Waubonsee Community College

Buffoon men, classic Hollywood comedians and queered masculinity, Scott Balcerzak

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-248) and index

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Buffoon men

bibliography

828487104

Scott Balcerzak

Contemporary approaches to film and media series

classic Hollywood comedians and queered masculinity

Film scholars and fans have used distinctive terms to describe the Classic Hollywood comedian: He is a "trickster," a "rebel," or a "buffoon." Yet the performer is almost always described as a "he." In Buffoon Men: Classic Hollywood Comedians and Queered Masculinity, Scott Balcerzak reads the performances of notable comedians such as W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, and Bud Abbott and Lou Costello through humor and queer theory to expose a problematic history of maleness in their personas. He argues that contrary to popular notions of Classic Hollywood history, these male comedians rearranged or, at times, rejected heteronormative protocols. -- Publisher website

Introduction: "Someone like me for a member": classic Hollywood comedians and buffoonish masculinity -- "Novelties and notions": Mae West meets W. C. Fields -- Con men and henpecked husbands: W. C. Fields as masculine icon -- "Whitefacing" the nebbish: Eddie Cantor's assimilation and influence -- Queered radio / Queered cinema: Jack Benny's mediated voice -- Queering the fraternity: Laurel and Hardy and heterosexual brotherhood -- Military disservice: Wheeler and Woolsey and Abbott and Costello join the army -- Conclusion: Beyond classic Hollywood /beyond buffoonish masculinity