Abstract
In film, the game of Chicken often arises, either literally or metaphorically, as a conflict between an established member of a community, such as a high school gang or a family dynasty, and an “Other” – a newcomer to the scene. The game may result in a shift in social power or in a reaffirmation of a societal status quo, and it usually plays an important role in the Other’s growth as a person. A familiarity with game theory permits a nuanced interpretation of certain films; this chapter presents the mathematics behind Chicken and discusses a quartet of films – Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Footloose (1984) and (2011), and Crazy Rich Asians (2018) – from a game theoretic perspective.
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Nordstrom, J.F., Sklar, J.K. (2019). “Bok Bok”: Exploring the Game of Chicken in Film. In: Sriraman, B. (eds) Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70658-0_78-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70658-0_78-1
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