Only Entertainment

by Richard Dyer

Everyone knows what entertainment is, but how can we begin to define it or even to talk about what we know? In Only Entertainment , Richard Dyer argues that we have to start any analysis of entertainment by understanding it as entertainment , as part of a `common sense' or cultural awareness which is always historically and culturally constructed. In a series of lucid and provocative essays, Dyer investigates the social construction as well as the aesthetics and ideology of entertainment.
Dyer's subjects range from classical ballet to disco, from star pin-ups to pornography, and from classic serials to camp. his introduction places the writings in context of current cultural debates, and the concluding essay links ideas of pleasure to the politics of sexuality.

Genres: Film, Cultural Studies, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays by film scholar Richard Dyer are all specifically about entertainment as a concept, or are about entertainers and entertainment products such as movies, pin-up posters and disco. I've read and re-read the chapters on how entertainment is constructed and deconstructed as a concept because I find it a fascinating and under-researched area of cultural studies. The other chapters are great supporting case studies. The book can feel a little scattered at times, because these essays and articles have been collected from over Dyer's career and were originally published in a variety of different journals. However, the introduction and the last chapter on the waning of entertainment (added for the second edition, I believe) help underline the themes and tie the book together.

[beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

had to read to write an essay but it was ok