ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some of the most influential developments in feminist film theory over the past thirty years with the aim of giving the reader an outline of theoretical perspectives and a guide for further reading, as well as providing a commentary on a recent Hollywood film, The Long Kiss Goodnight. The Long Kiss Goodnight presents a challenge to maternal ideology in Charly's temporary renunciation of her daughter; however, the rose-tinted conclusion requires her to learn to combine her careers as assassin and mother, as a giver of life and one who has the clear capacity to take it away. Beyond the evolution of a body of critical work are the events particularly in the 1970s which played key roles in the development of feminist film theory in Britain and the USA. Aspects of the often ambiguous but productive relationship between feminism and Hollywood have emerged as well as questions concerning the current status of feminist film theory.
