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A review by dunneniamh
The Girl in the Show: Three Generations of Comedy, Culture, and Feminism by Anna Fields
3.0
Feminism + comedy + popular culture: it should be something that's completely up my alley, three things I love about the world. And though I did enjoy this book, I just thought it was OK, rather than something more revolutionary. If anything, it read like a history of some first/second wave feminisms comic heroes: Lucille Ball, Gilda Radnor, Moms Molsley, Joan Rivers etc, rather than analysing at length the presence of more recent comediennes. Though they're definitely mentioned, I was a little disappointed by how little Fields relied on them for analysis. I also wasn't so sure on the inclusion of a whole chapter on Roe vs Wade at the end, seeing as it had little to do with comediennes.
Well researched and put together, including interviews from some prolific comediennes and actresses, there were some very poignant moments in this book, particularly regarding how women put their own emotion and fears into their work. There was a lot about female comics with depression and how they channelled that into creating characters that made others feel better, which I really connected with. It's a good book, but not something that I'll return to anytime soon.
Well researched and put together, including interviews from some prolific comediennes and actresses, there were some very poignant moments in this book, particularly regarding how women put their own emotion and fears into their work. There was a lot about female comics with depression and how they channelled that into creating characters that made others feel better, which I really connected with. It's a good book, but not something that I'll return to anytime soon.