The Prettiest Woman

Know about the book -

The Prettiest Woman is written by Grant Farred and published by U of Minnesota Press. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 1452972060 (ISBN 10) and 9781452972060 (ISBN 13).

Uncovering Hollywood’s perpetual longing for a lost industrial America “We don’t make things in America anymore”: like clockwork, this refrain resurfaces in political discourse, a reflection of yearning for a bygone era of industrial productivity. In his latest work, Grant Farred uses the 1990 film Pretty Woman to expose and critique this lingering nostalgia for late-industrial capitalism. Situating Pretty Woman alongside Reagan-era films including Wall Street, Farred examines the congealment of such a pervasive romanticized view of the United States as a fading industrial powerhouse. Drawing on an eclectic range of thinkers—from Raymond Williams and Slavoj Žižek to Mick Jagger—The Prettiest Woman offers a unique analysis of the ways Hollywood perpetuates the myth of a lost “productive America,” highlighting the seductive power of this fantasy despite its disconnect from economic and political realities.