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Maria Felix: the last great Mexican film diva: the representation of women in Mexican film, 1940-1970

Drake, Susan Wiebe
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1118953316

Abstract Details

2005, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Spanish and Portuguese.
In my project, I analyze the star text of María Félix (1914-2002). In spite of her prolific film career of 47 films and her memorable image in the media, the scholarly treatment of her films and larger star text has been limited. As vintage film magazines and Mexican melodramatic comics attest, Félix was very visible and her personal life was scrutinized as her “real-life” self played out characteristics from her mala mujer film persona—her multiple husbands and lovers, her relationship with her son, and even her wardrobe choices. I analyze many of her films and her image in other forms of media such as fotonovelas, trade magazines, and her biographical sources in the following chapters. Her star image is powerful and far-reaching and presents an alternative model of Mexican womanhood from the beginning of her film career in the 1940s through (and even beyond) her last film in 1970. The star text of María Félix is a site that registered tensions between modernity and the traditional at a particular moment in Mexican history. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 brought many changes to society as warfare destabilized the family and disrupted the region. After the war, the Revolution became institutionalized as the government attempted to put into practice the goals of the Revolution. From the 1940s and throughout 1950s and 1960s it was a time of increased industrialization and urbanization as people migrated to the cities to find employment, as it became increasingly difficult to support a family through farming. These social tensions registered in her films and star text are in relation to women’s changing roles as Mexican women gained more political freedoms, including national suffrage in 1953,and began working outside the home as the nation became more industrialized and urbanized throughout the 1940s and subsequent decades.
Laura Podalsky (Advisor)
Maria Felix; Mexico; Mexican film; women in film; mujer; Taming of the Shrew; Prostitution; prostitute; soldadera; film star; Revolution

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Drake, S. W. (2005). Maria Felix: the last great Mexican film diva: the representation of women in Mexican film, 1940-1970 [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1118953316

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Drake, Susan. Maria Felix: the last great Mexican film diva: the representation of women in Mexican film, 1940-1970. 2005. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1118953316.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Drake, Susan. "Maria Felix: the last great Mexican film diva: the representation of women in Mexican film, 1940-1970." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1118953316

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1118953316
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© 2005, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.