Smart chicks on screen : representing women's intellect in film and television / edited by Laura Mattoon D'Amore.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

D'Amore, Laura Mattoon, editor.

Series:

Film and history (Lanham, Md.)

Film and history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gifted women in motion pictures.

Gifted women on television.

Physical Description:

ix, 245 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2014]

Summary:

White women have long been featured in leading roles in film and television, the intellectual depictions of female characters in these media are out of line with reality. Women continue to be marginalized for their choices, overshadowed by men, and judged by their bodies in fact, the intelligence of women is rarely the focus of television or film narratives, and on the rare occasion when smart women are showcased, their portrayals are undermined by socially awkward, behavior or, their intimate relationships are doomed to perpetual failure. While Hollywood claims to offer a different, more evolved look at women, these movies and shows often just repackage old character types that still downplay the intelligence and savvy of women. In Smart Chicks on Screen: Representing Women's Intellect in film and Television, Laura Mattoon D'Amore brings together an impressive array of scholarship that interrogates the portrayal of females on television and in movies. Among the questions that the volume seeks to answer are: In what ways are women in film and television limited, or ostracized, by their intelligence? How do female roles emphasize standards of beauty, submissiveness, and silence over intellect, problem solving, and leadership? Are there women in film and television who are intelligent without also being objectified? The thirteen essays by international interdisciplinary scholars offer a wide range of perspectives, examining the connections-and disconnections-between beauty and brains in film and television. Smart Chicks on Screen will be of interest to scholars not only of film and television but of women's studies, reception studies, and cultural history, as well. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Not Just Born Yesterday: Judy Holliday, the Red Scare, and the (Miss-)Uses of Hollywood's Dumb Blonde Image / Stephen R. Duncan Duncan, Stephen R. 9

2 The Fuzzy End of the Lollypop: Protofeminism and Collective Subjectivity in Some Like It Hot / Melissa Meade Meade, Melissa 29

3 Brainy Broads: Images of Women's Intellect in Film Noir / Sheri Chinen Biesen Biesen, Sheri Chinen 43

4 Troubling Binaries: Women Scientists in 1950s B-Movies / Linda Levitt Levitt, Linda 59

5 "The High Priestess of the Desert": Female Intellect and Subjectivity in Contact / Allison Whitney Whitney, Allison 73

6 Mad Men's Peggy Olson: A Prefeminist Champion in a Postfeminist TV Landscape / Stefania Marghitu Marghitu, Stefania 89

7 A Deeper Cut: Enlightened Sexism and Grey's Anatomy / Mikaela Feroli Feroli, Mikaela 109

8 "There Is No Genius": Dr. Joan Watson and the Rewriting of Gender and Intelligence on CBS's Elementary / Helen H. Kang Kang, Helen H., Natasha Patterson Patterson, Natasha 129

9 Stories Worth Telling: How Kerry Washington Balances Brains, Beauty, and Power in Hollywood / De Anna J. Reese Reese, De Anna J. 145

10 Postfeminism, Sexuality, and the Question of Millennial Identity on HBO's Girls / Margaret J. Tally Tally, Margaret J. 161

11 I Can't Believe I Fell for Muppet Man!: Female Nerds and the Order of Discourse / Raewyn Campbell Campbell, Raewyn 179

12 Brains, Beauty, and Feminist Television: The Women of The Big Bang Theory / Amanda Stone Stone, Amanda 193

13 Too Smart for Their Own Good?: Images of Young Jewish Women in Television and Film / Rachel S. Bernstein Bernstein, Rachel S. 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781442237476

1442237473

OCLC:

876002593