Download or read book Mutant and Proud written by Jared Smith-Valentine and published by . This book was released on 2019-10-26 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An empirical literature review using LGBT affirmative therapy models, biblio-narrative therapy techniques, identity development models, and wellness models to explore the X-men Universe.Not an Officially licensed product of Marvel, Disney, or Fox Entertainment.

Download or read book Mental Illness in Popular Culture written by Sharon Packer MD and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-05-24 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Being crazy" is generally a negative characterization today, yet many celebrated artists, leaders, and successful individuals have achieved greatness despite suffering from mental illness. This book explores the many different representations of mental illness that exist—and sometimes persist—in both traditional and new media across eras. Mental health professionals and advocates typically point a finger at pop culture for sensationalizing and stigmatizing mental illness, perpetuating stereotypes, and capitalizing on the increased anxiety that invariably follows mass shootings at schools, military bases, or workplaces; on public transportation; or at large public gatherings. While drugs or street gangs were once most often blamed for public violence, the upswing of psychotic perpetrators casts a harsher light on mental illness and commands media's attention. What aspects of popular culture could play a role in mental health across the nation? How accurate and influential are the various media representations of mental illness? Or are there unsung positive portrayals of mental illness? This standout work on the intersections of pop culture and mental illness brings informed perspectives and necessary context to the myriad topics within these important, timely, and controversial issues. Divided into five sections, the book covers movies; television; popular literature, encompassing novels, poetry, and memoirs; the visual arts, such as fine art, video games, comics, and graphic novels; and popular music, addressing lyrics and musicians' lives. Some of the essays reference multiple media, such as a filmic adaptation of a memoir or a video game adaptation of a story or characters that were originally in comics. With roughly 20 percent of U.S. citizens taking psychotropic prescriptions or carrying a psychiatric diagnosis, this timely topic is relevant to far more individuals than many people would admit.

Download or read book EBOOK Rethinking Superhero and Weapon Play written by Steven Popper and published by McGraw-Hill Education (UK). This book was released on 2013-02-16 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rethinking Superhero and Weapon Play offers a fresh and knowledgeable insight into children’s fascination with superheroes and weapon play. It explores what lies at the heart of superhero and weapon play and why so many children are drawn to this contentious area of children’s play. This innovative book offers: A detailed look at why many early years professionals and teachers are cautious about superhero and weapon play. Does weapon play make children more violent? Do ‘goodies versus baddies’ stories make children more confrontational? Do superheroes offer positive gender role-models? The book tackles these questions and suggests some alternative perspectives, as well as offering practical advice about keeping children’s superhero and weapon play positive and productive. An exploration of how superhero and weapon play relates to the development of children’s moral values, moral principles and moral reasoning; the building of children’s co-operation, empathy and sense of community; and the development of children’s sense of self and self-esteem. Discussion of the deep moral themes that lie within superhero narratives, and how superhero characters and narratives can be used to enhance and deepen children’s understanding of good character, moral responsibility, attachment, prejudice and ill-treatment, and why it is important to be good in the first place. A wealth of learning opportunities and suggestions of ways to use superheroes to advance children’s moral, philosophical and emotional thinking This book is an excellent resource for those studying or working in early years or primary education who wish to understand the phenomenon of children’s superhero and weapon play and make the most of children’s enthusiasm for it. “Warm, funny, smart, and honest, the argument made in Steven Popper’s book astutely, and with a sharp eye for detail, teases out many subtle reflections on morality, childhood development and the paradoxes of human nature, through the lens of our much-loved Superhero narratives. He is able, through nuanced and well-supported argument, drawn from both theory and practice, and from pedagogy and real life, to present a compelling and detailed account of the ways in which these stories might interface with the moral development of children. The book offers a rich, and articulate narrative of its own, which ‘aims at the good’ in its desire to propose that immersion in such superhero ‘narrative play’ can teach children about ethics, social responsibility, and what it is to be ‘human’. This is also a wonderful contribution to debates around the role of mass media in promoting critical thinking and enquiry among children.” Dr. Sheena Calvert, Senior Lecturer, University of Westminster, UK “This book authoritatively assesses the virtues of engaging in superhero play with young children. It argues that far from damaging children and encouraging them to adopt unthinking, aggressive behaviours superhero play is an implicitly moral activity. It encourages children to explore profound moral and ethical thinking. This book is both a well-researched account of the appeal that superhero play has for children of both sexes and a practical guide to how such play can be used imaginatively in early years settings.” Rob Abbott, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood and Education, University of Chichester, UK

