The Prettiest Woman

By Grant Farred

Uncovering Hollywood's perpetual longing for a lost industrial America

"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 Pretty Woman to expose and critique this lingering nostalgia for late-industrial capitalism.

Situating Pretty Woman alongside Reagan-era films including Wall Street, 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 Zizek to Mick Jagger--The Prettiest Woman 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1517918324
• ISBN13: 9781517918323
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
• Length: 82 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.