The Prettiest Woman

<P><B>Uncovering Hollywood’s perpetual longing for a lost industrial America</B><BR/><BR/> “We don’t make things in America anymore”: like clockwork, this refrain resurfaces in political discourse, a reflection of yearning for a bygone era of industrial productivity. In his latest work, Grant Farred uses the 1990 film <I>Pretty Woman</I> to expose and critique this lingering nostalgia for late-industrial capitalism. </P><P> Situating <I>Pretty Woman</I> alongside Reagan-era films including <I>Wall Street, </I>Farred examines the congealment of such a pervasive romanticized view of the United States as a fading industrial powerhouse. Drawing on an eclectic range of thinkers-from Raymond Williams and Slavoj Žižek to Mick Jagger-<I>The Prettiest Woman</I> offers a unique analysis of the ways Hollywood perpetuates the myth of a lost “productive America,” highlighting the seductive power of this fantasy despite its disconnect from economic and political realities. </P>