View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of East Anglia digital repository ! ! The$Competitors$ Violent$Women$Protagonists$in$Popular$Cinema$$$ A$Creative$and$Critical$Thesis$ ! $ $ Ruth$Greenberg$ $ $ $ $ Submitted$for$the$Degree$of$Doctor$of$Philosophy$in$Creative$and$ Critical$Writing$ ! University$of$East$Anglia$ September$2012$ $ 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( ! ! The$Competitors:$Violent$Women$Protagonists$in$Popular$Cinema:$A$Creative$and$Critical$Thesis! is! a! practice*based! PhD!thesis!in!creative!and!critical!writing.! ! This!research!comprises!an! original!feature!length!screenplay!and!an!accompanying!critical!thesis.!!! ! The!screenplay,!The$Competitors,!is!a!dystopian!western!set!in!Britain!2053!and!follows!two! women!on!a!journey!through!a!brutal!landscape.!!The!subjects!of!competition!and!violence!are! at!the!centre!of!this!creative!work,!in!particular!in!relation!to!expectations!and!representations! of!gender!in!popular!cinema.! ! The!accompanying!critical!element!is!a!discussion!of!competitive,!violent!female!protagonists! in!popular!cinema.!!It!is!in!the!critical!exploration!of!these!subjects!that!I!fully!engage!with!the! critical!and!creative!tensions!they!hold!for!me!as!a!writer.!!! ! The!Introduction!of!the!critical!element!provides!an!account!of!the!critical!and!creative!context! of!the!PhD!with!particular!focus!on!feminism!and!postfeminism,!stylised!and!realist!violence,! and!self!versus!other!in!relation!to!the!subjects!of!competition!and!violence.!!! ! Chapter!One!discusses!female!action!icons!from!the!1970s!to!the!1990s!in!terms!of!the!violent! woman!in!popular!cinema.!!! ! Chapter!Two!looks!at!contemporary!female!action!heroes!and!asks!whether!or!not!they!have! moved!on!from!their!iconic!predecessors!in!terms!of!representations!of!the!violent!woman.! !!! Chapter!Three!investigates!how!contemporary!depictions!of!realist!violence!can!provide!new! alternatives!to!the!stylised!representations!of!the!violent!women!of!Chapter!Two.!!! ! The! Conclusion! to! the! critical! element! is! an!analysis!of!the!practice!of!writing!my!own! screenplay!as!I!attempt!to!position!my!work!within!the!critical!and!creative!context!discussed! and!in!particular!in!the!contested!space!created!by!the!violent,!competitive!woman!in!film.!!! ( ! ii! ! Contents( ! Abstract( ii! Contents( iii! Acknowledgements( v! Preface:(Creative/Critical(Methodology( vii! The$Competitors(–(Title(Page( xiv! PART(I(–(THE$COMPETITORS$–(A(SCREENPLAY( 1! PART(II(–(THE(COMPETITORS:(VIOLENT(WOMEN(PROTAGONISTS(IN( POPULAR(CINEMA(–(A(CRITICAL(THESIS( 121! Introduction:(The(Creative(and(the(Critical( 122! Creative/Critical!Context! 123! Feminism!versus!Postfeminism! 123! Literature!Review! 127! Script!Genesis! 133! The!Films! 141! Creative/Critical!Subjects! 142! Competition! 142! Violence! 145! Lines!of!Enquiry! 150! Stylisation!versus!Realism! 150! Self!versus!Other! 151! Summary! 153! A!Final!Note!on!Competition! 153! Chapter(1:(Female(Action(Icons( 154! Introduction! 154! Ripley! 155! Sarah!Connor! 161! Thelma!and!Louise! 165! ! iii! ! Stylisation!and!Realism! 170! Conclusion! 173! Chapter(2:(Contemporary(Female(Action(Heroes( 175! Introduction! 175! Hyperstylisation:!The!Hypersexualised!Female!Action!Hero! 176! Alice! 180! Beatrix!Kiddo! 190! Jen!and!Shu!Lien! 199! Conclusion! 203! Chapter(3:(Competition,(Violence(and(Realism( 205! Introduction! 205! From!Stylisation!to!Realism! 206! Aileen!Wuornos!and!Lee! 208! Nina! 221! Conclusion! 229! Conclusion:(The(Lone(Rider(and(the(Lone(Writer( 231! Self!versus!Other! 232! Stylisation!and!Realism! 234! Violence! 238! Competition! 242! Feminism!versus!Postfeminism! 243! Conclusion! 244! Indication!to!Further!Research! 245! Appendix(A:(The(Creative(Setting( 247! Appendix(B:(Developing(Character(Motivation( 262! Appendix(C:(Synopsis(of(The$Competitors( 299! Appendix(D:(Synopses(of(the(Central(Films( 301! Reference(List( 310! Further(Bibliography( 323! Further(Filmography( 328! ! iv! ! Acknowledgements( ! ! I! would! like! to! acknowledge!UEA!for!accepting!me!on!the!PhD! in! Creative! Writing! and! for! providing!me!with!the!framework!required!to!fulfil!my!research.! ! I!also!express!my!appreciation!to! my!parents,!as!well!as!my!family!and!my!friends!for!their! ongoing!support!and!patient!reading.! ! Finally,!I!wish!to!thank!a!few!of!the!many!individuals!who!have!helped!me!in!the!development! and!completion!of!this!project:!! ! Jon!and!Phil,!without!whom!the!script!would!be!awful.!! ! Renee,!Marion!and!Penny,!three!of!the!countless!women!who!have!made!me!into!the!person! and!the!writer!I!am!today.! ! Ned,!who!has!ridden!shotgun!for!me!throughout.!!I!hope!I!return!the!favour!on!your!trails.! ! ! v! ! ! $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ For$Dolores$ ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! vi! