Queen of America - PB [Paperback]

As with most texts of this type, a careful reading of the introduction will acquaint the reader with the author's ideas and intentions. This is important, because it is likely that in readinging the essays that constitute the majority of the remainder of the book, it is entirely possible to lose track of these ideas. The reward-to-effort involved in reading these essays is minimal, and I felt ripped off. It is also important to check the footnotes: Berlant hides some useful information that adds light to her story (such as the fact that Newt Gingrich not-very-noisily encouraged Republicans to become less hostile to gays).

In her essays, Berlant uses a wide variety of source documents -- her "archive" -- to provide the cues for her analysis. She picks and chooses context at will: The fact that The Simpsons' format requires all characters to forgo any growth is ignored (Lisa couldn't end an episode embittered against the structures of state power, even if it would be appropriate), but factors the creators have no control over (the local TV station places a military recruitment ad in a broadcast of a syndicated episode) are noted. The extreme selectivity of her sources, in my eyes, makes many of her conclusions suspect. In a few other cases, such as when she looks at the cover stories of several issues of TIME magazine to find messages about immigration and citizenship, her selections seem most appropriate.

Each reader will probably have their own sense of how well Berlant chose her source material. Since "your mileage may vary," I will list several chapters along with the sources chosen.

1 - "The Theory of Infantile Citizenship" - Audre Lorde's childhood trip to D.C., an episode of The Simpsons ("Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"), the movie IN COUNTRY. Also, the movies MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and THE LITTLEST REBEL provide further context for the critique of The Simpsons episode. Are sweet, innocent little children the ideal citizens? Even if they ask a presidential candidate what type of underwear he wears?

2 - "Live Sex Acts" - This analysis over various censorship controversies looks at the pivotal figures in the debates from the late 80s and early 90s. Former NEA director John Frohmeyer's memoir LEAVING TOWN ALIVE; some NEA projects, like the zines LIVE SEX ACTS and QUEER CITY; anti-porn criticism from the likes of Andrea Dworkin and the Meese Commision; Tipper Gore's HOW TO RAISE PG KIDS IN AN X-RATED SOCIETY (and I was just beginning to like her again after the election) and a variety of images of Jerry Falwell. Gotta keep those little kids sweet and innocent.

3 - "America, 'Fat,' and the Fetus" - If sweet, innocent little children are ideal citizens, what does that make fetuses? Berlant takes on the nations fetus fetish, and it isn't pretty. The archive includes the movies ONCE AROUND, LOOK WHO'S TALKING (and its first sequel) and INNERSPACE; pro-Life propaganda like THE SILENT SCREAM and THE ECLIPSE OF REASON; Raymond Carver's story "Fat"; two episodes of I LOVE LUCY concerning Lucy's pregnancy; LIFE magazine's famous pre-natal imagery; and, finally, videotapes of Berlant's nephew, covering his sonogram, birth, and first birthday.

It kind of goes on like that, but further highlights include the return of The Simpsons when Queer Bart is taken up as a gay icon, pilgrimages to the capitol by slaves, fictitious and real, and a "gallery" of images related to the topics of the essays, including the, uh, bracing cover to Tom Ace's magazine. [....] I would not recommend Berlant's book to non-academic types. Trying to apply Berlant's reasoning to items other than her "archives" might be asking for trouble, and her prose is often tedious in its construction. Further, some of her archive material and topicality seems unfortunately dated. I've been told this is some of Berlant's most clear and incisive writing, which strikes me as kind of sad.