Barbara Creed
Related: American academia - paracinema - feminist film theory - psychoanalytical film theory
The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (1993) - Barbara Creed [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Baby Bitches from Hell: Monstrous-Little Women in Film
Monstrous little women, mad moppets, deadly dollies, deranged daughters, sinister sisters--call them what you will, there is no doubt that multifarious images of the evil girl-child haunt the celluloid corridors of popular cinema. A far cry from her innocent sisters, the monstrous little woman is capable of truly shocking crimes. Images of evil children, circulated in posters and film books, are predominantly of feminine furies: Regan, from The Exorcist, murdering clerics, spewing green bile and rotating her head full circle on her neck; Carrie, an avenging monster, drenched in pig's blood, burning up the entire school; and Lolita, the child-woman, sunning herself in her bikini, supremely indifferent, yet fully aware of her devastating effect on the wretched professor. --Barbara Creed, http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/women/creed/creed1.htmlReview by Horrordiva
Feminist theories have argued that women in film have been represented in terms of a phallocentric (male) ideology. The feminine has been constructed by the morals and values of the masculine ideal - woman as wife, woman as mother, woman as mistress/femme-fatal/whore. Australian cinema, though susceptible to the same phallocentric ideologies of other Western cinemas, has tended toward an uncanny representation of women (likely in connection with global and domestic expectations that Australian film should embody a quirky or strange quality). The uncanny nature of the feminine is characterized by abjection and transgression. The abject quality of Woman is manifest in her body through her sexuality, her bodily functions, and her bodily fluids; transgression is played out through her desecration of civil, social, moral, and religious laws. This threatening image of Woman as vile and contemptible (as viewed within a patriarchal ideology) was dubbed the "monstrous-feminine" by Barbara Creed in her analyses of gender and horror films. I have chosen four Australian films with which to explore and illustrate the workings of the monstrous-feminine: Going Down (Haydn Keenan, 1982), Sweetie (Jane Campion, 1989), Shame (Steve Jodrell, 1987), and Celia (Ann Turner, 1988). These films do not necessarily fit into the horror genre; however, they are connected by their intent to speak to the female viewer by challenging traditional filmic representations of the feminine. --http://www.horrordiva.com/articles/australian.htmlMary Russo [...]
Mary Russo's observation that when a woman makes a "spectacle out of herself ..... her behaviour is related to a kind of inadvertency and loss of boundaries" has relevance for our murderous moppets. Russo's women are "the possessors of large, aging, and dimpled thighs displayed at the public beach, of overly roughed cheeks, of a voice shrill in laughter, or of a sliding bra strap ...." (1986, 213).--Barbara CreedCatherine Breillat [...]
Breillat's work belongs to a genre of films, directed by women, in which female protagonists peel back the seductive myths of romantic love in an attempt to discover the meaning of sexuality for themselves -- no matter how delightful or degrading their experiences. These films include: Carine Adler's Under The Skin, Davida Allen's Feeling Sexy, Bette Gordon's Variety, Jackie Burrough's A Winter Tan, Monika Treut's The Virgin Machine.--http://home.vicnet.net.au/~abr/May00/cre.htmlThe Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (1993) - Barbara Creed
Woman as castrator rather than castrated, August 30, 2001In the majority of critical writings on the horror film woman is portrayed only as victim. In 'The Monstrous Feminine' Barbara Creed challenges this patriarchal view by discussing woman as monstrous feminine and using horror films as the basis for her theory. With reference to a number of classic horror films such as Alien, The Brood, The Hunger, The Exorcist, I Spit on Your Grave and Psycho she discusses the women of these films from a feminist and psychoanalytic perspective. An amazing book and a must read for feminists, film theorists and horror fans alike. --cybaslut from Sydney, NSW Australia for amazon.com
"...accessibly and convincingly demonstrates the relevance and productivity of psychoanalytic theory for cultural analysis." --Annette Kuhn, University of Glasgow