Screen violence and the New Hollywood

This dissertation explores the particular kinds of screen violence employed in Hollywood filmmaking in the 1980s and the manner in which this violence was packaged by the industry. It consists of a series of specific case studies that illustrate the broad scope of screen violence and its articulations with social, cultural, and industrial factors. The first chapter is a broad overview of the history of screen violence, with particular focus on the rise of the "New Hollywood" and the connection of its most revered auteurs with depictions of violence and how their particular violent style ended when that "New Hollywood" was eclipsed by the blockbuster era. Chapter 2 covers the controversial violent films of the early 1980s to help explain why the industry was so intent on avoiding controversy---not by removing violence from movies, but by finding ways to package it so that, on the surface, it appeared less controversy-provoking. Chapter 3 focuses to the action genre and the rise of the powerful and highly visible producer and his role in packaging violent entertainment. Chapter 4 shifts to the horror genre, particularly how the explicit gore that characterized the most popular horror films of the 1980s were packaged through fan magazines such as Fangoria. Chapter 5 then looks at how the Motion Picture Association of America dealt with the complexities of screen violence in the 1980s by creating a new rating, PG-13, to distinguish those films that existed in the previously unmarked space between kid-friendly PG-rated films and adult-oriented R-rated films. The Conclusion follows the continuities and changes in representations of violence that led to the self-conscious 1990s "new violence."...