Closer to the (H)edge. Documentaries and the Isle of Man TT: From chronotopes and masturbation to celebrity culture

Abstract

This article opens up a new area for cultural analysis: the cult of the motorcycle rider dedicated to road racing. Special emphasis will be put on the commercially successful documentary made by the Spanish director Richard de Aragues: TT Closer to the Edge. The first part of this article will contextualize road racing and outline the dominant traits of documentaries dedicated to road racing and argue that Aragues’ documentary expands the thematic possibilities of the genre in some interesting directions by exploring the intimate revelations of one of its protagonists which would have been surprising (or unthinkable) in one of these documentaries only a few decades ago. The second part of this article will take up the challenge for cultural studies of attempting to offer an account of how to interpret such innovative changes by drawing on the contextualist approaches of Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall and Laurence Grossberg and other approaches associated with the formal aspects of sports’ documentaries, and critiques of consumer capitalism and celebrity culture. In this way, it will explore shifts in audience sensibilities and show how cultural changes beyond the motorcycle documentary itself can help to make sense of this evolving genre.

Keywords

Automobility celebrity culture consumer capitalism Guy Martin Isle of Man TT motorcycle culture Richard de Aragues sexuality sports documentary

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