Download or read book Cute Mutants Deluxe written by Sj Whitby and published by . This book was released on 2022-08 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A BRAND NEW DELUXE HARDCOVER EDITION OF THE CULT INDIE HIT ABOUT QUEER TEENAGERS WITH SUPERPOWERS Contains all-new content! "My name is Dylan Taylor, human incarnation of the burning dumpster gif, and this is my life" I always wanted to be an X-Man. Except people and me never got along, and apparently you need social skills to run a successful team. Cue Emma Hall's party. One slightly awkward kiss, and now I can talk to objects like my pillow (who's far too invested in my love life) and my baseball bat (who was a pacifist before I got hold of him). And there's a whole group of us with strange abilities, including super hot ice queen Dani Kim who doesn't approve of how reckless I can be. The bigger problem is there's a mysterious mutant causing unnatural disasters, and we're the ones who have to stop him. But things blow up in my face, and the team's on the edge of falling apart. I've always been a disaster. How am I supposed to be a hero? "Move over, Marvel, Cute Mutants is my new obsession. Hilarious and heartwarming, this pageturner delivers snark, action, and a queer found family you can't help but root for. SJ Whitby is a rare talent, and I'll read anything they write." - Rosiee Thor, author of Fire Becomes Her "A delightfully chaotic and queer spin on the awkward teen superhero experience." - Xiran Jay Zhao, bestselling author of Iron Widow "A queerer, wittier Riverdale with a side of superpowers, rolled in rainbow glitter. Whitby's dialogue sparkles from the page, layered with delightful snark and pop culture references. This squad of achingly relatable protagonists and their vividly imagined powers will capture the hearts of diehard superhero lovers and welcome new fans." - Ren Hutchings, author of Under Fortunate Stars "Equally heartwarming and hilarious, Cute Mutants has it all: breathless action, complex queer characters, swoon-worthy romance, and a chaotic ride-or-die superhero squad that will capture your heart. A must read!" - Alicia Jasinska, author of The Midnight Girls "An extremely hilarious punchy sci-fantasy that grabs you from the first line and never lets go, SJ Whitby and their Cute Mutants series, is the fresh voice we've all been waiting for." - K Ancrum, author of Darling "Cute Mutants is a wild electric joyride from start to finish. The superhero genre at its best, with thrilling, vivid fight scenes, voice-y high school angst, and queer found family that grabs you by the throat. This series is a rainbow-glitter explosion of subverted tropes and fast-paced action that leaps from the page straight into your heart." - Jenna Voris, author of Made of Stars (forthcoming 2023) "An irreverent, ultra-nerdy, and unapologetically queer exploration of found family, self-discovery, and smashing the patriarchy-all unfolding via a sharp character voice." - Claire Winn, author of City of Shattered Light "Gloriously flawed characters going hard in all their messy, big-hearted queer teen glory, as they navigate a wild ride of newfound powers, responsibility to themselves and others, and shifting relationships in a fantastically screwball world of unlikely superpowers. Deeply loveable in its relatability, I'm burning through this series a supersonic speeds." - Ash van Otterloo, author of A Touch of Ruckus "Filled with heart, hope and humor, SJ Whitby expertly immerses the reader in a world where queer kids get to be the heroes of their own universe. A masterclass in quality and imagination, and an essential addition to every YA bookshelf." - Esme Symes-Smith, author Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston (forthcoming 2022)

Download or read book Caterpillars Can t Swim written by Liane Shaw and published by Second Story Press. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ryan finds his freedom in the water, where he is not bound by gravity and his wheelchair. When he rescues his schoolmate, Jack, from the water their lives become connected, whether they like it or not. Ryan keeps Jack's secret about that day in the water, but he knows that Jack needs help. The school is full of rumors about Jack's sexuality, and he has few friends. Almost against his better judgement, Ryan decides to invite Jack on a trip to Comic Con he's planned with his best friend Cody, the captain of the school's swim team. The three boys make an unlikely combination, but they will each have the chance to show whether they are brave enough to go against the stereotypes the world wants to define them by.

