Suzanne Ferriss
Autore di Chick Lit: The New Woman's Fiction
Sull'Autore
Suzanne Ferriss teaches literature & gender studies at Nova Southwestern University. Along with Shari Benstock, she edits "On Fashion" (Rutgers University Press, 1994). (Bowker Author Biography)
Opere di Suzanne Ferriss
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Brilliant!
‘Lost in Translation’ is one of my fave movies. I watch it at least once a year and never tire of it. Ferriss’ superb analysis gives gravitas to my many reasons for admiring it.
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are just ideal in their portrayals of two people who accidentally meet in Tokyo.
The improvisational tone of the movie, the talent of Murray and Johansson is noted.
Sofia Coppola’s genius is applauded—her focused application of what she determines will work, coupled with her intuitive understanding.
As Ferriss posits,
“Lost in Translation ingeniously and inventively manipulates cinematic conventions. This is the key to Coppola’s originality and to the film’s designation as a classic.”
I love this summary, “the film represents [Charlotte and Bob’s] unsettled emotional states as geographical and cultural dislocation: they are lost, physically and psychologically. [They] develop an intimate connection during their stay at the Park Hyatt hotel and shared experience of Tokyo nightlife. It could be a travel film, perhaps of the ‘brief encounter’ variety, or a May–September romance, or a romantic comedy.”
I seconded a further observation,
“The film’s opening is a bold assertion of cinema’s status as an art, like the painting it references, or literature, which similarly relies on the audience’s imaginative engagement to find meaning – to connect scenes, to make sense of disconnected fragments of information, to link them through memory.”
Ferris’s takes us on a trip, a traveling along the same route that Coppola took in the filming. Exciting!
Her treatise is just so filled with discerning insight about the movie that as I underlined quotes, I realized I was in danger of selecting the whole book.
A “must” for anyone who feels an appreciation for Lost in Translation. A pathway to further discoveries and a fascinating read.
A Bloomsbury ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change… (altro)
‘Lost in Translation’ is one of my fave movies. I watch it at least once a year and never tire of it. Ferriss’ superb analysis gives gravitas to my many reasons for admiring it.
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are just ideal in their portrayals of two people who accidentally meet in Tokyo.
The improvisational tone of the movie, the talent of Murray and Johansson is noted.
Sofia Coppola’s genius is applauded—her focused application of what she determines will work, coupled with her intuitive understanding.
As Ferriss posits,
“Lost in Translation ingeniously and inventively manipulates cinematic conventions. This is the key to Coppola’s originality and to the film’s designation as a classic.”
I love this summary, “the film represents [Charlotte and Bob’s] unsettled emotional states as geographical and cultural dislocation: they are lost, physically and psychologically. [They] develop an intimate connection during their stay at the Park Hyatt hotel and shared experience of Tokyo nightlife. It could be a travel film, perhaps of the ‘brief encounter’ variety, or a May–September romance, or a romantic comedy.”
I seconded a further observation,
“The film’s opening is a bold assertion of cinema’s status as an art, like the painting it references, or literature, which similarly relies on the audience’s imaginative engagement to find meaning – to connect scenes, to make sense of disconnected fragments of information, to link them through memory.”
Ferris’s takes us on a trip, a traveling along the same route that Coppola took in the filming. Exciting!
Her treatise is just so filled with discerning insight about the movie that as I underlined quotes, I realized I was in danger of selecting the whole book.
A “must” for anyone who feels an appreciation for Lost in Translation. A pathway to further discoveries and a fascinating read.
A Bloomsbury ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change… (altro)
I have another confession to make: I like feminist theory.
Sure, the feminist theory course I took as an undergrad was probably the hardest class I took outside of College Algebra and Astronomy, but I enjoyed it. I learned a lot from it. And five years later I still remember what I learned by reading Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique and Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth. While the former work is not mentioned in the various essays that populate Chick Lit: The New Woman's Fiction, the latter work is mentioned in at least 80% of the essays.
