Violence has been a topic of continued concern within American culture and society. Although there have been numerous sociological and historical studies of violence and its origins, there is relatively little systematic analysis of violence within media representation, even as this issue becomes preeminent within public discourse. This anthology examines a number of issues related to violence within the media landscape, using various methodologies to suggest the implications of the increasing obsession with violence for postmodern civilization.
American Psycho/sis - the Pure Products of America Go Crazy, Barry Keith Grant; The Grayness of Darkness - ""The Honeymoon Killers"" and its Impact on Psychokiller Cinema, Martin Rubin; Serial Killers, True Crime and Economic Performance Anxiety, Annalee Newitz; Jeffrey Dahmer and Media Cannibalism - the Lure and Failure of Sacrifice, Mark Pizzato; The Politics of Apocalypse in the Cinema of Serial Murder, Philip L. Simpson; Small Ceremonies - Ritual in ""Forrest Gump"", ""Natural Born Killers"", ""Seven"" and ""Follow Me Home"", Jane Caputi; Raging Bully -Postmodern Violence and Masculinity in ""Raging Bull"", Frank P. Tomasulo; I Married Rambo - Spectacle and Melodrama in the Hollywood Action Film, Mark Gallagher; Mutilating Mel - Martyrdom and Masculinity in ""Braveheart"", William Luhr; Aliens, Nomads, Mads Dogs and Road Warriors - Tabloid TV and the New Face of Criminal Violence, Elayne Rapping; Touching Scenes and Finishing Touches - Blindness in the Slasher Film, Susan Crutchfield; The Technology of Homicide - Constructions of Evidence and Truth in the American Murder Film, Ken Morrison; The Trauma is Out There -Historical Disjunctions and the Posttraumatic Narrative as Process in ""The X-Files"", Ilsa J. Bick; Alien/Nation - Invasions, Abductions and the Politics of Identity, Lianne McLarty; Category 3 - Sex and Violence in Postmodern Hong Kong, Julian Stringer; Knocked Around in New Zealand - Postcolonialism Goes to the Movies, Jane Smith; Woo's Most Dangerous Game - ""Hard Target"" and Neoconservative Violence, Tony Williams.