Download or read book H El on Earth written by Scott Lobdell and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuser."

Download or read book The X Men Films written by Claudia Bucciferro and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-02-09 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally appearing as a comic book in the 1960s, X-Men has been a cultural touchpoint for decades. Since the release of the first film in 2000, the series has enjoyed an even greater transnational presence. With each successive film, the franchise has secured its place within global popular culture, becoming one of the most profitable and complex superhero series to date. While much of the research that has been published on the X-Men focuses on the comics, the movies constitute their own cultural text and deserve special attention. In The X-Men Films: A Cultural Analysis, Claudia Bucciferro has assembled a collection of essays that draw from work in communication, cultural studies, and media studies. With contributions from a diverse group of scholars, the chapters analyze issues that include gender, sexuality, disability, class, and race. The contributors pose intriguing questions about the franchise, such as: What do “mutants” really represent? What role do women and people of color play in the narratives? Why does it matter that Professor X is disabled? Why is Mystique often shown naked? What facilitated Wolverine’s rise to prominence? And how do topics regarding identity, trauma, and bioethics, figure in the stories? Exploring issues relevant for a multicultural world and connecting thematic elements from the films to political debates and social struggles, the book seeks to make a thoughtful contribution to the scholarship of popular culture. The X-Men Films will appeal to media scholars and students, as well as to anyone interested in the X-Men series.

Download or read book Jewish Rhetorics written by Michael Bernard-Donals and published by Brandeis University Press. This book was released on 2014-12-02 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume, the first of its kind, establishes and clarifies the significance of Jewish rhetorics as its own field and as a field within rhetoric studies. Diverse essays illuminate and complicate the editors' definition of a Jewish rhetorical stance as allowing speakers to maintain a "resolute sense of engagement" with their fellows and their community, while also remaining aware of the dislocation from the members of those communities. Topics include the historical and theoretical foundations of Jewish rhetorics; cultural variants and modes of cultural expression; and intersections with Greco-Roman, Christian, Islamic, and contemporary rhetorical theory and practice. In addition, the contributors examine gender and Yiddish, and evaluate the actual and potential effect of Jewish rhetorics on contemporary scholarship and on the ways we understand and teach language and writing. The contributors include some of the world's leading scholars of rhetoric, writing, and Jewish studies.

Download or read book Cute Mutants Vol 1 written by Sj Whitby and published by . This book was released on 2020-08 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My name is Dylan Taylor, human incarnation of the burning dumpster gif, and this is my life. I always wanted to be an X-Man. Except people and me never got along, and apparently you need social skills to run a successful team. Cue Emma Hall's party. One hot make out session with the host herself, and I can talk to objects like my pillow (who's far too invested in my love life) and my baseball bat (who was a pacifist before I got hold of him). Now there's a whole group of us with strange abilities, including super hot ice queen Dani Kim who doesn't approve of how reckless I can be. The bigger problem is a mysterious mutant causing unnatural disasters, and we're the ones who have to stop him. Except trying to make a difference makes things blow up in my face and the team's on the verge of falling apart. Can I bring them back together in time to stop the villain from taking revenge? Have I mentioned I'm not a people person? Magneto help us.

Download or read book Queer Representation Visibility and Race in American Film and Television written by Melanie Kohnen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the uneven history of queer media visibility through crucial turning points including the Hollywood Production Code era, the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, the so-called explosion of gay visibility on television during the1990s, and the re-imagination of queer representations on TV after the events of 9/11. Kohnen intervenes in previous academic and popular accounts that paint the increase in queer visibility over the past four decades as a largely progressive development. She examines how and why a limited and limiting concept of queer visibility structured around white gay and lesbian characters in committed relationships has become the embodiment of progressive LGBT media representations. She also investigates queer visibility across film, TV, and print media, and highlights previously unexplored connections, such as the lingering traces of classical Hollywood cinema's queer tropes in the X-Men franchise. Across all chapters, narratives and arguments emerge that demonstrate how queer visibility shapes and reflects not only media representations, but the real and imagined geographies, histories, and people of the American nation.

