Or, the maternal melodrama of the unknown feminist film spectator. I made the marriages of laurel dallas, my comparative study of the cinematic build up to two tearjerking momentsone long enshrined, and much argued over, in maternal melodrama studiesshortly after i saw the silent version of stella dallas for the first time. Stella dallas directly sides with the lower classes, normalizing stella s calculated act by endorsing her choice as practical. May 25, 2014 im not versed in the various interpretations, but i found cavells reading of stella dallas very compelling. Considering how strong an emotional appeal this melodrama makes, it is remarkable that emotions are rarely mentioned in the two key articles in this exchange. Topics will include spectatorship, stardom, feminist auteurism, and genre. For example, world war ii with quotes will give more precise results than world war ii without quotes. Stella dallas directly sides with the lower classes, normalizing stellas calculated act by endorsing her choice as practical. The hollywood melodrama of the unknown woman 1996, stresses stellas own search for a mother, and her striving to overcome separation.
Stella dallas and feminist film theory, cinema journal, 25. This anthology charts the history of those debates, bringing together the key, classic essays in feminist film theory. King vidors stella dallas is thus used as an interesting test. Linda williams focused her studies on the female spectator pleasure by analyzing melodrama classical hollywood films. In the end, this proves to be impossible as she is stripped of both titles. Feminist theorists at the time were preoccupied, among other things, with how hollywood tried to appeal to women. Much recent feminist film theory and criticism has been devoted to the description and analysis of oedipal scenarios in which, as laura mulvey has written, woman is a passive image and man the active bearer of the look. Revisiting stella dallas from a cognitive theory of film. Brings together, for the first time, essays on feminism and film that trace developments in this field from 1973 to the present day. Maternal issues in vidors stella dallas and linda williamss. Over the years, feminist film theory has had nothing but praise for this version. Beyond cinepsychoanalysis feminism film, show, cinema.
Feeling for stella dallas film structure jukola art. Includes detailed case studies on films such as vertigo, stella dallas, and daughters of the dust. The feminist film theorists bell hooks and jacqueline bobo augmented this discussion of race and spectatorship by arguing that even more complex readings arise for african american female spectators because of their double exclusion on the grounds of. Feminist film theory cinema and media studies oxford. Christine gledhill on stella dallas and feminist film theory the debate that stella dallas is currently provoking is interesting to me in its disclosure of problems in the way melodrama has entered both mainstream and feminist film studies. Phrase searching you can use double quotes to search for a series of words in a particular order. Interest in 1950s hollywood melodrama arose at a point when the classic realist or narrative text was becoming the dominant model for. They criticized the role of women in family melodramas, which was basically as willing victims of their situation. King vidors stella dallas is thus used as an interesting test case for many important concepts of recent feminist film theory as well as for feminist thinking about the formation of the female. We will then be in a better position to unravel the motherdaughter knot of this particular film. This book brings together carefully selected essays on feminism and film with a view to tracing major developments in theory, criticism, and practices of women and cinema from 1973 to the present.
She uses the film stella dallas as a test case to support various concepts of feminists film theory including maternal sacrifice and identification. Show full abstract case for many important concepts of recent feminist film theory as well as for feminist thinking about the. A cognitive theory of film focuses on the way audiences in general perceive a film. Im not versed in the various interpretations, but i found cavells reading of stella dallas very compelling. In other words, a spectators race does not determine his or her response to a given film. Christine gledhill on stella dallas and feminist film theory jstor. Notably, as one of the most famous womens pictures, stella dallas firmly rejects fantasies of romantic love.
In addition to garnering oscar nominations for its two female leads, vidor succeeded. Interest in 1950s hollywood melodrama arose at a point when the classic. Essays chosen discuss and debate specific films which make the book ideal as a teaching aid. Email citation this textbook offers a clear overview of some key debates in feminist film studies, including psychoanalysis and spectatorship, adaptation, and race. In her analysis of king vidors 1937 film stella dallas, feminist film scholar mary ann doane says that the maternal melodrama is usually seen as the paradigmatic type of the womans film, 1 and calls it that genres exemplary film 2. The experience of viewing and the viewing of experience in rear window and psycho cinema journal, winter 1985 by jeanne t.
Feminist film studies is a readable, yet comprehensive textbook for introductory classes in feminist film theory and criticism. This may have to do with the fact that, for me, the crux of the film seemed to be its commentary on class rather than feminism although, obviously, there is overlap between the two topics, and i think cavells reading is not meant to be a specifically feminist one either. Thus while williams centres her reading on the relation of stella and laurel. She has also taught courses on oscar micheaux and spike lee, luis bunuel and pedro almodovar, melodrama, film theory, selected sex genres, and the wire. Christine gledhill on stella dallas and feminist film theory by christine gledhill e. Meanwhile, the socalled stella dallas debate, referring to the 1937 film in which barbara stanwyck portrays a woman who gives up her beloved daughter in hopes of giving her a better life among more respectable people, dramatized differences emerging in feminist film theory. The hollywood melodrama of the unknown woman 1996, stresses stellas own search for. Stella is pregnant, so she marries not out of romantic love, but out of necessity. Mar 29, 2018 its important to note that the 70s was also when feminist film theory came to fruition. Dec 12, 20 most of the approaches rely heavily on theories in ways of understanding melodrama. Like other prouty novels, stella dallas was adapted into film only two years later. Feeling for stella dallas film structure jukola art community. Revisiting stella dallas from a cognitive theory of film perspective. What the main character stella is trying to achieve is to be both a woman and a mother.
Most of the approaches rely heavily on theories in ways of understanding melodrama. The second play, the doll house show, is a deconstruction of ibsens a doll house, using pieces of feminist theory, george burns and gracie allen. Show full abstract case for many important concepts of recent feminist film theory as well as for feminist thinking about the formation of the female subject. She uses the film stella dallas as a test case to support various concepts of feminist s film theory including maternal sacrifice and identification. The female gaze is a feminist film theoretical term representing the gaze of the female viewer. Gwendolyn audrey foster is willa cather professor of english and film studies at the university of nebraska, lincoln. Poverty and womens sacrifices in stella dallas 1937 and. For the past twentyfive years, cinema has been a vital terrain on which feminist debates about culture, representation, and identity have been fought. King vidors stella dallas 1937 provoked one of psychoanalytic feminist film criticisms most extensive dialogues. It is a response to feminist film theorist laura mulveys term, the male gaze, which represents not only the gaze of a heterosexual male viewer but also the gaze of the male character and the male creator of the film. Ann kaplan represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in boston university libraries.
Karen hollinger provides an accessible overview of womens representation and involvement in film, complemented by analyses of key texts that illustrate major topics in the field. The melodrama s role in the development of contemporary film theory. I think that donna in mamma mia tries to do this, and in contrast is successful in doing so. Christine gledhill on stella dallas and feminist film theory. Linda williams teaches courses on popular movingimage genres pornography, melodrama, and body genres of all sorts. This book brings together carefully selected essays on feminism and film with a view to tracing major developments in theory, criticism, and practices of women and cinema from 1973 to the present day. Williams goes into detail on analyzing the film stella dallas and its feminist criticism. Apr 29, 2015 linda williams focused her studies on the female spectator pleasure by analyzing melodrama classical hollywood films. A marxist perspective may seek to find class conflict, hidden or manifest, in the melodrama films, whereas a feminist perspective e.