Essays

“There Were No Laws Against It Then”
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“There Were No Laws Against It Then”

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As the world opened up to women’s liberation, civil rights, and new social movements, Hollywood of the 1960s doubled down on the exploitative practices that had made the industry so harmful to women. In this sixth series installment, Kerry McElroy argues that the sexual revolution stirring the larger culture, epitomized in the rise of Hugh Hefner, fanned the flames of an already misogynist, violent industry culture.  As seen through the lives of Tippi Hedren and Marilyn Monroe, this article shows that the commodification of women only increased, even as the old studio system was dying. Few stars experienced the exception; read on about a compelling example: Elizabeth Taylor.

“The Studio Doesn’t Own Me’’
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“The Studio Doesn’t Own Me’’

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The 1950s was era of bigger stars, bigger budgets, and bigger bombshells. At same time, the studio system was weakening in the wake of television and a fearless and libelous emerging tabloid press. In this fifth series installment, Kerry McElroy examines the supreme pop cultural star of the twentieth century, Marilyn Monroe.  Examined, in her own words and in new ways, McElroy’s Monroe is a kind of economic sociologist, a surprising forerunner of the #MeToo movement, and a forgotten proponent of social justice. Finally, McElroy considers another marquee court case, one in which star actresses fought back against the tabloids with bravery.

 

 “This Is the Action of a Very Naughty Young Lady”
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 “This Is the Action of a Very Naughty Young Lady”

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The 1930’s saw the studio system in peak Fordist condition, especially in terms of its financial and bodily control over women. “Glamour” was the disciplinary strategy of the day, and the most famous women stars of the twentieth century learned to negotiate it in new ways. In this third series installment, Kerry McElroy looks at race, queerness, and economic disadvantage in Depression-era Hollywood. Women like Mae West created new channels of power, attaining international stardom and unfathomable wealth in the process. Bette Davis, on the other hand, brought forth a watershed court case for actors’ rights, and demonstrated just how much the industry feared political agitation and class consciousness.

Hollywood Was a Matriarchy
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Hollywood Was a Matriarchy

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To understand the current #MeToo/Time’s Up moment, we must reckon with a century of Hollywood’s mistreatment of women. With this first series installment, Kerry McElroy takes us back to the industry’s earliest decade in Los Angeles. This was a time of surprising feminine power. Cinema emerged alongside the New Woman, utopian promises of California, the stunt queen, and global female celebrity. It took time for capitalist forces to reassert a gendered order.

New Series: Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo
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New Series: Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo

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Kerry McElroy announces a timely and compelling series that will run bi-monthly this fall at The Independent. The series titled, “Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo: What Studio-Era Actresses Can Teach Us About Economics and Resistance Post-Weinstein,” highlights Hollywood legends (including Olivia de Havilland, Louise Brooks, Marilyn Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor) who all carved out spaces of autonomy in a decidedly male-controlled film industry at the height of its exploitative powers. McElroy will reveal, through analysis that spans seven decades, what these actresses have to teach us in this contemporary moment of feminist reckoning.

Brave New World: Possibilities for Diversity in VR Technology
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Brave New World: Possibilities for Diversity in VR Technology

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As virtual reality develops into a viable technology for immersive storytelling, today’s filmmakers are witnessing the birth of a new, perhaps more inclusive, form of cinema. Reporting on VR from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Rebecca M. Alvin, explores how the doors are open for a much more diverse group of creators and a wider range of stories to tell.

Adrienne Barbeau at the Coolridge Corner Theatre.
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The Fog Rolls into Boston

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This fall, the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Massachusetts ran a retrospective of Adrienne Barbeau’s major cult films. Mike Sullivan attended the final event—a screening of The Fog and presentation of the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s “After Midnite Award” to Barbeau. Sullivan spoke briefly with Barbeau just before the screening and also attended the robust Q&A.