The post-modern body in cinema

Abstract

Throughout film history, the female body has been gazed upon, lusted after, protected, admired, and murdered. A sampling of post-modern films, including Kill Bill; Vol. I, The Swimming Pool, Boys Don’t Cry, Orlando, The Piano, The Ballad of Little Jo and Hedwig and the Angry Inch divulge new and complex views of the female body, including gender transformation. The maternal body, the clothed body, and the psychological and cultural body display the evolving female psyche. The female protagonists in the films, whether rewriting their own stories (Swimming Pool), finding methods to transform their sex within a patriarchy (The Piano), or altering their femininity (Orlando, Boys Don’t cry, The Ballad of little Jo, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch) redefine their gender. In doing so, the postmodern female body surpasses her assigned gender role.