Disciplines
Screenwriting
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Since frank and outspoken women generally do not fare well in any male-dominated industry, women screenwriters like Eleanor Perry had a particularly tough time in the film business. As a female screenwriter working in 1960s and 1970s Hollywood, Perry’s writing often tackled issues prominent in discussions associated with second-wave feminism such as sexual assault and domestic violence. Perry had an affinity for creating remarkably complicated female protagonists that read as authentic yet did not conform to norms of the time. Rejecting stereotypes increasingly became a recognizable pattern as her career progressed. Her style of challenging the transgressions of men in Hollywood and in everyday life was the catalyst in both the start and end of her career. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of Perry’s most significant work and analyze the reflection of her progressive socio-cultural rhetoric of Western, patriarchal society in her screenwriting career.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - English
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Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Anna Weinstein
Women Writers of Film & Television Project: Eleanor Perry
Since frank and outspoken women generally do not fare well in any male-dominated industry, women screenwriters like Eleanor Perry had a particularly tough time in the film business. As a female screenwriter working in 1960s and 1970s Hollywood, Perry’s writing often tackled issues prominent in discussions associated with second-wave feminism such as sexual assault and domestic violence. Perry had an affinity for creating remarkably complicated female protagonists that read as authentic yet did not conform to norms of the time. Rejecting stereotypes increasingly became a recognizable pattern as her career progressed. Her style of challenging the transgressions of men in Hollywood and in everyday life was the catalyst in both the start and end of her career. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of Perry’s most significant work and analyze the reflection of her progressive socio-cultural rhetoric of Western, patriarchal society in her screenwriting career.