Domestic Melodrama as Genre (Discussion)

Readings

Molly Haskell

1. Group 1: What three types of women does Haskell find in the woman's film? Who would be a recent example of each type?
2. What are the woman's film's four main themes? Do you see them operating in the two melodramas we've viewed: Ordinary People (Group 2:) and Imitation of Life (1934--Group 3:)? How about in a recent American film?
3. Group 4: How is hostility toward children expressed in the woman's film? Have you seen it in a recent American film?
4. Grad Group: Haskell discusses Joan Crawford's image at length--starting on p. 175 (CP p. 197). (Crawford stars in the last film of the semester, Mildred Pierce.) What "transition" does Haskell see that image going through? And what significance does she argue that transition has?

Bibliography

1. Molly Haskell, "The Woman's Film," in From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies (New York: Penguin, 1974; revised edition 1987) 153-188.