Cold War, Cool Medium ― Television, McCarthyism, and American Culture

Doherty (American studies, Brandeis U.) examines the cultural history of the United States of the McCarthy period through the window of the television screen. Although the treatment of the House Un-American Activities Committee's anti-communist witch hunts television and the television industry are the central focus of the discussion, Doherty also explores tangentially related issues of religion, race, and homosexuality. He argues that television subtly acted as a resistant force to the forces of conformity and intimidation represented by Senator Joe McCarthy. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Thomas Doherty is a professor in the American studies department and chair of the film studies program at Brandeis University. He is the author of Projections of War: Hollywood, American Culture, and World War II; PreCode Hollywood: Sex, Immorality and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934; and Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s, and is associate editor of the film journal Cineaste.