While I'm not going to enter into a discussion about whether or not there is a clear connection between Wolf's study and chick lit as a genre, I do find it interesting that the various essayists repeatedly mention one of the most important pieces of feminist theory to be written within the past two decades while discussing a genre that is critically looked upon as being a consumerist fairy tale (of sorts).
Unlike most of my reviews, I'm not going to cut this one, considering there really aren't any spoilers to give away.
So....
In the interest of space (and your time), I'm not going to touch upon every essay featured in this book. However, I will hit the high points and the things I found to be most interesting/important when discussing the genre.
First, let's clear up some common misconceptions about chick lit.
According to Rian Montgomery, chick lit is not:
* Lame and ridiculous
* Cheesy romance novels
* Bad influence on women
* Brain-numbing fluff
So, then, what is chick lit? The definitions and opinions vary, but the easiest summation is taken from the editors in the introduction, who say that chick lit is "a form of women's fiction on the basis of subject matter, character, audience and narrative style." Chick lit is more "realistic" in that it depicts a more accurate view of the single life, dating, "and the dissolution of romantic ideals." Chick lit heroines are also flawed, employ self-deprecating humor and are more likely to gain the reader's compassion and identification. In a nutshell, chick lit is a reflection of what it's like to be a single woman today, trapped between two worlds. On one hand, we've greatly benefited from greater access to education and careers thanks to the feminist movement of the '60s and '70s, but we're still caught in a world that holds marriage and babies as the feminine ideal.
Thus, chick lit is all about balance, about having it all--the career, the great guy, the fantastic shoes, fabulous best friends, amazing house/apartment/flat, etc. More so, though, chick lit is about the journey to getting it all, because rarely do we start out with everything. Instead, life is a journey. And being able to laugh at ourselves (and our mistakes) over the course of the journey is tantamount to having it all. First and foremost (okay, maybe second behind identification with self), chick lit aims to make the heroine and reader laugh at themselves, to realize that the things you learn on the journey are just as important (if not more so) as "having it all."
Having said that, I think the feminist connection to chick lit should be obvious, or, rather, the connection to post-feminism.
Along with discussing chick lit's post-feminist roots, though, the authors of the various essays also take a look at the influence of beauty on chick lit. Rarely are chick lit heroines beautiful, like their romance novel heroine forebears. Rather, chick lit heroines are pretty, but always flawed in some way or another, which is yet another way that chick lit helps to establish the connection between reader and protagonist.
Most interesting to me, though, was the essay on plus-sized chick lit protagonists, and how their journey is unique to that of their slim counterparts. A lot of what was said simply served to re-confirm things I'd already noticed about "fat chick lit"--that in order to get the guy, get the job, get happiness the heroine must become beautiful. And becoming beautiful means losing weight and conforming to the societal ideal of "beautiful." Jennifer Weiner pretty much stands alone right now in the fact that her heroines do not lose weight and find happiness. For example, in Good In Bed,Cannie's black moment comes when she's at her slimmest. Conversely, her highest point happens when she's at her heaviest. In the end, she comes to love her size sixteen self, and finds love in the process.
As a feminist, this collection of essays really made me rethink my writing, my beliefs, and what place those beliefs have in my writing. When friends who write other genres or who simply aren't familiar with chick lit ask me if I think the genre is anti-feminist, I usually have a passionate response that goes something along the lines of, "Hardly. Think about it. Chick lit is realistic. It's about women who are learning how to juggle having a career and having a relationship. For those of us in our 20s and 30s, we grew up being told that we could have it all--the education, the career, the great husband and two point five kids in the suburbs. The reality, though, is that having it all isn't as easy as it looks. In fact, sometimes it's damn near impossible." So for me, chick lit is a way for us to process the effects of feminism, and the post-feminist world we live in.
