Female Agencies and Subjectivities in Film and Television

"This volume is an exuberant account of the ways in which female agencies and subjectivities in visual culture have expanded and multiplied through digital technology and globalization. It is an invaluable contribution to contemporary discussions in film and television studies, as well as feminist theory and practice." -Süheyla Schroeder, Berlin International University of Applied Sciences, Germany This volume provides an overview of the landscape of mediated female agencies and subjectivities in the last decade. In three sections, the book covers the films of women directors, television shows featuring women in lead roles, and the representational struggles of women in cultural context, with a special focus on changes in the transformative power of narratives and images across genres and platforms. This collection derives from the editors' multi-year experiences as scholars and practitioners in the field of film and television. It is an effort that aims to describe and understand female agencies and subjectivities across screen narratives, gather scholars from around the world to generate timely discussions, and inspire fellow researchers and practitioners of film and television. Diğdem Sezen is a lecturer at Teesside University, School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Department of Communications, Media and Arts, UK. She holds a Ph.D. from Istanbul University, Turkey. Feride Çiçekoğlu holds a Ph.D. in architecture from University of Pennsylvania, USA. Her stint in prison during the military junta of 1980 in Turkey was the inspiration for her first novella, which she later adapted to screen and used as a springboard to build a second academic career in film. Aslı Tunç is a professor of media studies and communication in the Department of Media at Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. She holds a Ph.D. in media and communications from Temple University, USA. Ebru Thwaites Diken is an assistant professor in the Department of Film and Television at İstanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. She holds a a PhD in Sociology from Lancaster University, UK Acknowledgments Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction References Part I: Women Behind the Camera Chapter 2: Agnès Varda and the Singular Feminine Friends Old and New (Wave): Varda and Godard Reframing Agency in Varda par Agnès Varda and the New Cinephilia References Filmography Directed by Agnès Varda Chapter 3: Female Agency in Pelin Esmer Films: The Play (2005) and Queen Lear (2019) Introduction Digitality and Plurality Female Agency Conclusion References Chapter 4: The Feminine Indistinction in Susanne Bier’s Cinema: The Brothers (2004), In a Better World (2010), Bird Box (2018) Introduction A Woman’s Cinema Impossible Distinctions The Authentic ‘Danish’ and the Global Art House and/or Popular Gendering Inside and Outside, and Its Subversion Brothers (2004) In a Better World (2010) Bird Box (2018) Zones of Indistinction Conclusion: A Feminine Indistinction? References Chapter 5: Consuming Bodies, Abject Spaces: Ana Lily Amirpour’s Transcultural Expressionism Introduction: Amirpour’s Dark Fairy Tales Extractive Environments: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Abject Lives: The Bad Batch References Part II: Women on Screen Chapter 6: Claire Underwood: Feminist Warrior or Shakespearean Villain? Re-visiting Feminine Evil in House of Cards Introduction Motherhood Seduction Madness Conclusion References Chapter 7: The Phenomenology of Orphan Black as Molecular Politics Introduction: The World of Orphan Black A Phenomenological Look at Orphan Black Orphan Black as a Template of Molecular Politics Conclusion References Chapter 8: ‘I Will Not Be Bullied into Submission’: Discussing Subjection and Resistance in GLOW (2017) Introduction Performing Gender in Wrestling Shows Unconventional Women in the Ring The Ring as a Hierarchical Space Women Behind the Camera Resistance Through Performativity Conclusion References Chapter 9: Female Body Language: Cutting, Scarring, and Becoming in HBO’s Sharp Objects Self-Harm and Its Language Skin Language: Cuts, Wounds, and Openings Scarring and Becoming References Chapter 10: The Strong Female Lead: Postfeminist Representation of Women and Femininity in Netflix Shows Introduction Netflix and Its Unique Attributes as a Streaming Platform Creative Women at Netflix The Strong Female Lead Embracing Femininity: Unbelievable Conclusion: Why Aren’t There More Shows Like Unbelievable? References Part III: Women in Context and Culture: Representational Struggles Across Genres and Platforms Chapter 11: The Technological Turn of the Femme Fatale: The Fembot and Alternative Fates Introduction Defining the Femme Fatale Female Robots in Cinema Case Studies Ex Machina Westworld Conclusion: The Fembot as the Rebellious Femme Fatale References Chapter 12: Women Remembering: Gender and Genre in Persona and Happy Valley Persona Happy Valley Conclusion References Chapter 13: Bridal Anxieties: Politics of Gender, Neoconservatism and Daytime TV in Turkey Introduction Gendered Symbolic Violence in Western TV Culture Daytime TV Shows in Turkey: A Troubled History Methodology Format as Symbolic Violence Battles of Consumption Discussion and Conclusion References Chapter 14: International Filmmor Women’s Film Festival on Wheels: “Women’s Cinema, Women’s Resistance, Cinema of Resistance” Introduction The Filmmor Women’s Collective Within the History of Feminist Politics in Turkey Filmmor Film Festival as the Practice of ‘Differential Consciousness’ Revealing Subjectivities Through the Stories of Women Across Borders “With solidarity, no challenge is insurmountable”50 References Chapter 15: Machine Gaze on Women: How Everyday Machine-Vision-Technologies See Women in Films Introduction Machine Vision: From Mechanical Eye to Algorithms Coded Gaze in the Black Box Quantifying Gender Representation in Films Experimenting with Everyday Machine Gaze Conclusion References Filmography Software Index "This volume is an exuberant account of the ways in which female agencies and subjectivities in visual culture have expanded and multiplied through digital technology and globalization. It is an invaluable contribution to contemporary discussions in film and television studies, as well as feminist theory and practice." -Süheyla Schroeder, Berlin International University of Applied Sciences, Germany This volume provides an overview of the landscape of mediated female agencies and subjectivities in the last decade. In three sections, the book covers the films of women directors, television shows featuring women in lead roles, and the representational struggles of women in cultural context, with a special focus on changes in the transformative power of narratives and images across genres and platforms. This collection derives from the editors' multi-year experiences as scholars and practitioners in the field of film and television. It is an effort that aims to describe and understand female agencies and subjectivities across screen narratives, gather scholars from around the world to generate timely discussions, and inspire fellow researchers and practitioners of film and television. Diğdem Sezen is a lecturer at Teesside University, School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Department of Communications, Media and Arts, UK. She holds a Ph.D. from Istanbul University, Turkey. Feride Çiçekoğlu holds a Ph.D. in architecture from University of Pennsylvania, USA. Her stint in prison during the military junta of 1980 in Turkey was the inspiration for her first novella, which she later adapted to screen and used as a springboard to build a second academic career in film. Aslı Tunç is a professor of media studies and communication in the Department of Media at Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. She holds a Ph.D. in media and communications from Temple University, USA. Ebru Thwaites Diken is an assistant professor in the Department of Film and Television at İstanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. She holds a a PhD in Sociology from Lancaster University, UK