Page - 122 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/01

122 | Theresia Heimerl www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/1, 121–123 the far more obvious approach of social critique lacking. The first main chapter con- cludes with two subchapters, “The American Dream’s Gospel of Success” and “Amer- ica’s Denial of Death”. The examples from literature and film given on this topic are comprehensible but definitely too short, especially regarding the complex topic of death in American culture. The main thesis of the book mostly follows the well-known thesis of civil religion as the foundation of the United States. The problem lies not in this thesis as such (which has been widely discussed) but in its application by Rindge in detail. One of the most problematic points of Rindge’s theory is the understanding of religion itself: according to religious studies as part of cultural studies, it is not at all clear that the mentioned elements are constitutive for a religious system, a concern especially in the case of the last element, sacred values, which is so important for the interpretation of the films that follows. The term “value” is not genuinely religious and was not common in any of the three monotheistic religious systems until just a few decades ago. Furthermore, these values and their interpretation depend heavily on historical, cultural, and social con- text. They are not at all monolithic. A comparison with Religion America should cer- tainly take this into account. Similarly, a critique from the perspective of religious studies also needs to address the use of the term “myth” and its missing definition. The first sentence of the final chapter makes this very clear: “Fight Club, American Beauty, and About Schmidt un- dermine American cultural values, depicting these cherished myths as meaningless” (p. 95). Are cultural values the same thing as myths? What about the interdepend- ences between myth and the key elements of monotheistic religions quoted above? Is the American Dream the myth of the Religion America? And, finally, is the term “myth” correctly applied when talking about biblical parables? The interpretation of the biblical parables as disorientating is comprehensible, though conducted rather briefly. The interpretation of the three films on which the book focuses is rather convinc- ing, if one agrees with the introductory theses. Fight Club (1999) is interpreted as the lamentation over God’s abandonment and a deconstruction of the American Dream – with success as sufficient sense making. What remains unmentioned in this interpreta- tion as well as in the examination of American Beauty (1999) is the (de)construction of gender roles, mainly “masculinity”, obvious in both films, an absence already evi- dent in chapter one. Despite a critique from a psychoanalytical perspective – which at least in Europe is tendentially old fashioned – and a critical examination from a racial perspective, the almost classic triad of race, class, and gender is missing. The third film that Rindge interprets is About Schmidt (2002), which, according to Rindge, is the most radical denial of the American Dream, because the leading character finds mean- ing in a relationship with a person in poverty, thus neglecting or even denying Ameri-