cover image Reel Knockouts: Violent Women in the Movies

Reel Knockouts: Violent Women in the Movies

. University of Texas Press, $45 (291pp) ISBN 978-0-292-75250-4

What do Aliens, Basic Instinct and Dolores Claiborne have in common? Bad-ass women inflicting violence on males. At long last, the cultural forces behind portrayals of female violence and society's responses are treated with scholarly scrutiny in Reel Knockouts: Violent Women in the Movies, edited by Martha McCaughey and Neal King. Contributors include Carol M. Dole on ""Hollywood and the Female Lawman,"" Wendy Arons on female roles in Hong Kong kung fu movies and Kimberly Springer on the significance of socioeconomics in representations of African-American women in film. Representing a broad range of genres and opinion, this collection offers a wide-angle perspective on this controversial subject. ( July)