The main characters in a movie can serve individuals in many different ways, but the usual way is to appear good. In whatever form, stories of individuals are a useful part of popular culture when they offer models of how individuals might save themselves or be saved. However, there are other ways. Villains, monsters, and enemies can be at the…

This book examines family traditions of over two centuries in the United States and finds a complicated process of change in the way Americans have celebrated holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Passover, and Chinese New Year as well as the life cycle rituals of birth, birthdays, coming of age, marriage, and death. The book notes…