About this item
Highlights
- Christian religious imagery and symbolism has a long history in American baseball cinema, from The Busher (1919) to Angels in the Outfield(1994) and present-day movies.
- About the Author: Jonathan Plummer is a senior lecturer in film and television at Solent University, Southampton, England.
- 198 Pages
- Performing Arts, Film
Description
About the Book
"American baseball cinema has a long history of Christian religious imagery and symbolism, from The Busher in 1919 to Angels in the Outfield in 1994, to the baseball movies of the twenty-first century. This book undertakes a close textual analysis of The Natural, Field of Dreams, and Bull Durham, among others, exploring the frequency of Christian imagery and themes in the American baseball movie. From Babe Ruth performing a miracle to help a disabled boy walk again in The Babe Ruth Story to Shoeless Joe Jackson asking Ray Kinsella "Is this heaven?" in Field of Dreams, Christian themes and American baseball film are inextricably linked. This cultural analysis looks at symbolic imagery in mainstream film, Christian baseball movies directed by Christian filmmakers promoting their faith messages, and images of America as a prelapsarian paradise before "The Fall.""--Book Synopsis
Christian religious imagery and symbolism has a long history in American baseball cinema, from The Busher (1919) to Angels in the Outfield(1994) and present-day movies. This book examines The Natural, Field of Dreams, Bull Durham and other films, exploring the frequency of Christian imagery and themes in the American baseball movie. From Babe Ruth's performance of a miracle to help a disabled boy walk again in The Babe Ruth Story to Shoeless Joe Jackson's question to Ray Kinsella--"Is this heaven?"--in Field of Dreams, Christian themes and American baseball film are inextricably linked. This discussion encompasses symbolic imagery in mainstream film, Christian baseball movies directed by Christian filmmakers promoting their faith messages and images of America as a prelapsarian paradise before "The Fall."
About the Author
Jonathan Plummer is a senior lecturer in film and television at Solent University, Southampton, England. He lives near Winchester.