A few of the essays also touch upon the fact that chick lit is much more realistic where sex and women is concerned. In romance, the heroine is often a virgin or has very little experience to speak of. And usually, the hero is the first to give her an orgasm. I think most anyone in their 20s or 30s (and up!) can agree that that isn't exactly an accurate depiction of women today. I'm not saying women today sleep around, but by and large by the time we reach 26, 27, 28, etc. we're not virgins. We've had multiple partners. We've achieved orgasm with some, and haven't with others. We discuss sex with our friends. We buy and use sex toys, debate which type of condom would be best, are proactive about our sexual health and our sexuality in general. Chick lit addresses this fact, and does so unapologetically. In romance, past sexual partners and experiences are rarely addressed, whereas in chick lit they're readily discussed. In fact, it's expected that the chick lit heroine will have had at least one (if not two or three or more--unless you're writing inspirational chick lit) previous sex partners. And even better is the fact that chick lit addresses sex with a sense of humor. Often, even sex scenes between the heroine and the guy she eventually ends up with are tinged with humor (and sometimes are a comedy of errors). Again, one of the best things about chick lit is the heroine's ability to laugh at herself--even during sex.
Like I said earlier, I could talk for a while about this book. There's a wealth of information in a fairly short space, and it's certainly a lot of food for thought. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who writes chick lit, is thinking about writing chick lit, or who reads chick lit and wants to have a better understanding of the genre. There are essays on several of the sub genres, too, such as "sistah" lit (as it's called in the book), mommy lit, fat chick lit, YA chick lit (fantastic essay, btw), etc. And I didn't even touch upon all of the comparisons of Bridget Jones' Diary to Pride and Prejudice, which could be another review in and of itself.
As a note, though, I couldn't find this book in stores, so if you're interested in purchasing it your best bet is either Amazon.com or another bookseller's website.… (altro)
Sure, the feminist theory course I took as an undergrad was probably the hardest class I took outside of College Algebra and Astronomy, but I enjoyed it. I learned a lot from it. And five years later I still remember what I learned by reading Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique and Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth. While the former work is not mentioned in the various essays that populate Chick Lit: The New Woman's Fiction, the latter work is mentioned in at least 80% of the essays.
While I'm not going to enter into a discussion about whether or not there is a clear connection between Wolf's study and chick lit as a genre, I do find it interesting that the various essayists repeatedly mention one of the most important pieces of feminist theory to be written within the past two decades while discussing a genre that is critically looked upon as being a consumerist fairy tale (of sorts).
Unlike most of my reviews, I'm not going to cut this one, considering there really aren't any spoilers to give away.
So....
In the interest of space (and your time), I'm not going to touch upon every essay featured in this book. However, I will hit the high points and the things I found to be most interesting/important when discussing the genre.
First, let's clear up some common misconceptions about chick lit.
According to Rian Montgomery, chick lit is not:
* Lame and ridiculous
* Cheesy romance novels
* Bad influence on women
* Brain-numbing fluff
So, then, what is chick lit? The definitions and opinions vary, but the easiest summation is taken from the editors in the introduction, who say that chick lit is "a form of women's fiction on the basis of subject matter, character, audience and narrative style." Chick lit is more "realistic" in that it depicts a more accurate view of the single life, dating, "and the dissolution of romantic ideals." Chick lit heroines are also flawed, employ self-deprecating humor and are more likely to gain the reader's compassion and identification. In a nutshell, chick lit is a reflection of what it's like to be a single woman today, trapped between two worlds. On one hand, we've greatly benefited from greater access to education and careers thanks to the feminist movement of the '60s and '70s, but we're still caught in a world that holds marriage and babies as the feminine ideal.
Thus, chick lit is all about balance, about having it all--the career, the great guy, the fantastic shoes, fabulous best friends, amazing house/apartment/flat, etc. More so, though, chick lit is about the journey to getting it all, because rarely do we start out with everything. Instead, life is a journey. And being able to laugh at ourselves (and our mistakes) over the course of the journey is tantamount to having it all. First and foremost (okay, maybe second behind identification with self), chick lit aims to make the heroine and reader laugh at themselves, to realize that the things you learn on the journey are just as important (if not more so) as "having it all."
Having said that, I think the feminist connection to chick lit should be obvious, or, rather, the connection to post-feminism.
Along with discussing chick lit's post-feminist roots, though, the authors of the various essays also take a look at the influence of beauty on chick lit. Rarely are chick lit heroines beautiful, like their romance novel heroine forebears. Rather, chick lit heroines are pretty, but always flawed in some way or another, which is yet another way that chick lit helps to establish the connection between reader and protagonist.
