Goldilocks Aesthetics

in Projections
Author:
James E. Cutting Cornell University, USA james.cutting@cornell.edu

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/proj.2020.140206
Keywords:
aesthetics; complexity; hedonics; modeling; movies
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Abstract

Much of aesthetics is based in psychological responses. Yet seldom have such responses—couched in empirically based psychological terms—played a central role in the discussion of movie aesthetics. Happily, Todd Berliner's Hollywood Aesthetic: Pleasure in American Cinema does just that. This commentary discusses some history and some twists and turns behind Berliner's analysis.

Contributor Notes

James E. Cutting is Susan Linn Sage Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. His newest book is Movies and Mind (in press, Oxford). He has also published over 150 scholarly articles on perception, motion, space, and related topics. His interest in the relationships among visual perception, culture, and the popular arts led him to the study of movies. Email: james.cutting@cornell.edu

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Projections

The Journal for Movies and Mind

Cover Projections
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
9
Keywords:
aesthetics; complexity; hedonics; modeling; movies
Print Publication Date:
01 Jun 2020
Online Publication Date:
01 Jun 2020
Copyright:
© Berghahn Books 2020

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