Download or read book Recovering the Radical Promise of Superheroes written by Ellen Kirkpatrick and published by punctum books. This book was released on 2023-08-23 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Superhero meaning making is a site of struggle. Superheroes (are thought to) trouble borders and normative ways of seeing and being in the world. Superhero narratives (are thought to) represent, and thereby inspire, alternative visions of the real world. The superhero genre is (thought to be) a repository for radical or progressive ideas. In the superhero world and beyond, much is made of the genre's utopian and dystopian landscapes, queer identity-play, and transforming bodies, but might it not be the case that the genre's overblown normative framing, or representation, serves to muzzle, rather than express, its protagonists' radical promise? Why, when set against otherwise unbounded, and often extreme, transformation-human to machine, human to animal, human to god-are certain categories seemingly untouchable? Why does this speculative genre routinely fail to fully speculate about other worlds and ways of being in those worlds? For all their nonconformity, superhero stories do not live up to the idea of a radical genre, in look, feel, or tone. The mainstream American superhero genre, and its surrounding discourses, tells and facilitates an astonishingly seamless tale of opposing ideologies. But how? Recovering the Radical Promise of Superheroes: Un/Making Worlds serves a speculative response, detailing not so much a hunt for genre meaning as a trip through a genre's meaningscape. Looking anew at superhero meaning-making practices allows a distinct way of thinking about and describing the creative, formal, and ideological conditions of the genre and its protagonists, one removed from corralling binaries, one foregrounding the idea of a synergy-often unseen, uneasy, and even hostile-between official and unofficial agents of superhero meaning and one reframing familiar questions: What kinds of meaning do superhero texts engender? How is this meaning made? By whom and under what conditions? What processes and practices inform, regulate, and extend superhero meaning? And finally, superhero narratives present a new question: How might we reimagine its agents, surfaces, and spaces? Centering the experiences and practices of excluded and marginalized superhero fans, Recovering the Radical Promise of Superheroes reveals that genre meaning is not lodged in one place or another, neither in its official creators or fans, nor in "black and white" conservatism or in a "rainbow" of progressive possibilities. Nor is it even located somewhere in the in-between; it is instead better conceived of as an antagonistic, in-process nexus of meaning undergirded by systems of power. Ellen Kirkpatrick, based in northern Ireland, is an activist-writer with a PhD in Cultural Studies. In her work, she writes about activism, pop culture, fan cultures, and the transformative power of storytelling. She has published work in a range of academic journals and media outlets and her writings and work can be found at The Break and on Twitter @elk_dash.

Download or read book Wonder Women and Bad Girls written by Valerie Estelle Frankel and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2020-10-12 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Shuri, and Black Widow. These four characters portray very different versions of women: the superheroine, the abuse victim, the fourth wave princess, and the spy, respectively. In this in-depth analysis of female characters in superhero media, the author begins by identifying ten eras of superhero media defined by the way they portray women. Following this, the various archetypes of superheroines are classified into four categories: boundary crossers, good girls, outcasts, and those that reclaim power. From Golden Age comics through today's hottest films, heroines have been surprisingly assertive, diverse, and remarkable in this celebration of all the archetypes.

Download or read book Toxic Masculinity written by Esther De Dauw and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributions by Daniel J. Connell, Esther De Dauw, Craig Haslop, Drew Murphy, Richard Reynolds, Janne Salminen, Karen Sugrue, and James C. Taylor The superhero permeates popular culture from comic books to film and television to internet memes, merchandise, and street art. Toxic Masculinity: Mapping the Monstrous in Our Heroes asks what kind of men these heroes are and if they are worthy of the unbalanced amount of attention. Contributors to the volume investigate how the (super)hero in popular culture conveys messages about heroism and masculinity, considering the social implications of this narrative within a cultural (re)production of dominant, hegemonic values and the possibility of subaltern ideas, norms, and values to be imagined within that (re)production. Divided into three sections, the volume takes an interdisciplinary approach, positioning the impact of hypermasculinity on toxic masculinity and the vilification of “other” identities through such mediums as film, TV, and print comic book literature. The first part, “Understanding Super Men,” analyzes hegemonic masculinity and the spectrum of hypermasculinity through comics, television, and film, while the second part, “The Monstrous Other,” focuses on queer identity and femininity in these same mediums. The final section, “Strategies of Resistance,” offers criticism and solutions to the existing lack of diversity through targeted studies on the performance of gender. Ultimately, the volume identifies the ways in which superhero narratives have promulgated and glorified toxic masculinity and offers alternative strategies to consider how characters can resist the hegemonic model and productively demonstrate new masculinities.

