This thesis presents an analysis of seventeen contemporary blockbuster films in which women kill people. The purpose of the analysis is to discover the "frames" with which film producers, directors, scriptwriters and actors portray women in film. The thesis first establishes the model in use in the analysis: Entman's model of frame analysis. Frame analysis posits that rhetors use frames, or lenses, through which they create, explain and solve problems, especially in a news cast. These frames are accepted, consciously or subconsciously, by the audience. Entman's model is integrated with Naylor's six categories of popular news portrayal of female killers, which suggests that the news portrays these women as witches, non-women, unmotherly, etc. Next, the thesis reviews previous literature on feminist film analysis, framing theory, and historical empirical and anecdotal evidence on female killers. This foundation, along with Entman's model, is then used to analyze seventeen films, chosen by gross, date and storyline, in which female characters kill. The conclusions are that the news and films portray women similarly, with one exception. Films allow for an extra category: the heroine. Further research should include a comparison of female and male killers in film and an historical review of female killers in film throughout the twentieth century to investigate transitions in frames. / Graduation date: 2000

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