New Feminist Studies in Audiovisual Industries| Ageing and the Creative Spirit of Women in the Audiovisual Market: The Case of Olive Kitteridge (2014)

  1. Asunción Bernárdez-Rodal 12
  2. María Isabel Menéndez Menéndez 3
  1. 1 Information Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid
  2. 2 Spain
  3. 3 University of Burgos, Spain
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Revue:
International Journal of Communication

ISSN: 1932-8036

Année de publication: 2021

Volumen: 15

Número: 0

Pages: 18

Type: Article

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D'autres publications dans: International Journal of Communication

Résumé

Audiovisual production continues to be a challenging profession for women, especially older women. This article uses the four-episode miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014), directed by Lisa Cholodenko and based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth Strout, to explore the strategies used by women to carve a niche for themselves in a market that is so limited for them. This exploration is followed by a content analysis of the series starring and produced by Frances McDormand, which tells the story of a middle-class teacher in her senior years. Through the application of a gender perspective, contributions from ageing studies or age studies, and an examination of the professional context in which the series was made, this study offers a critical reading both of the process of portraying older women in film and television productions and of their role in the industry; this series is particularly interesting for the dialogue it establishes between the actor/producer’s biography and the story of the character she portrays.

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