Profane Parables

Film and the American Dream

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by Matthew S. Rindge

Type: Essays
Subject: Sociology
Keywords: United States, ideology, religion
Publishing date: 2016
Publisher: Baylor University Press
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 191 pages
6 x 9 inches (15 x 23 cm)

ISBN

978-1-4813-0429-0

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Book Presentation:
The sacred ethos of the American Dream has become a central pillar of American civil religion. The belief that meaning is fashioned from some mixture of family, friends, a stable career, and financial security permeates American culture. Profane Parables examines three films that assault this venerated American myth. Fight Club (1999), American Beauty (1999), and About Schmidt (2002) indict the American Dream as a meaningless enterprise that is existentially, ethically, and aesthetically bankrupt.

In their blistering critique of the hallowed wisdom of the American Dream, these films function like Jesus’ parables. As narratives of disorientation, Jesus’ parables upend conventional and cherished worldviews. Author Matthew Rindge illustrates the religious function of these films as parables of subversion that provoke rather than comfort and disturb rather than stabilize. Ultimately, Rindge considers how these parabolic films operate as sacred texts in their own right.

About the Author:
Matthew S. Rindge is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University.

Press Reviews:
"Rindge is both sensitive and insightful in his film analysis, and the discussion of these movies as parables takes the analysis to a whole new level of sophistication. This book would be a very useful addition to both American Studies and 'religion and film' classes, as well as classes in New Testament parables."―Robert K. Johnston, Professor of Theology and Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Fantastic! This is a perfect study that brings together both Rindge's own deep expertise in New Testament studies and his agile, interdisciplinary approach to popular culture. The films Rindge has selected are perfect vehicles for his fine-tuned analysis, both in terms of the aesthetics and meaning of film, but even more compellingly, his own perspectives on American culture generally and the mythic realities of the American dream."―Gary Laderman, Goodrich C. White Professor of American Religious History and Cultures, Emory University

"My gratitude to Matthew Rindge for recognizing and brilliantly dissecting the quest for salvation that supports the surface sound and fury of my novel and David Fincher's film."―Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club

"provid[es] enlightening textual analysis throughout . . . this is a wonderful piece of work. With its simple and at the same time in-depth treatment of the subject, this study should garner a large audience. . . . Highly recommended." --Choice

"Rindge's Profane Parables is an excellent work. It will appeal greatly to scholars of American Studies, film, religion, and popular culture." --The Journal of Popular Culture

"would serve well as a supplementary resource within film and theology courses ... its balance between an accessible tone and an academic prowess would be best used in an undergraduate course ... a sobering and subversive book which seeks to pursue a new sort of dream." -Journal of Religion and Film

"a meaningful addition to the field of Bible and film and is highly recommended to those who want to explore the cultural and spiritual interconnections between Hollywood cinema and the Bible." -The Bible and Critical Theory

See the publisher website: Baylor University Press

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