Going for Broke

Compulsive gambling is an addiction, a disease that affects millions of individuals and their families. In Going for Broke, the author closely analyzes over 20 films of the past five decades that either deal directly with compulsive gambling or contain characters who are compulsive gamblers. He looks closely at the films' messages about gambling in an effort to determine whether Hollywood depictions of compulsive gambling are accurate and responsible. A second, though no less important, goal of Dement's study is to determine to what extent media images of gambling can and have served as a warning to viewers about the potential dangers of gambling. Dement argues that American filmmakers have created an irresponsible and glorified picture of the compulsive gambler and gambling. He looks carefully at the presentation of gambling in specific films, and uses those to sketch a much larger picture of the Hollywood gambler. Dement claims that the Hollywood gambler usually wins, and is therefore a misrepresentation of the potentially devastating effects of the disease on real lives and families. A substantial filmography completes the text.