Marcelline Block Knihy

Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn Monroe was an actress, singer, and sex symbol whose influence far outlasted her short life. Contributors to Fan Phenomena: Marilyn Monroe situate the platinum blonde starlet’s omnipresent cultural relevance within the zeitgeist of current popular culture and explore the influence she has had on numerous elements of it. Her aesthetics and images have been reappropriated, recreated, imitated, and emulated by such celebrities as Lindsay Lohan, Jayne Mansfield, Drew Barrymore, Anna Nicole Smith, and Madonna. The quintessential American sex symbol, Monroe was an influential style icon for a spectrum of designers, including Dolce and Gabbana, Betsey Johnson, and Nike, all of whom have named lines of clothing, shoes, or accessories after the star. The essays here explore representations of Monroe in visual culture by looking at the ways she is reimagined in visual art while also considering how her posthumous appearance and image are appropriated in current advertisements. With an inside look at the universe of Marilyn Monroe impersonators and look-alike contests for both males and females, the book also explores numerous homages to Monroe in music, from the 1979 opera Marilyn by Lorenzo Ferrero to Nicki Minaj’s song “Marilyn Monroe.” The definitive guide to one of the most famous women who ever lived, the book will be essential reading for any scholar of twentieth-century American popular culture.

An analyses of scenes from a broad selection of 46 films filmed in Las Vegas. Essays examine a range of topics, such as the Rat Pack's Las Vegas, art and culture on and off the Strip, Las Vegas as a backdrop for science fiction, and portrayals of iconic pop-culture figures.

Outside of the capital London, no other British city has attracted more film-makers than Liverpool. Sometimes standing in for London, New York, Chicago, Paris, Rome or Moscow, and sometimes playing itself - or a version of its own past in Beatles biopics - Liverpool is an adaptable filmic backdrop that has attracted film-makers to its ports for decades. A place of passion, humour and pride, Liverpool evokes caverns and cathedrals, ferries and football grounds; it is a city so vivid we see it clearly even if we've never been there. From the earliest makers of moving images - among them the Mitchell & Kenyon film company, the Lumière brothers and pioneering early cinematographer Claude Friese-Greene - who preserved the city, the river, the docks, the streets and the people, Liverpool has endured as a cinematic destination. This collection celebrates that survival instinct and will be welcomed by enthusiasts of British cities, films and culture.