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Preface:(Creative/Critical(Methodology( ! ! ! As!a!creative!writer!I!seek!to!obscure!things.!!For!instance,!my!work!is!not!transparent!in!terms! of!method!and!meaning.!!Take!my!opening!sentence!to!this!preface!as!an!example.!!In!regards! to!method,!my!sentence!does!not!betray!how!it!was!conceived,!drafted,!rewritten!or!edited.!! As! with! most! writers,! my! process! is! hidden.! ! And! in! regards! to! meaning,! in! composing! my! introductory!sentence!I!was!being!wilfully!opaque.!!It!could!be!said!that!the!meaning!of!any! writing! is! indeterminate.! ! I! certainly! believe! that! when! I! hand! my! work! over! to! readers/audiences!I!am!asking!them!to!make!their!own!interpretations.!!In!other!words,!they! become!the!new!writers!of!the!text.!!But!it!is!also!arguable!that!as!the!first!author!I!have!some! control!over!the!boundaries!of!these!interpretations.!!As!a!writer!(and!in!particular!a!writer!of! mainstream!cinematic!narratives)!the!decision!to!craft!a!screenplay!that!is!open!in!regards!to! meaning!is!a!personal!choice:!rather!than!constricting!interpretations,!I!strive!to!write!a!space! of!possibility.!!I!like!work!that!poses!questions!without!necessarily!providing!answers;!I!enjoy! ambiguity! and! even! contradiction! in! stories! as! these! elements! bring! us! closer! to! human! experience.!!However,!this!thesis!is!an!act!of!academic!research.!!Although!it!goes!against!my! instinct! and! understanding! as! a! creative! writer! to! preface! my! screenplay! with! any! kind! of! critical!introduction!it!is!my!job!as!a!creative/critical!writer!to!expose!the!things!that!I!usually! hide.!!As!such!I!begin!by!making!explicit!both!my!method!and!my!meaning.! ! One!reason!to!be!explicit!about!my!process!is!to!make!clear!why!I!chose!to!write!this!research! as! a! creative/critical! project,! as! opposed! to! simply! producing! a! lone! screenplay! or! a! self* contained!critical!thesis.!!Another!reason!is!to!provide!an!example!for!other!researchers!in!this! field!of!how!the!creative/critical!process!has!worked!for!me.!!As!can!be!seen!from!what!I!have! written!above,!the!creative!and!the!critical!are!often!in!tension!with!one!another.!!From!the! very!beginning!of!this!PhD!I!struggled!with!the!question:!how!do!the!creative!and!critical!fit! ! vii! ! together?!!Every!project!is!different!and!there!are!many!ways!in!which!the!creative!and!the! critical!can!connect,!or!not!connect.!!One!thing!my!research!has!clarified!for!me!is!that!the! distinction!between!the!creative!and!the!critical!does!not!simply!fall!between!my!screenplay! and!my!critical!thesis.!!I!have!followed!a!research!path!that!has!led!me!to!see!that!production! and!critique!are!inseparable:!in!other!words!all!creative!work!is!critical!and!all!critical!work!is! creative.!!This!preface!sets!out!how!these!two!apparently!distinct!elements!of!practice*based! research!–!the!creative!and!the!critical!–!can!be!implicated!in!one!another.! ! To!begin!with!I!will!provide!a!simplified,!chronological!breakdown!of!my!process.!!I!started!this! research!knowing!I!wanted!to!write!a!western,!The$Competitors.!!My!understanding!of!what! this!meant!relied!on!common!genre!knowledge!mostly!acquired!through!watching!and!reading! a!vast!number!of!western!narratives.1!!I!then!chose!to!relocate!my!story!to!the!UK!because,!as! an!English!writer,!I!wanted!to!script!something!to!be!made!by!the!British!film!industry.!!My! decision!to!set!the!narrative!in!a!dystopian!future!was!an!answer!to!questions!raised!by!this! very!different!geographical!(and!creative)!space.!!I!researched!and!wrote!pieces!on!creative! context! and! character! biography! before! producing! three! drafts! of! a! story! outline.! ! I! then! moved! onto! writing! the! screenplay,! a! process! that! went! through! nine! drafts.! ! This! all! took! about!two!and!a!half!years.!!At!this!stage!I!felt!I!had!achieved!as!much!as!I!could!with!the!script! and!so!I!went!over!to!the!thesis!to!investigate!the!central!questions!surrounding!competition! and!violence!that!the!script!had!raised!for!me.!!My!intention!was!then!to!return!to!the!script.!! Beyond!the!research!of!actually!writing!the!script!I!carried!out!another!body!of!critical!research! into! the! theoretical! context! of! violent!women!protagonists!in!popular!cinema.!!This!second! layer! of! research! and! the! writing! of! the! critical! element! took! a! little! over! a! year.! ! Upon! completion!I!was!then!able!to!return!to!my!screenplay!and!after!three!more!quick!rewrites!I!