This sub-collection, focuses on women as lead characters in crime/thriller films, both as the ‘Good’ cop detectives, or as the Bad or Mad (or both) villainesses.

From her first appearance in nineteenth-century novels, the female detective/sleuth has been enormously popular with women audiences, including an impressively large collection of lesbian crime-mystery stories.  In contrast to their Magical Amazon sisters, these women are not presented with having magical unique powers, but are women using their wits and intelligence as their primary assets, as well as having a focus in life beyond the boringly domestic.   The heroine is often presented as a successful, self-confident woman whose determined inquiries, intense curiousity, refusal to take No for an answer, and attention to detail, often outshines the work of professional (male) detectives.  Many of the most famous in pop-culture fiction are  spinsters ( Jane Marple), widows ( Jessica Fletcher),  very young (Nancy Drew, Veronica Mars),  or lesbians (Kate Delafield, Stoner McTavish).

One common theme in all these types of women is that their professional interests and romantic ones rarely compete for attention.   In other words – their minds are usually focussed on the job, and not entirely unhappy about it.  They are ‘Outsiders’ and do not seem to bear much conflict between ‘career’ and ‘womanhood’ as defined through a relationship with men. Possibly, as good as it gets for genuinely independent female role models in pop culture under male supremacy.  Like their Magical Amazon sisters, you don’t see these women behind a keyboard or a mop.  The large sub-set of lesbian crime fiction however, does usually  include more successful blending of career with romance, than main(male)stream versions do.  Possibly because for lesbians in romantic partnerships, conflicts between ‘work’ and ‘home’ is less problematic.

For women readers/viewers the popularity of violent crime fiction,  I suspect it is even more complex.  Julie Bindel once wrote on this topic at The Guardian “Many of the most gruesome crime thrillers are written by women – and lots of us love to read them too. What attracts us to these violent stories?” Continue reading →

One of my favourite genres of all, films where women “return fire”, usually for rape/assault, but also for other forms of male violence-against-women, occasionally revenge for men’s betrayals in other forms, eg setting up women to take the fall for crimes. These films may, or may not, include female kick-butt action – but my group of favourite revenge-flicks refers mainly to those films where the main themes and storylines, revolve around women taking action against male abuse, (and ‘win’) regardless of any action/violence content.

I have several favourites in no particular order, but with a preference for the rarest of all – women’s ‘collective’ revenge films, in which several women band together and work-as-a-team or form vigilante groups. In these films, I am struck by the film’s representation of female solidarity and teamwork beyond friendship. Indeed, often the women do not like each other.

Continue reading →