The plots of many films pivot on the moment when a dowdy girl with bad hair, ill-fitting outdated clothing, and thick glasses is changed into an almost unrecognizable glamour girl. Makeover scenes such as these are examined beginning with 1942's Now, Voyager. The study examines whether the film makeover is voluntary or involuntary, whether it is always successful, how much screen time it takes up, where in the narrative structure it falls, and how the scene is actually filmed. Films with a Pygmalion theme, such as My Fair Lady, Vertigo, and Shampoo, are examined in terms of gender relations: whether the man is content with his creation and what sort of woman is the ideal. Some films' publicity capitalizes on a glamorous star's choice to play an unattractive character, as discussed in a chapter examining stars like Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, and Cameron Diaz. Topics also include folk literature's Cinderella tale, men as the inspiration for makeovers in teen flicks films like Clueless, She's All That, and Me, Natalie, and class repositioning in such movies as Working Girl, Pretty Woman, and Grease. Photographs are presented in a before/after format, showing the change in the madeover character.
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Beginning in 1942 with 'Now, Voyager', this book traces the history of the movie makeover, the pivotal moment when the dowdy girl is revealed as a glamour goddess.

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780786417216
Publisert
2004-04-14
Utgiver
Vendor
McFarland & Co Inc
Vekt
336 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Dybde
12 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Biographical note

Elizabeth A. Ford is a professor emerita at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. She lives in Youngstown, Ohio. Deborah C. Mitchell, a professor of English and film studies at Westminster College, is the author of Diane Keaton: Artist and Icon (McFarland, 2001). She lives in Poland, Ohio.