Gender and Genre in 1990s Hollywood

The 1990s was a decade of significant turmoil in Hollywood cinema, which resulted in a watershed moment in the interplay of gender and genre. Patricia Di Risio argues that cinematic representations of unconventional women had an important effect on traditionally male oriented genres, such as the crime thriller, road movie, western, film noir, war film, sci-fi, and horror. Di Risio analyses seven key films from the decade, including Blue Steel (1990), Thelma & Louise (1991), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Bound (1996), Jackie Brown (1997), G.I. Jane (1997) and Alien: Resurrection (1997), paying particular attention to their use of irony, allusion, and pastiche. She highlights how their female protagonists, a majority of whom are decidedly queer or gender questioning personas, produce an intense crossover in genre conventions, largely driven by their gender rebellion. She examines how a deconstruction of gender simultaneously allows genre hybridity and intertextuality, taking these films into unexpected new directions. In doing so, she delineates a clear line between the unconventional nature of the representation of the female protagonists and innovative changes to genre filmmaking practices.>

Auteur
Patricia Di Risio is Lecturer of Film, Media and Journalism at Monash College, Monash University Pathways, Australia.

Contenu
Introduction 1. Police Drama - Blue Steel (Kathryn Bigelow 1990) 2. Road Movie - Thelma & Louise (Ridley Scott 1991) 3. The Western - The Quick and the Dead (Sam Raimi 1995) 4. Neo Noir - Bound (Lilly & Lana Wachowski 1996) 5. The War film - G.I. Jane (Ridley Scott 1997) 6. Crime Thriller - Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino 1997) 7. Sci-Fi/ Horror - Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet 1997) Conclusion