Artists in the Audience

Exploring the intersection of film and avant-garde art, this provocative study reveals how American film critics since the 1940s transformed mainstream cinema into a source of radical modernism. By analyzing works like Gone with the Wind and the influence of characters like Mickey Mouse, the author illustrates how critics reimagined mass culture into meaningful art, offering a fresh perspective that reshaped postwar American culture. This book highlights the role of the creative spectator in redefining cultural narratives.