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Female friendship, idealisation and the "need" for violence in Crush

Gordon, Suzy

Authors

Suzy Gordon



Abstract

This article develops a feminist critical approach capable of responding to the uniquely pessimistic portrayal of female friendship in Crush (Alison Maclean 1992, NZ). Crush questions the possibility of supportive or empathetic relationships, disclosing instead a powerful feminist "need" for violence, between women. This poses a challenge for feminist theory which has yet to be fully understood (it is the first aim of this article to remedy this). Secondly, the article uncovers the same pessimism at the centre of Melanie Klein's psychoanalytic theories of idealisation, demonstrating the "negativity" of Klein's work and its value for feminist approaches to cinema spectatorship. © 2007 Taylor & Francis.

Citation

Gordon, S. (2007). Female friendship, idealisation and the "need" for violence in Crush. Feminist Media Studies, 7(2), 171-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680770701286987

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Dec 1, 2007
Journal Feminist Media Studies
Print ISSN 1468-0777
Electronic ISSN 1471-5902
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 7
Issue 2
Pages 171-187
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/14680770701286987
Keywords female friendship, idealisation, violence, Crush, Melanie Klein
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1026493
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14680770701286987
Additional Information Additional Information : This refereed journal article was developed during AHRC funded period of Research Leave 2003-4


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