Kinder (Critical Studies/USC School of Cinema-Television) argues that the ``supersystem'' comprised of TV, video games, and movies aimed at children not only urges them to buy specific products but also indoctrinates them in the ways of post-modern consumer culture. Drawing on recent work in feminist psychoanalysis, Althusser's economic theories of social indoctrination, and Piaget-inspired studies of child development, as well as her observations of her own son and a small sample of his peers, Kinder maps out a media network that exploits children's desire to master threatening situations through play by prescribing and rewarding precisely the kinds of play that make them dedicated consumers. In an especially probing chapter on Saturday morning TV, Kinder explores the ways programs like Muppet Babies and Garfield and Friends reconfigure their young audience's desires for reassurance, control, and fantasy as desires for a ``virtual reality'' whose stability is associated with the title figures—and, ultimately, as desires for the things they can buy that will guarantee that reality. Other chapters, less bold in their analysis, consider similar ``interpellations''—indoctrinations of children as consumers—by Nintendo games and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A suggestive, unsatisfying conclusion sketches a global economic context behind this intertextual power play, and two appendices explain Kinder's procedures for two informal samplings of children's reactions to TV and video games. Not for casual readers—Kinder depends, especially in her fine opening chapters, on interlinked layers of jargon that will leave concerned, nonspecialist parents far behind—but as provocative and lucidly written an academic study as you could want. (Fifteen b&w illustrations of shots from movies and TV shows.)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-520-07570-6
Page Count: 190
Publisher: Univ. of California
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1991
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
