Feminist Film Theory and Pretty Woman

In Feminist Film Theory and Pretty Woman , Mari Ruti traces the development of feminist film theory from its foundational concepts such as the male gaze, female spectatorship, and the masquerade of femininity to 21st-century analyses of neoliberal capitalism, consumerism, postfeminism, and the revival of "girly" femininity as a cultural ideal. By interpreting Pretty Woman as a movie that defies easy categorization as either feminist or antifeminist, the book counters the all-too-common critical dismissal of romantic comedies as mindless drivel preoccupied with trivial "feminine" concerns such as love and shopping. The book''s lucid presentation of the key concerns of feminist film theory, along with its balanced reading of Pretty Woman , shed light on a Hollywood genre often overlooked by film critics: the romantic comedy.>

About the author

Mari Ruti (PhD, Harvard University) was Distinguished Professor of Critical Theory and of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. She was the author of numerous important works, including thirteen books The Singularity of Being: Lacan and the Immortal Within (2012); Between Levinas and Lacan: Self, Other, Ethics (Bloomsbury, 2015); The Age of Scientific Sexism (Bloomsbury, 2015); Feminist Film Theory and Pretty Woman (Bloomsbury, 2016); Penis Envy and Other Bad Feelings: The Emotional Costs of Everyday Life (2018); Distillations: Theory, Ethics, Affect (editor; Bloomsbury, 2018); and Critical Theory Between Klein and Lacan: A Dialogue - with Amy Allen (Bloomsbury, 2019).

Product details

• Authors: Mari Ruti, Mari (University of Toronto Ruti
• Assisted by: Todd McGowan (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.10.2016
• EAN: 9781501319426
• ISBN: 978-1-5013-1942-6
• No. of pages: 216
• Series: Film Theory in Practice; Film Theory in Practice
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Photography, film, video, TV; Filmgeschichte, Filmtheorie und Filmkritik, Soziale und ethische Themen, Fernsehen, TV, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Feminism & Feminist Theory, Feminism & feminist theory, PERFORMING ARTS / Film / History & Criticism, Feminism and feminist theory, Film Theory & Criticism, Film history, theory or criticism