Not the damsel in distress. Not the desirable woman who will raise your kids and take care of the home. These are the stories of the nymphomaniacs, the nasty and creepy women, the Femme Fatales.
A string of recent films are casting prominent actresses, in dark, creepy, nasty characters. One example is the movie May December, which received four nominations for this past weekend's Golden Globe Awards.
You can read more about cinema actresses in this recent WSJ article: "In Hollywood, It’s the Golden Age of the Creepy Woman".
So to better understand the history of women in Cinema - not just in Hollywood, from their stereotypical roles to more creative and perhaps more liberating roles, I spoke with Prof. Thomas Doherty and Prof. Maggie Hennefeld, who essentially ran the program by asking each other wonderful question that, frankly, I hadn't even thought about.
Prof. Doherty is a cultural historian with a special interest in Hollywood cinema. He is a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University. He guest-participated in our program last year and talked about the Magic of Hollywood, and also compared TV's disruption of Hollywood in the 1950s with AI's disruption now.
Prof. Hennefeld is a McKnight Presidential Fellow and Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel, host & producer
History Behind News podcast & on YouTube
Unravelling the Middle East:
This new special series - an in-depth history and analysis of the Middle East - will launch in late January. Get Unravelling the Middle East Spotify, Apple, Castbox, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music or Radio Public.
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