Representations of Femininity in American Genre Cinema: The Woman's Film, Film Noir, and Modern Horror

Greven, David

The theme of female transformation informs the Hollywood representation of femininity from the studio era to the present. Whether it occurs physically, emotionally, or on some other level, transformation allows female protagonists to negotiate their own complex desires and to resist the compulsory marriage plot. A sweeping study of Hollywood from Now, Voyager, The Heiress, and Flamingo Road to Carrie, the Alien films, The Brave One, and the slasher horror genre, this book boldly unsettles commonplace understandings of genre film, female sexuality, and Freudian theory as it makes a strong new case for the queer relevance of female representation.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2011-04-05

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9780230112513

DOI: 10.1057/9780230118836

Dimensions: 216cm x140cm

Pages: 214