The Violent Woman: Femininity, Narrative, and Violence in Contemporary American Cinema

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State University of New York Press, Feb 16, 2012 - Social Science - 218 pages
In The Violent Woman, Hilary Neroni brings psychoanalytically informed film theory to bear on issues of femininity, violence, and narrative in contemporary American cinema. Examining such films as Thelma and Louise, Fargo, Natural Born Killers, and The Long Kiss Goodnight, Neroni explores why American audiences are so fascinated—even excited—by cinematic representations of violent women, and what these representations reveal about violence in our society and our cinema. Neroni argues that violent women characters disrupt cinematic narrative and challenge cultural ideals, suggesting how difficult it is for Hollywood—the greatest of ideology machines—to integrate the violent woman into its typical narrative structure.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
The Development and Background of the Filmic Violent Woman
13
The Violent Woman on the Contemporary Screen
81
Notes
163
Index
197
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About the author (2012)

Hilary Neroni is Associate Professor of English at the University of Vermont.

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