Domestic Melodrama as Genre (Discussion)

Molly Haskell

1. Group 3: What three types of women does Haskell find in the woman's film? Who would be a recent example of each type?
2. What are the woman's film's four main themes? Do you see them operating in the two melodramas we've viewed: Ordinary People (Group 4:) and Imitation of Life (1934--Group 1:)?
   • How about in a recent American film?
3. Group 2: How is hostility toward children expressed in the woman's film? Have you seen it in a recent American film?
4. All Groups: What impact does the issue of race have on the woman's film? Compare/contrast the white and black mothers (Bea and Delilah, respectively) in Imitation of Life.
5. All Groups: What theme does Haskell see that entwines the domestic and the romantic?

Recent melodramas

Film melodramas released since 2000.

• In the Bedroom (2001)
• A Walk to Remember (2002)
• White Oleander (2002)

Bibliography

1. Molly Haskell, "The Woman's Film," in From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies (New York: Penguin, 1974; revised edition 1987) 153-188.

Footnotes

1. In spring 2010, this discussion was combined with Domestic Melodrama Since World War II (Discussion), into Domestic Melodrama as Genre (2010 Discussion).