January 30, 2004

'Bad: Infamy, Darkness, Evil, and Slime on Screen'

By NINA C. AYOUB

Putting a crazy-eyed Dennis Hopper on the cover of Bad: Infamy, Darkness, Evil, and Slime on Screen (State University of New York Press) is something of a bait and switch. The actor is barely mentioned in the book, not present enough even for a cameo. Still, his having gone from good, or at least amiable, in Easy Rider, to embodying one of the most deliciously malevolent villains ever, in Blue Velvet, may be semiotic reason enough. Hopper is used to signal badness, and badness is a cinematic