Inspecting the Hollywood Dream Factory: Towards an Ecology of Entertainment
Fri-Sun, 10:00 AM
Who gives a hoot what Paris Hilton is wearing this season? And how is it that we've been convinced that celebrities actually matter in all the ways Hollywood insists they do? Indeed, from the celebrity culture to the consumer culture, we live under a perpetual smog of an entertainment industry and its various pollutants. Sure, plenty of people have always wanted to regulate the movies. But what if the real dangers of Hollywood aren't the sex and violence, the attacks on "Traditional Values" or the "liberal agenda," but more subtle yet pervasive ones - including how Hollywood manipulates the culture's notion of success and teaches us to see entertainment as the dominant prism of life? This seminar offers an inspection of the Hollywood "Dream Factory," and also explores a dynamic alternative outlook that embraces a distinctly Christian approach to culture.
Along with reviewing films for Paste magazine, the Hyde Park Herald and the Phantom Tollbooth, J. Robert Parks teaches courses on media and visual culture at Columbia College in Chicago. He returns to the Imaginarium after his standing-room-only debut last year, convinced more than ever that a reading of the culture must begin with a careful consideration of Christopher Walken's dance moves.

Not a Pretty World: The Origins, Conventions & Psychological Landscape of Film Noir
Fri-Sat, 11AM & 7PM
The sound of gunshots in the night; faces silhouetted on the wall by neon lights streaming through the blinds of a seedy motel room. At the bar, an icy blond fixes a drink; in the back room, a pair of thugs caress their revolvers. And everywhere, smoke and shadows and shattered glass. Since the early 40's, the world of film noir has fascinated and repelled American movie-goers. But what are the origins of this darkly-lit, nightmarish world, and what are the rules by which it runs? Come join us as we view together clips from classic noir films and journey, together, into the dark side of the human psyche. But beware, our journey is not for the faint-hearted! Note that this series includes a pair of "Film Study" sessions in the evening. First, a look German Expressionism as it surges through the Universal Horror cycle in the 1931 Frankenstein. Then a consideration of how the style resurrects as Film Noir in 1941's The Maltese Falcon.
Louis Markos (Lewis Agonistes: Wrestling with the Modern and Postmodern World) is professor of English at Houston Baptist University, teaching on literary theory, classics, myth and poetry. And he absolutely rocked the house last year in our first Imaginarium "Poetry Karaoke".

Moo Hoo Ha Ha: The Evil Genius of Consumer Culture
Fri-Sun, 1:00 PM
Sometimes Post-Modern life feels Post-Apocalyptic — in a way that makes Blade Runner look positively cheerful. Think of it: the best and brightest minds on the planet — with access to limitless funds and the latest technology — spend their every waking moment thinking up ways to get YOU to buy WHATEVER they're selling, emptying your pockets and filling your house with STUFF. Yet the more we buy, the more empty we feel — and so we are tempted to keep chasing after the newest New Thing in an endless cycle of consumption and despair. This sinister scheme is the topic of this seminar. With reference to the works of George Orwell, films like The Testament of Dr. Mabuse and They Live, along with the Mr. X comics of the Hernandez Brothers, we'll take a classic Imaginarium angle on a classic Imaginarium problem: how to prevent our longings and loves from being used against us by a monolithic machinery that is designed to make us its slave.
Lint Hatcher is the founder and original editor of that essential Imaginarium-inspiration, Wonder magazine. He was here for Imaginarium Issue #1, and this is his first time back since. Welcome back, Lint!

Sherlock Holmes: Dark Passions & Demonic Threats
Fri-Sun, 2:00 PM
Sherlock Holmes is more than the world's most famous fictional detective. He is the modern incarnation of the ancient Redeemer Hero found throughout ancient mythology. He is also a type of Christ. This seminar will explore the legend and legacy of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and why they remain as fascinating today as when they first appeared over a hundred years ago. We will also discuss why Holmes cannot be solely identified with his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We will screen the 1939 version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, the most famous and influential Sherlock Holmes film ever made. In addition, we will note the influence of Holmes on film noir.
Paul Leggett knows much more about fantasy and horror films than any other Presbyterian pastor in New Jersey, and is the author of the book Terrence Fisher: Horror, Myth and Religion (McFarland & Company, 2001)

Passion of the Pulps
Fri, 12:00 PM
The general way to read 20th century Westerns and other pulps and serials and even the penny dreadfuls that preceded them was as the reaction of a nation being civilized, feeling emasculated and wanting to compensate through fiction for its own socialization: a man tied to a desk can subliminally swing through the trees, single-handedly hold off barbarians, rescue the heroine and find the pirate treasure and still maintain his sense of self in his regimented gray flannel suit. Bill Spencer wonders if there's more going on here than just that, and considers the quest for heroes in popular culture as a quest for the Redeemer Hero.
Among his many vocations, including "Rastafari expert," William Spencer teaches theology and the arts at Gordon-Conwell Seminary.

From Beowulf to Batman: Classic Heroism in Contemporary Contexts (Or, Where's My Jesus Action Figure?)
Fri-Sun, 3:00 PM, Sun 11AM
As Christianity spread throughout Europe, feudal cultures told stories that combined their warrior ethos with Christ's example of personal sacrifice. Despite developing a global culture theoretically no longer quite as dependent on national conquest, the Western world still tends to envision our savior hero as someone who kicks butt (think of Neo in The Matrix). Alongside this pervasive trend, however, an interesting countercurrent developed in the Renaissance and has reached its peak in recent years. This countercurrent suggests the hero who rights the wrongs of the world with force might actually be destructive to general cultural development (as one culture's hero will often be another culture's villain). Do our warrior heroes provide us with examples of the heights we can reach as Christians? Or do they operate with moral principles that work in opposition to the teachings of Jesus? This seminar will explore these questions by looking at classic heroic texts such as Beowulf and King Lear together with contemporary revisions of those texts such as Grendel and A Thousand Acres. In addition, this seminar will look at heroism in contemporary media such as the noir films Kiss Me Deadly and Fight Club and revisionist comic books such as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Alias.
Terry Wandtke teaches literature, film and culture studies at Judson College, and likes comic books more than his colleagues there realize. He was also worried that we might not print the phrase "kicks butt".