'I'm just doing my job': The First Lady and the Work of Political Mythmaking in Pablo Larraín's Jackie (2016). Issue 3 (2nd July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Halevi, Sharon
• Is Part Of: Women. Volume 31:Issue 3(2020)
• Page Start: 241
• Page End: 258
• Publication Date: 2020-07-02
• Subjects: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis -- Pablo Larraín -- First Lady -- Kennedy assassination -- biopics -- wives; Women -- Great Britain -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; Feminism -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Women in popular culture -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Women in the performing arts -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 305.40941
• DOI: 10.1080/09574042.2020.1820151
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-4042

Abstract

Abstract: Jackie (2016 ), Pablo Larraín's biopic of Jacqueline Kennedy, is the first full-length feature film devoting serious attention to an American First Lady and the work she carries out. I argue that Larraín's interpretation should be read as an endeavour to render visible a First Lady's largely invisible work of image-making. Larraín's subversion of biopic conventions combined with the use of estrangement devices enables him to posit a nuanced and complex interpretation of Jacqueline Kennedy and to lift the cinematic veil of invisibility obscuring her work. I close by considering the uniqueness and significance of Jackie, suggesting it has the potential to serve as an alternative, postmodern, and perhaps feminist, option for portraying women's lives and labour.