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Tag: movies
Our Book, “Civil War on Film” Now As An Affordable Paperback! – Pre-now for August 22, 2024 Release
One of the benefits of the merger between our first publisher – ABC-Clio – and Bloomsbury Publishing is that Bloomsbury is a larger, more international company with more reach. What that means for my co-writer, Peg Lamphier and me is that our book, The Civil War on Film, will be available in paperback with a $26.95 price tag (much more accessible than the hardback version that is $63) on August 22, 2024.
So if you’ve always wanted to read what Peg and I have to say about which Civil War films are the most honestly historical (spoiler alert – it’s Glory) now’s your time to buy a copy! We were so pleased to include chapters on such great films as Friendly Persuasion (1957); Gettysburg (1993); Gangs of New York (2002); Lincoln (2012); and Free State of Jones (2016)
As they move forward they plan to release American Women’s History on Film in paperback as well so stay tuned!
Adapting Classic Novels Not the Only Tool in her Kit: Silent Screenwriter Dorothy Farnum – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, July 2024
Where’s Her Museum? Betty Burbage – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, June 2024
Recognizing Female Genius by Dr. Rosanne Welch
I was doing editor rewrites on a chapter titled “Dorothy Parker: The Creative Genius Behind Film Franchise A STAR IS BORN.” To the note asking me to consider a “less hagiographic title,” I said “No”.
A quick check showed me that many, many, many male writers are called geniuses – but few women.
For instance, this article, Genius – still a country for white, middle class, heterosexual men*, notes:
“Try a quick google search of the terms “literary genius”. The same names keep appearing: William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Henry James, William Chaucer, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, and so on.”
But I would object to J.D. Salinger. Catcher in the Rye did not move me at all – but S. E. 
(Susan Elizabeth) Hinton’s The Outsiders moved me and all the generations from mine through my son’s Millennial group and into the folks watching the musical on Broadway right now – while teaching us all to love the poetry of another male genius – Robert Frost. See, I’m willing to use the adjective on men when they deserve it.
So the lesson of the day is that if any writer deserves to be called genius, it’s Dorothy Parker.
Own your genius. And use it to describe other female creatives. And maybe refrain from using it on less men for once.
* Genius – still a country for white, middle class, heterosexual men, Natalie Kon-yu, The Conversation
