Reclaiming girlishness. Images of young women in contemporary American cinema

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• The worlds of Amy Heckerling and Sofia Coppola
• The postfeminist context
  • Girl culture on the rise
  • Postfeminist theory
  • Postfeminist heroines
    • Cher Horowitz
    • The Lisbon sisters
    • Charlotte
    • Marie Antoinette
• Telling the girl's story
  • Narrators and points of view
    • Gazing with Cher
    • Withstanding the boys' voice
    • Speaking in silence
    • Claiming the story back
  • Speech and silence
    • "We've got to work on your accent and vocabulary"
    • Loud silences
  • Seen it before: Intertextuality, pastiche and parody
• Dress to express: Costume, fashion and masquerade
  • I am what I wear: Cher
  • A masquerade ball of powers
• Feminine cinema and feminine aesthetics
  • Irigaray and female interiority
  • Visual pleasure and postfeminist problems

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This thesis aims to explore the portrayal of young women in the films Clueless, The Virgin Suicides, Lost In Translation, and Marie Antoinette, highlighting what distinguishes them from other films of this type and analyzing their continued appeal to female audiences. The work delves into the backgrounds and styles of both directors, Amy Heckerling and Sofia Coppola, and examines the cultural and postfeminist context in which their films were created.

• The depiction of girlishness and its subversion in contemporary cinema
• The role of postfeminist theory in shaping female characters and their agency
• The use of narrative techniques and visual elements to portray female subjectivity
• The interplay of fashion and costume in feminine expression and the subversion of female specularisation
• The intersection of feminine aesthetics and feminist film studies

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

• Introduction: The introduction delves into the connotations of "girlishness" and explores the reasons why directors might shy away from portraying girlish characters. It then highlights the unique approach of Amy Heckerling and Sofia Coppola in subverting stereotypes and showcasing female agency through their films.
• The worlds of Amy Heckerling and Sofia Coppola: This chapter examines the stylistic origins and approaches of both directors, highlighting their individual contributions to the representation of female characters in cinema.
• The postfeminist context: This section explores the cultural and theoretical framework surrounding postfeminism, analyzing its implications for female characters in cinema. It further delves into the rise of "girl culture" and how postfeminist theory provides both opportunities and limitations for female liberation.
• Telling the girl's story: This chapter focuses on the narrative and visual elements of the films, examining how they portray female subjectivity and agency through different perspectives, narrative voices, and the use of dialogue and silence. It also analyzes the role of intertextuality, parody, and pastiche in enriching the films' messages.
• Dress to express: Costume, fashion and masquerade: This section explores the significance of costume, fashion, and masquerade in the films, analyzing how these elements contribute to feminine expression and the recovery of female agency.
• Feminine cinema and feminine aesthetics: This chapter situates the four films within contemporary discourses of feminine aesthetics and cinema, drawing on the work of Luce Irigaray to analyze the representation of female interiority and the challenges posed by visual pleasure within a postfeminist context.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This thesis explores the complex and multifaceted concept of girlishness in contemporary cinema. Key themes include postfeminism, female agency, female subjectivity, visual representation, costume and fashion, feminine aesthetics, and feminist film theory. The work analyzes the films of Amy Heckerling and Sofia Coppola, focusing specifically on Clueless, The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, and Marie Antoinette.