Silk blouses and fedoras: The female detective, contemporary TV crime drama and the predicaments of postfeminism

Abstract

This article examines the markedly contrasting fates of

Trauma, Motive and the Post-Troubles Psychopath in The Fall

“…She expects to be obeyed by those beneath her in the Northern Ireland police force and usually is. Moreover, her sophistication, epitomized by her elegant dress style, specifically her silk shirts (Horeck 2018; Jermyn 2016), puts her at odds with her Scandinavian counterparts, aligning her more with the outward appearance of successful corporate senior management. In this, she is also an ideal post-feminist creation (Gill 2007, 2017; McRobbie 2004), someone who is both high-achieving and sexy, who enjoys how she looks.…”

“…At the same time, the constant circulation of images of victimized women serves to remind the female audience of their own vulnerability. Jermyn (2016) too notes the discomforting, “necrophilic” gaze of the camera on Spector’s female victims, whom he washes and arranges in posed positions after strangling them, finishing off by painting their nails. When Gibson re-enacts these crimes, even painting her own nails with similar varnish, and in other sequences where her actions—undressing, having sex, are intercut with Spector’s stalking and murder of his victims—so, as Jermyn discusses, does she become another potential victim, her autonomy undermined by her sexual identity.…”

“…The three-season BBC crime series, The Fall (2013–2016) attracted considerable media coverage on release, largely for its depiction of violence against women. Scholarly attention has also reflected these concerns, commonly focusing on the role of the central female detective, Stella Gibson played by Gillian Anderson (Horeck 2018; Jermyn 2016; Magennis 2016). The Fall , which played in multiple territories across the globe and on Netflix, has also been identified as part of a global network of contemporary thrillers, many inspired by the success of Scandi Noir (Coulthard et al 2018; Steenberg 2017).…”

Between “Normalization” and Spectacularization: Representing Violence Against Women in TV Crime Series

“…Despite the fact that all this refers to both male and female corpses, in the latter case, erotic implications become more evident: Female victims, as a matter of fact, are almost always young and beautiful, their body remains attractive despite its brutalization and images of their autopsy are alternated with the ones of their death, often loaded with sexual symbolism. The popular and recent crime series-The Fall (BBC, 2013) has been considered emblematic of a glamourization of female death: Young women corpses-washed, adorned, REPRESENTING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN TV CRIME SERIES 279 and recorded by the serial killer-are fetishsed and the whole aesthetics of the program encourages a necrophiliac view (Jermyn, 2016).…”

“…Analysing the Irish TV series The Fall, Jermyn catches even sight of the so-called "glamourization" (as in the advertising) of female death. Young women's corpses, cleaned, adorned, and posed by the serial killer, are transformed into erotic fetish objects, and the whole aesthetic of the program invites the audience to a necrotic gaze (Jermyn, 2016). The peculiarity is that female death is turned into an erotic show, even in circumstances with no sexual connotation, and this phenomenon is very popular in cop shows, so much so that it gave birth to the crime porn label (Jermyn, 2016, p. 18).…”