Most interesting to me, though, was the essay on plus-sized chick lit protagonists, and how their journey is unique to that of their slim counterparts. A lot of what was said simply served to re-confirm things I'd already noticed about "fat chick lit"--that in order to get the guy, get the job, get happiness the heroine must become beautiful. And becoming beautiful means losing weight and conforming to the societal ideal of "beautiful." Jennifer Weiner pretty much stands alone right now in the fact that her heroines do not lose weight and find happiness. For example, in Good In Bed,Cannie's black moment comes when she's at her slimmest. Conversely, her highest point happens when she's at her heaviest. In the end, she comes to love her size sixteen self, and finds love in the process.
As a feminist, this collection of essays really made me rethink my writing, my beliefs, and what place those beliefs have in my writing. When friends who write other genres or who simply aren't familiar with chick lit ask me if I think the genre is anti-feminist, I usually have a passionate response that goes something along the lines of, "Hardly. Think about it. Chick lit is realistic. It's about women who are learning how to juggle having a career and having a relationship. For those of us in our 20s and 30s, we grew up being told that we could have it all--the education, the career, the great husband and two point five kids in the suburbs. The reality, though, is that having it all isn't as easy as it looks. In fact, sometimes it's damn near impossible." So for me, chick lit is a way for us to process the effects of feminism, and the post-feminist world we live in.
A few of the essays also touch upon the fact that chick lit is much more realistic where sex and women is concerned. In romance, the heroine is often a virgin or has very little experience to speak of. And usually, the hero is the first to give her an orgasm. I think most anyone in their 20s or 30s (and up!) can agree that that isn't exactly an accurate depiction of women today. I'm not saying women today sleep around, but by and large by the time we reach 26, 27, 28, etc. we're not virgins. We've had multiple partners. We've achieved orgasm with some, and haven't with others. We discuss sex with our friends. We buy and use sex toys, debate which type of condom would be best, are proactive about our sexual health and our sexuality in general. Chick lit addresses this fact, and does so unapologetically. In romance, past sexual partners and experiences are rarely addressed, whereas in chick lit they're readily discussed. In fact, it's expected that the chick lit heroine will have had at least one (if not two or three or more--unless you're writing inspirational chick lit) previous sex partners. And even better is the fact that chick lit addresses sex with a sense of humor. Often, even sex scenes between the heroine and the guy she eventually ends up with are tinged with humor (and sometimes are a comedy of errors). Again, one of the best things about chick lit is the heroine's ability to laugh at herself--even during sex.
Like I said earlier, I could talk for a while about this book. There's a wealth of information in a fairly short space, and it's certainly a lot of food for thought. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who writes chick lit, is thinking about writing chick lit, or who reads chick lit and wants to have a better understanding of the genre. There are essays on several of the sub genres, too, such as "sistah" lit (as it's called in the book), mommy lit, fat chick lit, YA chick lit (fantastic essay, btw), etc. And I didn't even touch upon all of the comparisons of Bridget Jones' Diary to Pride and Prejudice, which could be another review in and of itself.
As a note, though, I couldn't find this book in stores, so if you're interested in purchasing it your best bet is either Amazon.com or another bookseller's website.… (altro)
Statistiche
- Opere
- 6
- Utenti
- 52
- Popolarità
- #307,430
- Voto
- 4.4
- Recensioni
- 3
- ISBN
- 20
Like so many people, this is one of those films I can, and do, watch fairly regularly. Sometimes I lose myself in the aspects of the main characters with which I most relate, while others I look more at how those things are accomplished. This volume will add to future viewings of both types, making connections and highlighting nuances I was unaware of or had forgotten.
Ferriss doesn't shy away from controversies about the film, addressing them with an even-handed approach, presenting both the complaints and the thinking behind what was done. The reader is left to decide to what degree they want to take the issues into account.
Like most of the BFI Classics books I've read or studied over the decades, I highly recommend this to both film/popular culture scholars as well as fans of the movie. Everyone will come away with new information and a greater appreciation of the film.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)