An excellent collection of 'classic' essays of feminist film criticism, including material by Laura Mulvey, Janet Bergstrom, Claire Johnston, and Mary Ann Doane.
Perhaps the most exemplary film in this sense is Dance, Girl, Dance which has often been acclaimed by feminist critics as a work of major importance. However, it would be a mistake to read the film in "positive" terms as representing the progress of its heroine to "maturity" or "self-awareness." The value of the film lies not in its creation of a culture-heroine with whom we can finally and fully identify, but in ways in which it displaces identification with the characters and focuses out attention on the problematic position they occupy in their world. (p.47)
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