Postfeminist Whiteness : Problematising Melancholic Burden in Contemporary Hollywood

## Addresses postfeminist media culture’s emphasis on socioeconomic privilege In the first extended study into the politics of whiteness inherent within postfeminist cinema, Kendra Marston interrogates representations of melancholic white femininity in contemporary Hollywood cinema, arguing that the ‘melancholic white woman’ serves as a vehicle through which to explore the excesses of late capitalism and a crisis of faith in the American dream. This figure may be idealised or scapegoated within these films, yet strategic performances of gendered melancholia may produce benefits for white female directors and stars disadvantaged within a patriarchal industry. Examining film genres including the tourist romance, the fantasy film and the psychological thriller, the book also contains case studies of films like __The Virgin Suicides__, __Blue Jasmine__, __Gone Girl__ and __The Girl on the Train__. ## Case studies include: * __Gone Girl__ (David Fincher 2014) * __The Girl on the Train__ (Tate Taylor 2016) * __The Virgin Suicides__ (Sofia Coppola 1999) * __Marie Antoinette__ (Sofia Coppola 2006) * __Lost in Translation__ (Sofia Coppola 2003) * __Blue Jasmine__ (Woody Allen 2013) * __Black Swan__ (Darren Aronofsky 2010) * __Pirates of the Caribbean__ (Gore Verbinski 2003, 2006, 2007) * __Alice in Wonderland__ (Tim Burton 2010) * __Alice Through the Looking Glass__ (James Bobin 2016) * __Eat Pray Love__ (Ryan Murphy 2010) * __Under the Tuscan Sun__ (Audrey Wells 2003) Présentation de l'éditeur : "In the first extended study into the politics of whiteness inherent within postfeminist cinema, Kendra Marston interrogates representations of melancholic white femininity in contemporary Hollywood cinema, arguing that the 'melancholic white woman' serves as a vehicle through which to explore the excesses of late capitalism and a crisis of faith in the American dream. This figure may be idealised or scapegoated within these films, yet strategic performances of gendered melancholia may produce benefits for white female directors and stars disadvantaged within a patriarchal industry. Examining film genres including the tourist romance, the fantasy film and the psychological thriller, the book also contains case studies of films like The Virgin Suicides, Blue Jasmine, Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train." The world is her oyster: negotiating contemporary white womanhood in Hollywood's tourist spaces --'Hoist the colours!' Framing feminism through charismatic white leadership in the fantasy blockbuster --Neoliberalism, female agency and conspicuous consumption as tragic flaw in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine --Paranoid attachments to suburban dreams: pathological feminitity in Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train --Aristocratic whiteness, body trauma and the market logic of melancholia in Black Swan --Sofia Coppola's melancholic aesthetic: vanishing femininity in an object-oriented world --Conclusion: melancholic white femininity, cultural resonance and the shifting politics of representation Cover 1 Postfeminist Whiteness 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Figures 7 Acknowledgements 9 Introduction 12 Chapter 1 The World Is Her Oyster 42 Chapter 2 ‘Hoist the Colours!’ 69 Chapter 3 Neoliberalism, Female Agency and Conspicuous Consumption 97 Chapter 4 Paranoid Attachments to Suburban Dreams 122 Chapter 5 Aristocratic Whiteness 144 Chapter 6 Sofia Coppola’s Melancholic Aesthetic 173 Conclusion 202 Bibliography 209 Filmography 221 Index 226