Fathers on Film

Abstract

The father is an enduring and iconic figure in Hollywood cinema and in the 1990s, narratives of redemptive fatherhood featured prominently in some of the decade’s most popular films like Kindergarten Cop, Mrs Doubtfire, Jurassic Park and The Lion King. This desire to restore paternity to its apotheosis highlighted wider cultural anxieties about the United States’ international predominance as the so-called ‘American Century’ departed, but also reflected the country’s domestic anxieties. The post-industrial, post-feminist and post-AIDS landscape had created changing constructions of masculinity that challenged what constituted a family and were seen to threaten the social fabric. Interpreting such films through the lens of feminist and queer theory, along with masculinity studies and psychoanalysis, Katie Barnett offers an insightful and interdisciplinary discussion of cinematic fathers for students, teachers and film enthusiasts alike.