o n 1 1. Settings, Spectacle, and the Other: Picturing Disgust in Jackson s The Lord of the Rings Tr i l o g y 2 3 2. B e w it c h i n g, A b j e c t, Un c a n n y : M a g i c a l S p e c t a c l e in the Harry Potter F i l m s 47 3. Pirate Politics and the Spectacle of the Other: Pirates of the Caribbean 67 4. R e s u r r e c t i o n, A nt h r o p o m o r p h i s m, a n d C o l d Wa r Echoes in Adamson s The Chronicles of Narnia; the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 8 7 5. The Aesthetics of Trauma: Temporality and Multidirectional Memory in Pan s Labyrinth 9 9 6. Reframing the Cold War in the Twenty-First Century: Action, Nostalgia, and Nuclear Holocaust in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 115 7. The Ecstasy of Chaos: Mediations of 9/11, Terrorism, and Traumatic Memory in The Dark Knight 131 8. Wounding, Morality and Torture: Reflections of the War on Terror in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 14 3 9. Shock and Awe: Terror, Technology, and the Sublime Nature of Cameron s Avatar 161
viii Contents C o n c l u s i o n 17 9 Notes 183 Bibliography 18 7 Filmography 2 0 3 Index 2 0 5
List of Illustrations 1 The Balrog in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 3 0 2 Gollum (Andy Serkis) in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 39 3 Voldemort s (Ralph Fiennes) rebirth in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 5 4 4 Harry Potter s parents in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 5 4 5 Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 69 6 Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man s Chest 76 7 Sparrow and Elizabeth Turner (Keira Knightley) marooned in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 83 8 Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) in Narnia, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 9 0 9 The toad in Pan s Labyrinth 10 8 10 The Pale Man (Doug Jones) devouring fairies in Pan s Labyrinth 110 11 The nuclear blast in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 12 6 12 The Joker in The Dark Knight 132 13 Holographic technology in Iron Man 2 152 14 Jake Sully s (Sam Worthington) avatar in Avatar 167 15 The two trees of Avatar 173
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Acknowledgments My sincere thanks go to friend and colleague Stella Hockenhull, who has been a constant source of support and intellectual inspiration, and to Steve Badsey for his insightful comments and helpful discussion. Also my thanks to Mark Jones, James Chapman, Isaac Vayo, and Todd Comer, who have all made valuable suggestions, and to Michael Kelly and Denise Pheasant, who have helped me along the way. I would further like to acknowledge the University of Wolverhampton for its unstinting and generous commitment to my research. Final thanks go to the staff at Palgrave, including Samantha Hasey, Desiree Browne, and Robyn Curtis.