The Violent Woman

Femininity, Narrative, and Violence in Contemporary American Cinema

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by Hilary Neroni

State University of New York Press

Due/Published May 2005, 208 pages, paper

ISBN 0791463842

In The Violent Woman, Hilary Neroni brings psychoanalytically informed film theory to bear on issues of femininity, violence, and narrative in contemporary American cinema. Examining such films as Thelma and Louise, Fargo, Natural Born Killers, and The Long Kiss Goodnight, Neroni explores why American audiences are so fascinated--even excited--by cinematic representations of violent women, and what these representations reveal about violence in our society and our cinema. Neroni argues that violent women characters disrupt cinematic narrative and challenge cultural ideals, suggesting how difficult it is for Hollywood--the greatest of ideology machines--to integrate the violent woman into its typical narrative structure.