"Etiquette," as noted toastmaster Herbert V. Prochnow once pointed out, "is knowing how to yawn with your mouth closed"—that is, to spare the feelings of the other person, one must stifle one's own. To be polite, therefore, is to perform. Onscreen, closeups often reveal the effort that goes into maintaining that performance: with a fleeting frown or a slight scowl, an actor reveals the "torture" of mannered behavior. In Torturous Etiquettes, Daniel Varndell examines such gestures to reveal the difficulties of the social encounter. Drawing on the history of etiquette, the book deconstructs an array of examples from classical and contemporary Hollywood and European cinema, taking a close look at onscreen representations of rudeness, ridiculing, racist and sexist etiquettes, hospitality, table manners, and more. In doing so, it reveals etiquette to be a persistent theme in cinema and questions the role it plays in either upholding or denying the basic humanity of others.
ISBN-13: 9781438493503
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Publication Date: 01-02-2024
Pages: 262
Product Dimensions: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.55d
Series: Suny Series - Horizons of Cinema
Daniel Varndell is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Winchester in England. He is the author of Hollywood Remakes, Deleuze, and the Grandfather Paradox.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Minding Manners
Part I: Initiation
1 Close Encounters: Greetings
2 Home Invasions: Hospitality
3 Crossing the Line: Embarrassment
Part II: Exchange
4 No Joke: Humor
5 The Butler Did It: Service
6 Racist Etiquette: Disservice
Part III: Dissolution
7 Garments of the Mind: Clothes
8 Tabular Outrages: Dinner
9 Tresses and Distresses: Intimacy
Conclusion: As Time Goes By
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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