| Andie MacDowell, who plays a sexy repressed housewife in sex, lies, and videotape, is considered the first "It Girl" of independent cinema. The continuation of the "It Girl" phenomenon in independent film invites an exploration of a particular woman's role in cinema: the sex symbol as a cultural image. Does this role in indie films differ significantly from Hollywood portrayals? Are women's roles in counter cinema objectified and fetishized or deconstructed, for example? Without the male gaze, what happens to woman? Does she become the subject of both story and narrative? By analyzing specific independent files that include "It Girls" this thesis explores the question, what is "It" in independent cinema?;The following films and the actors' roles within the films have been analyzed in depth: Andie MacDowell (sex, lies, and videotape), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love), Parker Posey ( The House Yes), Sarah Polley (Guinevere), Christina Ricci (The Opposite of Sex), Chloe Sevigny (Boys Don't Cry). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
