ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses how the film Harvey found resonance with its themes and humor, as well as the implications of these findings in the context of the Communist purge that was taking place in Hollywood and indeed throughout American culture at the time. It then looks at how conspicuous consumption and gender roles were celebrated in Father of the Bride and how the Cinderella myth was resurrected in films such as How to Marry a Millionaire and Sabrina. The chapter also describes how teenage marketing fundamentally changed cinema, citing the movie Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? as an example, offering analysis of what its themes indicate about the changing shape of the Dream in an age of boundless entitlement and limited opportunity. Comedy separates emotion from intellect, which is why it can be inherently political without appearing overtly polemical.