The new female antihero The disruptive women of twenty-first-century US television

Review by Choice Review

This book explores the rise in female antiheroes in 21st-century prestige drama and comedy. Hagelin and Silverman (both, English, Univ. of Colorado, Denver) contend that the new female antihero represents a repudiation of commoditized, "lean in" feminism, which propagates the myth that women can "have it all." In Part I, "Ambition," the authors analyze the rise--and ultimate fall--of four ambitious female antiheroes in the dramas Game of Thrones, The Americans, Scandal, and Homeland. They show how the dedication of Daenerys Targaryen, Elizabeth Jennings, Olivia Pope, and Carrie Mathison to state power contradicts their often unscrupulous actions to uphold it, revealing their society's flawed and misogynistic underpinnings. Part II, "Shame TV," focuses on four female antiheroes who reject the striving to "have it all" like their comedic predecessors, Mary Tyler Moore and Murphy Brown. Instead, Hannah Horvath of Girls, Abbi Abrams and Ilana Wexler of Broad City, Issa Dee of Insecure, and Bridgette Bird of SMILF choose momentary pleasure, highlighting the ways that their predecessors' ambition only served to uphold patriarchal norms. Hagelin and Silverman's analysis shows the importance of the female antihero for 21st-century feminist thought. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates through faculty. --Candace Anne Nadon, Fort Lewis College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

Much has been made of the male antihero in television, but what about the female antihero? Hagelin and Silverman take a look at the transgressive women characters who have made their mark on American television in the last decade. In drama, the antiheroine has been typified by her rampant ambition, but even as female characters such as Cersei Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones and Olivia Pope in Scandal seek power, they are doing so within the white male power structure, while Homeland's Carrie Mathison is a Cassandra-type figure, rejected because she refuses to fulfill feminine norms. On the comedy side, Hannah Horvath of Girls and the gals of Broad City reject ambition and convention in the pursuit of pleasure, while Issa Dee and her friends on Insecure balance their careers and their fumbling attempts at pursuing romantic fulfillment. "Her femininity doesn't conform to patriarchal expectations of balanced and appropriate womanhood," the authors write of Carrie, a statement that encompasses all of the fascinating female characters they explore in this illuminating and engaging study.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Library Journal Review

Hagelin and Silverman (both, English, Univ. of Colorado, Denver) analyze a unique cultural shift in the portrayal of women in the last decade of American television. In this thoroughly researched, clearly written book, they state that--although TV in the '70s, '80s, and '90s saw nuanced depictions of women (e.g., The Mary Tyler Moore Show)--the women antiheroes of more recent TV are radically different: They flout social norms, display bleak and pessimistic outlooks, and are driven to seek a new kind of feminism. Hagelin and Silverman analyze the evolving role of the woman antihero on TV in drama and thriller series like Game of Thrones, Scandal, and Homeland. The authors also examine how the protagonists of "girl comedies" (such as Girls, Broad City, and Insecure, whose creators often star as fictionalized versions of themselves) openly and casually discuss personal failings. VERDICT This extremely thought-provoking look at radical changes in depictions of women on TV will appeal to readers interested in media and cultural theory.--Amy Lewontin

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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