Resurgence of Romance in Postfeminist Film & TV: A Contemporary Study, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Classical Philology

Download Resurgence of Romance in Postfeminist Film & TV: A Contemporary Study and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Classical Philology in PDF only on Docsity! CSW update JUNE 06 10 D i S S E R T A T i o N E x C E R P T B y M i C h E L E S C h R E i B E R Want to Be in Love... “You Don’t You Want to Be in Love in a Movie“ n the popular romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle (Ephron, 1993), a pivotal scene in the middle of the film sums up the crux of the dilemma faced by Annie (Meg Ryan), the female protagonist. She is having difficulty making an important decision about her love life and, as she always does, turns to the classic film An Affair to Remember (McCarey, 1957) for guidance. As she watches the film with her best friend Becky (Rosie O’Donnell), she says, “Now those were the days when people knew how to be in love, time, distance, nothing could separate them because they knew.” In response, Becky observes, “That’s your problem, you don’t want to be in love, you want to be in love in a movie.” This I Romance and PostFeminism in contemPoRaRy Film and television © 19 93 S on y P ict ur es interaction between Annie and Becky is meant to elicit a sense of recognition among Sleepless in Seattle’s audi- ence because the text assumes that by nature of the fact that they are watching the film, its spectators must em- pathize with, if not share, Annie’s desire to fall in love in a way that is completely removed from the mundane realities of everyday life. However, the text also assumes that the audience will find equally familiar Becky’s pointed critique of Annie’s misguided preoccupation. This scene, and by extension the film, represents two perspectives on romance and romance spectatorship— one suggests that the promise of romance is a solution to life’s problems, and the other suggests the dangers inher- ent in such beliefs. These two attitudes, though seem- CSW update JUNE 06 11 ingly at odds with one another, coexist within Sleepless in Seattle’s discourse effectively. But, not surprisingly, the optimistic, idealistic attitude ultimately wins out at the end of the film when Annie finds her “movie love.” The conflicted female discourse presented in this scene illustrates how romance narrative structures in post-1980 American film and television have become sites for reflection and negotiation of contemporary women’s ambivalence toward cultural and politi- cal discourses in which their personal choices are deeply entrenched. Sleepless in Seattle’s oscillation between revering the traditional romance narrative and explicitly questioning its viability mirrors the postfeminist era’s characteristic bipolarity in which women struggle between assuming their role in the continuum of the feminist movement by seeking out and achieving personal and professional success and by retreating to a prefeminist idealization of hetero- sexual romance and the retrograde notions of femi- ninity that have been traditionally associated with it. This study argues that because of its success in dilut- ing a profound fissure in the feminist project and transforming it into a conflict between wanting to be in love in a movie and knowing better, romance nar- rative structures have not only seen a resurgence in fiction film and television texts but have concurrently become one of the most pervasive cultural narratives, infiltrating every media form aimed at women. This project pairs an evaluation of the social, historical, and political milieu of the postfeminist era with close analyses of characteristics and trends in film, television, and other media romance texts from 1980 to 2005. Its emphasis is twofold: first, to show that romance is a pervasive popular culture narrative form that resurfaces and becomes more prominent during periods in which sociopolitical issues related Michele’s study is timely, lucid and compelling. Against common assumptions, she shows how and why the romance genre–marketed to women–has become so successful at the same time that women have gained increasing independence economically. Michele shows how this independence has been represented in conflicts between domestic and profes- sional hopes and demands. Her study unfolds clearly and engagingly, without lapsing into nostalgia for happy endings that–in memory anyway–used to be really happy. I recom- mend her forthcoming book to specialists and the general public alike. Michele has been an absolute pleasure to work with throughout this process, as she gradually found the core argument behind the intuition that started her on this path of research. —Professor Janet Bergstrom