Chick Flicks : Theories and Memories of the Feminist Film Movement

by B. Ruby Rich

If there was a moment during the sixties, seventies, or eighties that changed the history of the women’s film movement, B. Ruby Rich was there. Part journalistic chronicle, part memoir, and 100% pure cultural historical odyssey, Chick Flicks —with its definitive, the-way-it-was collection of essays—captures the birth and growth of feminist film as no other book has done. For over three decades Rich has been one of the most important voices in feminist film criticism. Her presence at film festivals (such as Sundance, where she is a member of the selection committee), her film reviews in the Village Voice , Elle , Out , and the Advocate , and her commentaries on the public radio program “The World” have secured her a place as a central figure in the remarkable history of what she deems “cinefeminism.” In the hope that a new generation of feminist film culture might be revitalized by reclaiming its own history, Rich introduces each essay with an autobiographical prologue that describes the intellectual, political, and personal moments from which the work arose. Travel, softball, sex, and voodoo all somehow fit into a book that includes classic Rich articles covering such topics as the antiporn movement, the films of Yvonne Rainer, a Julie Christie visit to Washington, and the historically evocative film Maedchen in Uniform . The result is a volume that traces the development not only of women’s involvement in cinema but of one of its key players as well. The first book-length work from Rich—whose stature and influence in the world of film criticism and theory continue to grow— Chick Flicks exposes unexplored routes and forgotten byways of a past that’s recent enough to be remembered and far away enough to be memorable.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Feminism, Womens, Womens Studies

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

B. Ruby Rich is Professor of Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has written for scores of publications, from Signs, GLQ, Film Quarterly, and Cinema Journal to the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Nation, and the Guardian (UK). She has served as juror and curator for the Sundance and Toronto International Film Festivals and for major festivals in Germany, Mexico, Australia, and Cuba. The recipient of awards from Yale University, the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, and Frameline, Rich is the author of Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of the Feminist Film Movement, also published by Duke University Press.

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Rich's essays on a number of important feminist and/or queer filmmakers, ranging from the classical era (Deren, Riefenstahl, Maedchen in Uniform) to luminaries of the 60's and 70's underground, avant-garde, and foreign cinemas (Akerman, Rainer, Schneemann, Michelle Citron, the still-sadly-obscure Sara Gomez, etc), many whom Rich played an active part in establishing critical reputations for in the US. But ostensibly functioning as introductions to the essays are Rich's remembrances and memories on the circumstances that led to these specific essays being written, which turn out to not only revealing peeks into important historical moments, but often veer into (generally good-natured) gossip, which makes for reading that is often as delightful as it is insightful--something which is not always a given with a book with the word "theories" in the title.

[Bevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best books I read in college. It's also signed by the author who came to do a talk. Ah, Women & Gender Studies degree.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're not into film theory read for Ruby's fascinating biography between the articles.

Frustrating that the majority of movies mentioned are not available to view. Criterion has a few and YouTube others.

[Laura]

i've been freakin reading this book forEVER. but don't think i'm not enjoying it.

[Kym]

Lists some obscure filmmakers worth seeking out.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why was this book so unbelievably boring, when it talked about so many things I am interested in?!