Download or read book All Out of Pretty written by Ingrid Palmer and published by Creston Books. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Andrea knows what it's like to be pretty. Thanks to her gorgeous, drug-addicted mother, she also knows where pretty can lead... At 16, Andrea is yanked from the safety of her Gram's home and dropped into the backwoods of Ohio, where she's coerced into working for her mother's drug-dealing boyfriend, Judd. Unwilling to give up on her college dreams, Andrea spends her days trying to stay on the honor roll, and her nights packaging and delivering drugs. Judd is violent and manipulative, and Andrea often goes to bed with an empty stomach and a hardening heart. The one bright spot in Andrea's life is a budding friendship with a charismatic girl named Chloe and her handsome cousin, Brick. These stolen moments of teenage normalcy make Andrea yearn for a way out, but fear and a sense of responsibility to her mother pull her back in. When things with Judd take a darker turn than she can bear, Andrea devises a plan to save herself. But freedom may cost her everything—and everyone—she cares about... Gritty, heartfelt, and suspenseful, All Out of Pretty explores the complexities of self-preservation and addiction as well as the pain, and beauty, of letting go. It will appeal to fans of Sara Zarr and Sarah Dessen.

Download or read book Media Reception Studies written by Janet Staiger and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2005-07 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A broad survey on how audiences make meaning out of mass media Media Reception Studies broadly surveys the past century of scholarship on the ways in which audiences make meaning out of mass media. It synthesizes in plain language social scientific, linguistic, and cultural studies approaches to film and television as communication media. Janet Staiger traverses a broad terrain, covering the Chicago School, early psychological approaches, Soviet theory, the Frankfurt School, mass communication research and critical theory, linguistics and semiotic theory, social-psychoanalytical research, cognitive psychology, and cultural studies. She offers these theories as a set of tools for understanding the complex relationships between films and their audiences, TV shows and their viewers. She explains such questions as the behavior of fans; the implications of gender, sexuality, and race/ethnicity with regard to the media; the effect of violence, horror, and sexually explicit images on viewers; and the place of memory in spectatorship. Providing an organized and lucid introduction to a staggering amount of work, Media Reception Studies is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in understanding the effects of mass media.

Download or read book Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 106 written by Sophie Campbell and published by IDW Publishing. This book was released on 2020-07-15 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mutagen bomb's fallout continues to affect NYC in increasingly disturbing ways. As the government struggles to come to grips with a growing humanitarian crisis, mutants start to go missing. The TMNT trace the clues to the waterfront and find something terrifying that is now living in the depths!

Download or read book Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The IDW Collection Vol 14 written by Sophie Campbell and published by IDW Publishing. This book was released on 2022-07-20 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting the complete TMNT stories in recommended reading order, including one-shots, crossovers, and event series. Everything a beginner could need, everything a diehard could want. Welcome to the new world of TMNT! After the cataclysmic events of "City At War," the Turtles find New York City drastically changed—new factions and enemies are on the rise, and allies are in short supply. Jennika, the newest member of the TMNT team, embarks on her own adventure. Trying to acclimate to life as a mutant, she will be forced to come to terms with both her troubled past and conflicted present. In search of a dangerous procedure to reverse mutation, will Jennika be tempted by the call of her old life, and how far will she go to save those who gave up on her long ago? Back on the streets, the mutagen bomb's fallout continues to affect NYC in increasingly disturbing ways. As the government struggles to come to grips with a growing humanitarian crisis, mutants start to go missing. The TMNT trace the clues to the waterfront and find something terrifying that is now living in the depths! Meanwhile, a falling out between Baxter and April could have dire consequences for Mutant Town, where life has changed forever. Collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #101–112, the 2020 Annual, and the Jennika three-issue mini-series.