Domestic Violence in Hollywood Film: Gaslighting

Description

This is the first book to critically examine Hollywood films that focus on male partner violence against women. These films include Gaslight, Sleeping with the Enemy, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Dolores Claiborne, Enough, and Safe Haven. Shaped by the contexts of postfeminism, domestic abuse post-awareness, and familiar genre conventions, these films engage in ideological “gaslighting” that reaffirms our preconceived ideas about men as abusers, women as victims, and the racial and class politics of domestic violence. While the films purport to condemn abuse and empower abused women, this study proposes that they tacitly reinforce the very attitudes that we believe we no longer tolerate. Shoos argues that films like these limit not only popular understanding but also social and institutional interventions. Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction: Representing Domestic Violence, Regalvanizing the Revolution (Diane L. Shoos)....Pages 1-37 Gaslight, Gaslighting, and the Gothic Romance Film (Diane L. Shoos)....Pages 39-62 Sleeping With the Enemy, Victim Empowerment, and the Thrill of Horror (Diane L. Shoos)....Pages 63-86 What’s Love Got to Do With It: Race, Class, and the Performance Musical Biopic (Diane L. Shoos)....Pages 87-107 Dolores Claiborne, Motherhood, and the Maternal Melodrama (Diane L. Shoos)....Pages 109-129 Enough, the Action Heroine, and the Limits of Violence (Diane L. Shoos)....Pages 131-151 Conclusion: Safe Haven and Ideological Gaslighting (Diane L. Shoos)....Pages 153-167 Back Matter ....Pages 169-175