Women Do Genre in Film and Television

This volume examines how different generations of women work within the genericity of audio-visual storytelling not necessarily to ‘undo’ or ‘subvert’ popular formats, but to draw on their generative force. Recent examples of filmmakers and creative practitioners within and outside Hollywood remind us that women are in various ways authoring commercially and culturally impactful texts across a range of genres. Put simply, this volume asks: what do women who are creatively engaged with audio-visual industries do with genre and what does genre do with them? The contributors to the collection respond to this question from diverse perspectives and with different answers, spanning issues of direction, screenwriting, performance and audience address/reception.

Preface, Christine Gledhill    ix

Introduction: Women's Authorship and Genre in Contemporary Film and Television, Mary Harrod and Katarzyna Paszkiewicz    1

I. Women's Authorship and Hollywood Genres    21

Performance and Gender Politics in Mary Harron’s Female Celebrity Anti-Biopics, Linda Badley    23

When the Woman Directs (a Horror Film), Katarzyna Paszkiewicz    41

The Contemptible Realm of the Romcom Queen: Nancy Meyers, Cultural Value and Romantic Comedy, Deborah Jermyn    57

Gendering the Post-9/11 Movie: Love, Loss and Regeneration in Nora Ephron's Julie and Julia, Roberta Garrett    72

II. Genre Outside Hollywood    89

Comedy as a Feminist Strategy: Spanish Women Filmmakers Reclaim Laughter, Barbara Zecchi    91

'Trois Femmes Puissantes': Playing with Gender and Genres on French TV, Brigitte Rollet    106

Breaking the Boundaries of Bollywood: Women in a "Man's Industry", Sanghita Sen    121

Gender Politics in Kelly Reichardt's Feminist Western Meek’s Cutoff, Dawn Hall    183

III. Beyond the Director    147

1990s Dark Comedy and the Female Screenwriter, Nicole Richter    149

Melissa McCarthy: Gender, Class and Body Politics in Contemporary US Comedy, Frances Smith    164

The Myth of Lena Dunham, Mary Harrod    179

The Feminist Game of Thrones: Outlander and Gendered Discourses of TV Genre, Jorie Lagerwey    198

A Hollywood of Our Own: Media Fandom as Female Artworld, Francesca Coppa    213