Invocations of Feminism: Cultural Value, Gender, and American Quality Television
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Invocations of Feminism: Cultural value, gender, and American quality television Julia Eva Havas Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of East Anglia School of Art, Media and American Studies October 2016 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. Abstract This thesis examines the emergence of a trend in American post- millennial television often described in journalistic discourses with the term ‘feminist quality TV’. While the strategic reliance on feminist politics is a historically established method in American television to promote certain programming’s cultural value, the cultural specificities of the early 21st century deem this phenomenon unique enough for an in-depth study. The emergence of ‘feminist quality television’ is governed by the rhetorical subversion of two phenomena simultaneously: the much-debated development of the era’s masculine- coded ‘quality television’ culture on the one hand, and the dominance of ‘postfeminist’ popular culture on the other. Post-millennial ‘quality television’ culture cultivates the idea of aesthetic-generic hierarchies among different types of scripted programming. This category’s development has facilitated academic interest in television texts’ evaluative analysis based on aesthetic merit, an approach that other strands of TV scholarship contest for sidestepping the gendered and classed processes of canonisation informing the phenomenon. By the mid-2010s, the debate between aesthetic versus political analysis had intensified in television studies. The thesis intervenes in this by arguing for a synthesis of approaches that does not further foster already prominent processes of canonisation, but interrogates the cultural forces underlying them. Via detailed analyses of four programmes emerging within the ‘feminist quality TV’ trend, namely 30 Rock (2006-2013), Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), The Good Wife (2009-2016), and Orange Is the New Black (2013-), it seeks to understand how they mediate their cultural significance by negotiating formal-aesthetic exceptionalism and a politicised rhetoric around a ‘problematic’ postfeminism, thus linking 1 ideals of political and aesthetic value. The ultimate purpose of this research is to demonstrate the necessity in television analysis of unpacking both the specific genderedness of television’s cultivation of aesthetic value, and the context of aesthetics and form in which the programmes’ political implications emerge. 2 Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................... 1 Contents .................................................................................................... 3 List of Figures ............................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements .................................................................................. 7 Introduction .............................................................................................. 8 Methodology ........................................................................................ 12 Structure .............................................................................................. 16 Research context .................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 1 Feminist scholarship, (post)feminism, and American popular culture ....................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 2 Quality TV and gender ......................................................... 42 Defining quality television ................................................................... 42 Gender and cultural value.................................................................... 48 ‘Quality’ discourses in the network era ............................................... 54 CHAPTER 3 Television, transgression, and cultural value ..................... 65 HBO’s ‘quality’ transgressions ............................................................. 66 Feminist transgressions ....................................................................... 76 Contemporary ‘feminist quality TV’ ..................................................... 84 CHAPTER 4 Case studies I – Comedies ................................................... 87 1. The ‘quality’ comedy and gender .................................................... 87 1.A 30 Rock ....................................................................................... 96 1.B Parks and Recreation ................................................................ 111 2. Negotiating postfeminism ............................................................. 124 3 2.A 30 Rock ..................................................................................... 133 2.B Parks and Recreation ................................................................ 145 3. Body politics and the ‘quality’ comedy .......................................... 153 3.A 30 Rock ..................................................................................... 164 3.B Parks and Recreation ................................................................ 180 CHAPTER 5 Case studies II – Dramas .................................................... 200 1. Cultural status and genre in the female-centred prestige drama . 200 1.A The Good Wife .......................................................................... 221 1.B Orange Is the New Black .......................................................... 241 2. Female-centred prestige drama and (post)feminism .................... 258 2.A The Good Wife .......................................................................... 270 2.B Orange Is the New Black .......................................................... 301 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 318 The ‘complex female character’ ........................................................ 318 ‘Failed feminism’, postfeminism, and cultural value ......................... 322 Body politics and cultural value ......................................................... 324 The ‘aesthetic turn’ and feminist scholarship ................................... 327 Bibliography .......................................................................................... 333 List of television programmes and films .............................................. 369 Television programmes ...................................................................... 369 Films ................................................................................................... 373 4 List of Figures Figure No. Page No. 4.1 and 4.2 Tina Fey in 30 Rock (2006-2013), episode ‘Stride of Pride’ 104 4.3 and 4.4 Tina Fey in 30 Rock (2006-2013), episode ‘The Tuxedo Begins’ 171 4.5 to 4.7 Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), episode ‘Pilot’ 179 4.8 to 4.10 The ensemble cast of Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), episode ‘The Comeback Kid’ 184-185 4.11 The ensemble cast of Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), episode ‘The Comeback Kid’ Image courtesy of NBC.com 185 4.12 The ensemble cast of Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), episode ‘The Comeback Kid’ 185 4.13 to 4.20 Tina Fey in 30 Rock (2006-2013), episode ‘Jackie Jormp-Jump’ 192-194 5.21 Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife (2009-2016), episode ‘Open Source’ 212 5.22 Archie Panjabi in The Good Wife (2009-2016), episode ‘Poisoned Pill’ 212 5.23 Image from Orange Is the New Black (2013-) title sequence 213 5.24 Image from Orange Is the New Black (2013-) title sequence 213 5.25 Natalie Knepp in The Good Wife 5 (2009-2016), episode ‘VIP Treatment’ 227 5.26 Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife (2009-2016), episode ‘VIP Treatment’ 227 5.27 to 5.29 Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife (2009-2016), episode ‘Iowa’ 229-230 5.30 to 5.32 Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife (2009-2016), episode ‘Iowa’ 231 5.33 Mamie Gummer in The Good Wife (2009-2016), episode ‘After the Fall’ 280 5.34 Anna Camp in The Good Wife (2009-2016), episode ‘After the Fall’ 281 5.35 Mamie Gummer, Anna Camp, and Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife (2009-2016), episode ‘After the Fall’ 281 5.36 Taylor Schilling and Danielle Brooks in Orange Is the New Black (2013-), episode ‘I Wasn’t Ready’ 304 5.37 Taylor Schilling and Danielle Brooks in Orange Is the New Black (2013-), episode ‘I Wasn’t Ready’ 304 6 Acknowledgements I wish to express my deep gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Yvonne Tasker and Dr Eylem Atakav, for their mentorship throughout the development of this research; as well as to my Viva examiners Professor Diane Negra and Dr Brett Mills for their insightful suggestions. I also want to thank my PhD peers at the Department of Film, Television and Media of the University of East Anglia, especially Irene Cuder, Dr Ksenia Frolova, Miriam Bross, Miriam Kent, and Ruchika Gurung, for their inspiration and support. Special thanks are due to my friends Mártonfi Anna and Mihalovics Éva, not only for their friendship but for assuming the ungrateful roles of sounding board and astute critic in times of desperate need. I would not have been able to finish (let alone start) this work without the loving support of my parents Havasné dr Timár