ABSTRACT
Whoopi. All you need to hear is her first name. Unlike Sly, Arnold, and Clint, rarely do you hear her second. Is this because, like Dolly, she’s more familiar, more “family,” thanks to her work in so many P.G.-rated, family friendly, films and TV shows? Is the notion of “everyman” changing to include women and non-whites, as is so patently the premise in Eddie (Steve Rash, 1996) where Whoopi plays a “Fan,” capital F? What does it mean that she has become a box office draw in “shopping mall America?” 1
