#COMM10 Module4-Activity2

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Gone Girl: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss

Gone Girl is a thriller novel written by Gillian Flynn. It was published under the Crown Publishing Group back in June 2012.  Gone Girl entered the New York Times bestseller list the week it was published, rising to No 1 the following week and selling around two million copies in the first year. Gone Girl was named one of the best books of the year by People Magazine and Janet Maslin at the New York Times. Nominated for both the Edgar Award and the Anthony Award for Best Novel, Flynn wrote the screenplay for David Fincher’s 2014 adaptation of Gone Girl for the big screen, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

The title of the book, “Gone Girl,” very much encompasses the overall force driving the plot of the novel, Amy Dunne. The novel revolves around Amy Dunne, the literal “Gone Girl,” as she disappears from their subpar suburban home in Missouri. Furthermore, the title could also refer to the disappearance of Amy’s fabricated identity, the loss of Amy’s “cool girl” façade that she has built upon knowing Nick. It appertains that as Amy literally disappeared, upon learning more about his wife, Nick’s image and perception about Amy changed. Gone was the “cool girl” Amy and in came “psycho bitch” Amy; murderer and mastermind.

The novel circulated around the complexities of Amy and Nick Dunne’s marriage, which took a sharp turn as Amy went missing from their subpar suburban home. On the second half of the book, it is revealed that the disappearance was only a ruse staged by Amy in an attempt to break free from their marriage. 

Gone Girl still remains to be an enigma for it’s readers. It’s identity as a novel is often debated upon. In an interview with the Hollywood reporter, Flynn states that she did not write the book with the intent of making a purposeful statement, but rather she wanted to  “play with how far can you push a female antihero, all the while tackling gender roles within a marriage”. While Flynn is successful in building an antihero, femme fatale of sorts, Amy Dunne leaves much to be desired. 

Gone Girl has always been the subject of controversy, with critics touting it as the work of a misogynist at play, giving out a poor portrayal of women and showing them in a terrible light. Others, on the other hand, praise Flynn for giving out a unique character that delves deeper into showing the capabilities of a woman. Gone Girl has broken boundaries and produced a new breed of female fictional characters that continuously entice the masses.

I, for one, am very conflicted whilst reading the book. Much praise has been given to Flynn for showing the ugly side of women, even prior to writing Gone Girl. In her debut novel, Sharp Objects, Camille Preaker is introduced. Camille is a journalist for a small-time newspaper who tends to carve words on her skin, when agitated. In Flynn’s second novel, Libby Day is introduced. The sole survivor of a massacre, born during the era of Satanic Ritual abuse.

 Flynn has continuously written complex female characters with each having their own set of flaws, the characterization of Amy Dunne, however, is one that has left me unsettled. Yes, Flynn is successful in writing a female character that makes your skin crawl and yet, she leaves you divided as there are reasons behind her actions. While Amy Dunne is a great characterization of a female antihero, it feels like a character that reinforces the crazy woman stereotype that is often harmful for women, In addition, Amy Dunne’s methods, such as framing men by making fake rape allegations (which she has done twice) leaves a sour taste due to the large number of women that have suffered backlash after having their reports of rape be dismissed in favor of men; it comes out as misandrist rather than misogynist at times.

Moreover, Amy Dunne may be a riveting character to read, but I feel like Flynn falls short in humanizing her. Yes, Amy has long suffered from marital problems and the crushing weight of parental pressure; but her motives fail to justify her actions to the point where it feels like she is grasping for reasons to sympathize with Amy, and yet you feel none. It romanticizes marital gaslighting and it portrays Amy as a girlboss-esque femme fatale which feels like a troublesome character to enforce such stereotypes to. While I do not agree, that the book is flat out misogynistic, I do feel like it reinforces harmful female stereotypes. 

Gillian Flynn has been accused of being a misogynist a multitude of times, because of her “misogynistic caricatures” (Amy Dunne, being one) and writing in a way that encompasses a deep animosity towards women, however, Flynn identifies herself as a feminist. 

In a way, she admits that her way of portraying women is rather unconventional, but her goal is not to give out the typical cookie cutter image of women, but as hardened human beings who have undergone tragic experiences. Asking for stereotypical female characters doesn’t broaden the horizon for feminism. However, showing women in a different light does. In response to misogynistic claims, Flynn responds in an interview: "To me, that puts a very, very small window on what feminism is," she further elaborates. "Is it really only girl power, and you-go-girl, and empower yourself, and be the best you can be? For me, it's also the ability to have women who are bad characters … the one thing that really frustrates me is this idea that women are innately good, innately nurturing. In literature, they can be dismissably bad – trampy, vampy, bitchy types – but there's still a big pushback against the idea that women can be just pragmatically evil, bad and selfish ... I don't write psycho bitches. The psycho bitch is just crazy – she has no motive, and so she's a dismissible person because of her psycho-bitchiness."

Despite the book being released in less than a decade ago, there has still been talks and much debate on the meaning and intent of the book. It is important to to leave space for other interpretations, as it not only provides fruitful discourse; but it also gives you a look on others’ headspace and gain an idea on how they think and reflect. Giving room for freedom of interpretation allows for diverse flow of ideas, it further develops how we think and perceive different concepts. It allows us to view the world in a different context. 

References:

Flynn, Gillian (2012). Gone Girl. New York, New York: Crown

Haupt, Jennifer (19 November 2012). "Best-selling Author Gillian Flynn: Gone Girl". Psychology Today. 

Rousseau, Caryn (22 June 2012). "Flynn's 'Gone Girl' poised to be summer thriller". Huffington Post.  

 Paul, Steve (10 February 2014). “Kansas City native Gillian Flynn emerges as a literary force with her twisted mystery 'Gone Girl'. The Kansas City Star 

Burkeman, Oliver (May 1, 2013). "Gillian Flynn on her bestseller Gone Girl and accusations of misogyny". The Guardian.