Neo-feminist cinema
Subtitle: girly films, chick flicks, and consumer culture
By: Hilary Radner.
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9780415877732; 9780415877749; 9780203855218
Subjects: Feminism and motion pictures; Women in motion pictures; Motion pictures for women -- United States
Description: What lies behind current feminist discontent with contemporary cinema? Through a combination of cultural and industry analysis, Hilary Radner's Neo-Feminist Cinema: Girly Films, Chick Flicks and Consumer Culture shows how the needs of conglomerate Hollywood have encouraged an emphasis on consumer culture within films made for women. By exploring a number of representative "girly films," including Pretty Woman, Legally Blonde, Maid in Manhattan, The Devil Wears Prada, and Sex and the City: The Movie, Radner proposes that rather than being "post-feminist," as is usually assumed, such films are better described as "neo-feminist." Examining their narrative format, as it revolves around the story of an ambitious unmarried woman who defines herself through consumer culture as much as through work or romance, Radner argues that these films exemplify neo-liberalist values rather than those of feminism. As such, Neo-Feminist Cinema offers a new explanation as to why feminist-oriented scholars and audiences who are seeking more than "labels and love" from their film experience have viewed recent "girly films" as a betrayal of second-wave feminism, and why, on the other hand, such films have proven to be so successful at the box office.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : reassessing feminism and popular culture; title: Neo-feminism and the rise of the single girl; title: Pretty woman (1990) and the girly film : defining the format; title: Romy and Michele's high school reunion (1997) : female friendship in the girly film; title: Legally blonde (2001) : a pink girl in a brown world?; title: Jennifer Lopez : neo-feminism and the crossover star; title: Maid in manhattan (2003) : a new fairy tale; title: Hit movies for "femmes"; title: The devil wears Prada (2006) : the fashion film; title: Sex and the city : the movie (2008) : the female event film; title: Something's gotta give (2003) : Nancy Meyers, neo-feminist auteur; title: Conclusion : post-feminism and neo-feminism.