Gidget, Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Gidget, Pamela Robertson Wojcik
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Gidget
Origins of a Teen Girl Transmedia Franchise

Author: Pamela Robertson Wojcik

Narrator: Siiri Scott

Unabridged: 4 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/06/2023


Synopsis

Gidget: Origins of a Teen Girl Transmedia Franchise examines the multiplicity of books, films, TV shows, and merchandise that make up the transmedia Gidget universe from the late 1950s to the 1980s.

The book examines the Gidget phenomenon as an early and unique teen girl franchise that expands understanding of both teen girlhood and transmedia storytelling. It locates the film as existing at the historical intersection of numerous discourses and events, including the emergence of surf culture and surf films; the rise of California as signifier of modernity and as the epicenter of white American middle-class teen culture; the annexation of Hawaii; the invention of Barbie; and Hollywood's reluctant acceptance of teen culture and teen audiences. Each chapter places the Gidget text in context, looking at production and reception circumstances and intertexts such as the novels of Françoise Sagan, the Tammy series, La Dolce Vita, and the Patty Duke Show, to better understand Gidget's meaning at different points in time.

This book explores many aspects of Gidget, providing an invaluable insight into this iconic franchise for students and researchers in film studies, feminist media studies, and youth culture.

About Pamela Robertson Wojcik

Pamela Robertson Wojcik is professor in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame and past president of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, writing about mobility and placelessness in American cinema.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Leo on January 10, 2013

Having seen and enjoyed the 1959 Sandra Dee film a year or two before reading the book I came to it expecting a fun, quick read with possibly some unintentional humor due to dated references/slang. While it is certainly fun and a term or two may have illicited a smile I was surprised by how modern......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on June 16, 2014

So, this was fascinating. I grew up watching reruns of the Gidget TV show, starring Sally Field as the bubbly surfer girl. I also loved the movies, and the Frankie and Annette movies about surfing and beach parties. What I didn't realize was that it was a book that started it all (this book, obvious......more

Goodreads review by Ellinor on June 12, 2023

Während ich hier den Windsurfern zuschaue, handelt meine Strandlektüre auch vom Surfen - allerdings von der anderen Variante, nämlich dem Wellenreiten 🏄‍♀️ Diese ist nicht weniger cool, wenn auch hier nicht möglich (wobei es sogar ein paar Kandidaten gibt, die auf eine Fähre oder ein anderes Boot wa......more

Goodreads review by Becky on April 30, 2016

I must admit I was disappointed by Frederick Kohner's Gidget. Here are some things you should know: 1) It was originally published in 1957. 2) It is to some degree based on a true teen girl named Kathy, nicknamed Gidget. 3) Fredrick Kohner, the author, based the book on his own daughter and on his o......more

Goodreads review by Josie on August 23, 2019

Two stars for the setting in Malibu and being a book about a girl learning to surf. I understand it was popular in its time but the Gidget book didn’t age well. The book creeped me out and to explain it I have copied an example passage below from the books conclusion when Cass kisses Franzie. “Then h......more