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Reviews
Backwards and in Heels: The Past, Present and Future of Women Working in Film by Alicia Malone
glkrose's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I knew I would love this book, but I didn't realize how much. And I'm also mad at myself for taking this long to do so. Alicia Malone is extremely knowledgeable about films and film history and the way this book was written was well-researched and easily digestible. I could hear her voice the entire time which is a plus because she has such a fun accent! But really, going through the history of Hollywood and how it was actually better for women (ahem, white women) back then was eye-opening and maddening! As this book is a few years old, some examples haven't aged as well (a few Joss Whedon mentions, yikes) and it's not as inclusive as it could be if it was written today (more in terms of nonbinary/genderqueer identifying people), but I think she managed to cover a lot of different issues and did so with care. If you are a film fan, I would definitely read this book as soon as you can.
lauras_books's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve always been into the Golden Age of Hollywood (~20s-60s) so most names in the first part of the book were familiar and I especially loved those stories. I knew the Hollywood industry is/was sexist, but I really had no idea how fiercely feminist the early female writers, actors, and directors were.
Some stories fell flat compared to others, but overall, it’s a great collection filled with trivia tidbits on your favorites and an overview of how entertainment evolved with current events (wars, social justice issues, etc.). It’s about women, but it’s also about POC, LGTBQ+, and other minority communities and their fight to be represented in film, not only their roles in front of and behind the camera, but in the way their stories are told and represented. Women have made a larger stamp on the industry than I realized—even simply as an audience demographic. I enjoyed it more than expected and it's inspired me to learn and read more on this topic.
Some stories fell flat compared to others, but overall, it’s a great collection filled with trivia tidbits on your favorites and an overview of how entertainment evolved with current events (wars, social justice issues, etc.). It’s about women, but it’s also about POC, LGTBQ+, and other minority communities and their fight to be represented in film, not only their roles in front of and behind the camera, but in the way their stories are told and represented. Women have made a larger stamp on the industry than I realized—even simply as an audience demographic. I enjoyed it more than expected and it's inspired me to learn and read more on this topic.
nerdinthelibrary's review against another edition
4.0
Review can also be found on my blog.
Feminist Lit Feb: a piece of feminist non-fiction
content warnings: discussions of sexism, racism, rape, parental abuse and domestic violence
“Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels…”
I’m not a very big non-fiction reader, not because I’m under the assumption that all non-fiction is dry but because I often don’t find any non-fiction works that interest me enough to warrant me reading an entire book about it, especially when it’s not a memoir. But I picked this up because I’ve been a big fan of Alicia Malone for years and was curious as to what she had to say about women in film. I was not disappointed.
The book is split into three sections: The Past, The Present, and The Future. The first section is by far the longest and covers each decade in Hollywood, the film culture at the time, and highlights several notable women. The Present operates similarly, though stops being decade-focused and instead zeroes in exclusively on highlighting certain women - and men - who are in Hollywood. The future is two pages long and is just Malone writing what her hopes for the future based on her research are.
I’ll start there. This book has clearly been so well-researched. From what I can gather, Malone did most, if not all, the research by herself and it’s kind of incredible. She’s also such a passionate writer, which kept me engaged the entire novel. There’s a very obvious care for the topics that she’s writing about and her enthusiasm seeps through the page, so even when there are the occasional spelling or punctuation error it’s very easy to ignore.
The contents itself of the book is also so fascinating. I knew very little of the subject matter, particularly the further back in history that you go, and I assume most readers will have the same level of knowledge that I have. It’s so wonderful to read about women who were there when film was being invented and were revolutionising it, actresses who found ways to thrive within a system pitted against them, as well as those who didn’t, the women who were making feminist media that’s still incredibly relevant today, and women from today who you recognise but may not even realise the impact that they had.
There’s also something very sad to this book, though. Even though it’s all about acknowledging these incredible women’s accomplishments, there is this underlying sadness to it as you discover more and more women who have been completely forgotten, or even erased, from history for no reason other than they were women.
In case you’re curious, the women (+ two men) and film movements being highlighted are:
→ Alice Guy Blaché: The First Female Filmmaker
→ Lois Weber: Social Issues on Film
→ Mary Pickford: The Movie Star Businesswoman
→ Margaret Booth: The First Film Editor
→ Frances Marion: The Award-Winning Writer
→ Helen Holmes: The Action Hero
→ Dorothy Arzner: The Only Female Filmmaker
→ Mae West: The Sex Symbol vs the Code
→ Hattie McDaniel: The Oscar Winner
→ Anna May Wong: Erasure and Exoticism
→ The Women’s Picture
→ Hedy Lamarr: The Pin-Up with the Patent
→ Olivia de Havilland: The Lawmaker
→ Rita Hayworth: The Illusion
→ Dorothy Dandridge: Fighting Against Stereotype
→ The Femme Fatales
→ Marilyn Monroe: The Myth
→ Ida Lupino: Mother of Us All
→ Joan Crawford & Bette Davis: The Famous Feud
→ Jane Fonda: New Hollywood Icon
→ Female Filmmakers, Finally
→ Pam Grier: The Blaxploitation Hero
→ The Female Executives
→ The Firsts: Female Filmmakers of Colour
→ Meryl Streep: Oscar Queen
→ Dr. Stacy L. Smith: Information Is Power
→ Ava DuVernay: History Maker
→ J.J. Abrams and Paul Fieg: Men Who Help Women
→ Keri Putnam: ReFraming the Issue
→ Maria Giese: Taking Action
→ Geena Davis: See It, Be It
→ America Ferrera: Facing Fear
→ Mya Taylor: Transforming Hollywood
→ Octavia Spencer: Scene Stealer
→ Jennifer Siebel Newsom: Using Her Voice
→ Debbie Reynolds & Carrie Fisher: Mother-Daughter Icons
→ Amy Powell: The Risk Taker
→ Denise di Novi: From Producer to Director
→ Nicole Perlman: Writing Her Own Script
→ Joi McMillon: Editing History
→ Rachel Morrison: Striking Images
If you’re looking for a non-fiction book about film that focuses on the works of those who otherwise would likely never be highlighted, I would recommend giving this a read. Or, hell, even if you just want some classic feminist film recommendations, this is definitely worth your time.
