3 The amazing flying woman
-
Elizabeth Ezra
Abstract
This chapter takes up Georges Méliès's treatment of gender roles, focusing specifically on the fairies and other airborne women who people his films, which reflected attitudes towards women that were prevalent in French culture at the turn of the century. In France at the turn of the twentieth century, flying women were all the rage: they were, quite literally, dans le vent. The flight of fancy is an illusion: the flying woman tells decorative lies with her body. The chapter explores the nature of this illusion as it is evoked in Méliès's films, while examining the contradictions encompassed by the flying woman as she united opposites in an age of transition. The most visible function of flying women in Méliès's films, of course, was that of sex appeal: they provided an excuse to show young women clad in tights and diaphanous garments.
Abstract
This chapter takes up Georges Méliès's treatment of gender roles, focusing specifically on the fairies and other airborne women who people his films, which reflected attitudes towards women that were prevalent in French culture at the turn of the century. In France at the turn of the twentieth century, flying women were all the rage: they were, quite literally, dans le vent. The flight of fancy is an illusion: the flying woman tells decorative lies with her body. The chapter explores the nature of this illusion as it is evoked in Méliès's films, while examining the contradictions encompassed by the flying woman as she united opposites in an age of transition. The most visible function of flying women in Méliès's films, of course, was that of sex appeal: they provided an excuse to show young women clad in tights and diaphanous garments.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of plates vi
- Series editors’ foreword vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Preface x
- Introduction 1
- 1 Méliès does tricks 24
- 2 Fantastic realism 50
- Plates 83
- 3 The amazing flying woman 89
- 4 Imaginary voyages 117
- Conclusion 149
- Filmography 152
- Select bibliography 160
- Index 164
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of plates vi
- Series editors’ foreword vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Preface x
- Introduction 1
- 1 Méliès does tricks 24
- 2 Fantastic realism 50
- Plates 83
- 3 The amazing flying woman 89
- 4 Imaginary voyages 117
- Conclusion 149
- Filmography 152
- Select bibliography 160
- Index 164
