Research Katrijn Bekers

Abstract

Given the US film industry's central position in the emergence of the #MeToo movement, it is highly relevant to study how this movement, as part of fourth-wave feminism, marks a cultural turning point for US cinema, in particular with regard to the representation of women in film. This project will study exactly this by focusing on one specific film genre: the female biopic. The project examines how the representations of women in female biopics have interacted with fourth-wave feminism since the emergence of the #MeToo movement (2018-2022). The project aims to investigate whether and how these biopics engage with key notions of fourth-wave feminism, including intersectionality, inclusivity, empowerment, agency, activism against abuses of power, collectivity, empathy, and solidarity. By doing so, the project questions whether we can speak of 'fourth-wave feminist (biographical) films' and 'fourth-wave feminist film representations of women', and if so, what they entail. Inspired by a cultural studies approach, the project integrates analyses of representation on the levels of film 'text', production, and reception. The methodologies used are genre study, ideological narrative analysis, social semiotics, cultural-industrial analysis, and historical materialist analysis.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Willems Gertjan
• Fellow: Bekers Katrijn

Research team(s)

• Research Centre for Visual Poetics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The #MeToo hashtag has been impossible to overlook since actress Alyssa Milano first tweeted it in 2017. It gained widespread attention in the aftermath of sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. At that point, Weinstein was a co-chair of Miramax, a film production company known for its popular biographical films. The prestigious yet heavily understudied biopic genre presents an ideal case through which to thoroughly examine the film industry's reaction to the #MeToo movement and the wider fourth wave of feminism. The proposed project's general research objective is to investigate how the sociocultural context of fourth-wave feminism relates to the (1) representation, (2) production and (3) reception of contemporary English-language biopics (2010–2022). The project's main hypothesis proposes that, over the last decade, many biopics have been characterised by innovative storylines and representations of gender identities, in which empowerment, collectivity, intersectionality and similar notions are central. These elements have been shaped by and, at the same time, help shape fourth-wave feminism. This trend has led to the emergence of what I call the 'fourth-wave feminist biopic'. The proposed research project links the fields of biopic studies and contemporary feminist studies, innovatively combining traditional analyses of gender representation in film with production and reception research.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Willems Gertjan
• Fellow: Bekers Katrijn

Research team(s)

• Research Centre for Visual Poetics

Project type(s)

• Research Project