Feminist Lit Feb: a piece of feminist non-fiction
content warnings: discussions of sexism, racism, rape, parental abuse and domestic violence
“Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels…”
I’m not a very big non-fiction reader, not because I’m under the assumption that all non-fiction is dry but because I often don’t find any non-fiction works that interest me enough to warrant me reading an entire book about it, especially when it’s not a memoir. But I picked this up because I’ve been a big fan of Alicia Malone for years and was curious as to what she had to say about women in film. I was not disappointed.
The book is split into three sections: The Past, The Present, and The Future. The first section is by far the longest and covers each decade in Hollywood, the film culture at the time, and highlights several notable women. The Present operates similarly, though stops being decade-focused and instead zeroes in exclusively on highlighting certain women - and men - who are in Hollywood. The future is two pages long and is just Malone writing what her hopes for the future based on her research are.
I’ll start there. This book has clearly been so well-researched. From what I can gather, Malone did most, if not all, the research by herself and it’s kind of incredible. She’s also such a passionate writer, which kept me engaged the entire novel. There’s a very obvious care for the topics that she’s writing about and her enthusiasm seeps through the page, so even when there are the occasional spelling or punctuation error it’s very easy to ignore.
The contents itself of the book is also so fascinating. I knew very little of the subject matter, particularly the further back in history that you go, and I assume most readers will have the same level of knowledge that I have. It’s so wonderful to read about women who were there when film was being invented and were revolutionising it, actresses who found ways to thrive within a system pitted against them, as well as those who didn’t, the women who were making feminist media that’s still incredibly relevant today, and women from today who you recognise but may not even realise the impact that they had.
There’s also something very sad to this book, though. Even though it’s all about acknowledging these incredible women’s accomplishments, there is this underlying sadness to it as you discover more and more women who have been completely forgotten, or even erased, from history for no reason other than they were women.
In case you’re curious, the women (+ two men) and film movements being highlighted are:
→ Alice Guy Blaché: The First Female Filmmaker
→ Lois Weber: Social Issues on Film
→ Mary Pickford: The Movie Star Businesswoman
→ Margaret Booth: The First Film Editor
→ Frances Marion: The Award-Winning Writer
→ Helen Holmes: The Action Hero
→ Dorothy Arzner: The Only Female Filmmaker
→ Mae West: The Sex Symbol vs the Code
→ Hattie McDaniel: The Oscar Winner
→ Anna May Wong: Erasure and Exoticism
→ The Women’s Picture
→ Hedy Lamarr: The Pin-Up with the Patent
→ Olivia de Havilland: The Lawmaker
→ Rita Hayworth: The Illusion
→ Dorothy Dandridge: Fighting Against Stereotype
→ The Femme Fatales
→ Marilyn Monroe: The Myth
→ Ida Lupino: Mother of Us All
→ Joan Crawford & Bette Davis: The Famous Feud
→ Jane Fonda: New Hollywood Icon
→ Female Filmmakers, Finally
→ Pam Grier: The Blaxploitation Hero
→ The Female Executives
→ The Firsts: Female Filmmakers of Colour
→ Meryl Streep: Oscar Queen
→ Dr. Stacy L. Smith: Information Is Power
→ Ava DuVernay: History Maker
→ J.J. Abrams and Paul Fieg: Men Who Help Women
→ Keri Putnam: ReFraming the Issue
→ Maria Giese: Taking Action
→ Geena Davis: See It, Be It
→ America Ferrera: Facing Fear
→ Mya Taylor: Transforming Hollywood
→ Octavia Spencer: Scene Stealer
→ Jennifer Siebel Newsom: Using Her Voice
→ Debbie Reynolds & Carrie Fisher: Mother-Daughter Icons
→ Amy Powell: The Risk Taker
→ Denise di Novi: From Producer to Director
→ Nicole Perlman: Writing Her Own Script
→ Joi McMillon: Editing History
→ Rachel Morrison: Striking Images
If you’re looking for a non-fiction book about film that focuses on the works of those who otherwise would likely never be highlighted, I would recommend giving this a read. Or, hell, even if you just want some classic feminist film recommendations, this is definitely worth your time.