John Wayne and Ideology Author: Larry A. Van Meter Pages: 98 ISBN: 978-1-4438-5905-9 Publication Date: 2014 Format: Hardcover Availability: In Stock List Price in USD: $43.48 Cambridge Scholars Publishing offers readers the extraordinary opportunity to read substantial portions of their books at no charge. To read the introduction and first chapter at no charge, please click here. Discount Price (20% off): $34.78 For information on ordering, please click here. Use the offer code "LSSJOHN" at checkout to receive the special discount.

John Wayne and Ideology is an examination of John Wayne’s legacy as an American icon and political force. We encourage you to order a copy of this book for yourself, and for your library (see details and special offers directly below).

About the Author Larry Van Meter is an English professor at Blinn College specializing in Literary Theory, postmodernity, critical race theory, post-war American literature, feminism, and the history of politics and ideology.

Book Description

John Wayne and Ideology is an examination of John Wayne’s legacy as a political force. It is no exaggeration to say that, playing the lead in over 150 movies, he is one of the most popular actors in the history of cinema. This book argues that his enduring popularity is historically mediated.

An A-list actor before and during World War II, John Wayne did not become an icon until after the war, when, because of the war and emerging calls for women’s and minorities’ rights, white masculinity anxieties spiked. The American political reaction to this new world was a radical shift to the right, with John Wayne and Ronald Reagan embodying that change.

The racist, misogynous, and homophobic films of John Wayne, still hugely popular, bear witness to that right turn. Moreover, that legacy continues, with generations of “Johns Wayne”—such as, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and post-9/11 superheroes—desperately trying to recenter white American masculinity.