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Rudolph Valentino and the Origins of American Visual Culture Eric Davis

Rudolph Valentino and the Origins of American Visual Culture Eric Davis The William Livingston Liberty Fellowship Jersey City Public Schools Fall 2007 Colloquium II December 4, 2007. Internet 2010

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Rudolph Valentino and the Origins of American Visual Culture Eric Davis

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  1. Rudolph Valentino and the Origins of American Visual Culture Eric Davis The William Livingston Liberty Fellowship Jersey City Public Schools Fall 2007 Colloquium II December 4, 2007

  2. Internet 2010 Year the Internet could slow to a global crawl because of a surge in video overloading its current capacity $137 billion Amount that infrastructure investors will have to invest – more than double the amount planned – to keep up with video demand Source: Time Magazine, December 10, 2007

  3. Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) Source: http://www.assumption.edu/ahc/1920s/Eugenics/Klan.html

  4. "Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas on which women paint their dreams. "--Rudolph Valentino - 1923

  5. Represents the rise of the Hollywood « star system » Demonstrates the new role of technology in making images larger than life Symbolizes new modalities of sexuality: the sensitive male as opposed to the « cave man, » and the emergence of homosexuality as part of public discourse Becomes weapon in the struggle between the sexes, loved by women but hated by men Why is Rudolph Valentino Significant for Understanding the 1920s?

  6. It tells the story of a woman (Agnes Ayres) who refuses to be an appendage of a man (her British fiancé) It was very risqué because it suggested the theme of miscegenation and possible rape It demonstrates the power of love and tenderness to overcome coarseness and brutality It fundamentally challenged existing definitions of masculinity, infuriating men, but attracting large numbers of women The lines between the masculine and the feminine were ultimately blurred in this film The film’s denouement allows all to end well because the Sheik is really not an Arab, but an Englishman who was brought up by Arabs and educated in Europe Why was the Sheik so Popular?

  7. Star system developed by large studios in 1920s Film first for working classes (stage actors rejected it as pantomine, circus or worse) The star system emphasized image rather than on acting Stars were forced to keep a public persona and only appear under staged conditions Theodosia Goodman’s name changed to Theda Bara, and fictious bio made her out to be Arab siren Valentino likewise became first a « Latin Lover » due to role as tango dancer in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and then the exotic star of The Sheik Films and the Star System

  8. What was the role of exoticism in 1920s America? • Loss of the « Republican ideal » - the rugged individual • Rise of the regulated office (time clock) and assembly line • Routinization of daily stimulated need for escape, among men and women entering labor force • For many immigrant women, escape found through silent firm matinees, e.g. Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) • Raises question: escape from what and escape to what?

  9. Elvis Presley, Harum Scarum (1965)

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