Gender and Genre in 1990s Hollywood

The 1990s was a decade of significant turmoil in Hollywood cinema, which resulted in a watershed moment in the interplay of gender and genre. Patricia Di Risio argues that cinematic representations of unconventional women had an important effect on traditionally male-oriented genres, such as the crime thriller, road movie, western, film noir, war film, sci-fi, and horror.

Di Risio analyses seven key films from the decade, including Blue Steel (1990), Thelma & Louise (1991), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Bound (1996), Jackie Brown (1997), G.I. Jane (1997) and Alien: Resurrection (1997), paying particular attention to their use of irony, allusion, and pastiche.

She highlights how their female protagonists, a majority of whom are decidedly queer or gender-questioning personas, produce an intense crossover in genre conventions, largely driven by their gender rebellion. She examines how a deconstruction of gender simultaneously allows genre hybridity and intertextuality, taking these films into unexpected new directions. In doing so, she delineates a clear line between the unconventional nature of the representation of the female protagonists and innovative changes to genre filmmaking practices.