Scarecrow Press
Pages: 204
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-0-8108-8787-9 • Hardback • December 2012 • $93.00 • (£72.00)
978-0-8108-8788-6 • eBook • December 2012 • $88.00 • (£68.00)
Zachary Ingle has published articles and reviews in journals such as Mass Communication and Society, Literature/Film Quarterly, Film-Philosophy, and Journal of American Culture. He is the editor of Robert Rodriguez: Interviews (2012).
David M. Sutera is a film and media scholar and an independent filmmaker.
Ingle and Sutera are the editors of Identity and Myth in Sports Documentaries (Scarecrow, 2013).
Acknowledgments
Introduction, Zachary Ingle and David M. Sutera
AESTHETIC APPROACHES
“A Few Brief Moments”: Truth and Image in Sports Documentaries
Cynthia Fuchs
The Wrestling Road Diaries: The Crossroads of Bourgeois and Popular Aesthetics
Shane Toepfer
Murderball: Hypercapitalism and the Ethics of Narrative Forms in Life-Writing
Soumitra Ghosh
History and Performance in Spike’s Sports Docs: Jim Brown: All-American and Kobe Doin’ Work
Zachary Ingle
Senna: Technological and Stylistic Developments in Documentary
Patrick Terry
GENDER AND SEXUALITY
“The Best Storyteller of Them All”: Constructions of Masculinity and Authenticity in Wrestling with Shadows and Beyond the Mat
Dan Ward
Manhood in a Bottle: Strength, Status, and Steroids
Sanjukta Ghosh
Out and Proud: The Brave New World of Gay, Lesbian, and Transsexual Sports Documentaries
Sarah Boslaugh
SPORTS ON THE MARGINS
Battle Gaming: Social Media and Sports on the Margins
Jeffrey A. Sartain
Role Models and Regular People: Cultures of Hegemony in the World of Murderball
Matthew A. McNiece
The Death of Kayfabe: Looking Behind the Curtain of Professional Wrestling
Keith Corson
Appendix A: Filmography
Index
About the Contributors
About the Editors
Gender and Genre in Sports Documentaries builds on the increasing popularity of documentaries by presenting 11 critical essays on documentary films about sport. A great strength of the book is that the essays do not focus only on what could broadly be called ‘mainstream’ sport. In addition to essays on films about basketball, football and auto racing, there are essays on films about professional wrestling, LARPing (live action role playing, also known as battle gaming) and wheelchair rugby. This range of essay subjects is commendable, not only in that it acknowledges the many different types of activity that can be classified as sport, but also because it includes activities that are often dismissed as not being ‘real’ sport. ... The book greatly benefits from the variety of analytical perspectives employed in the essays. ... Gender and Genre in Sports Documentaries is a very enjoyable read, while also providing thoughtful and informed perspectives. It would be an excellent resource for courses on sport and society, or film and society. . . . The book will also be of interest to sports researchers and film researchers, and to any reader interested in how the medium of film constructs and portrays stories.
— Annals of Leisure Research