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)