Hilary Radner's latest book, Neo-Feminist Cinema: Girly Films, Chick Flicks and Consumer Culture, explores the devices and themes utilized by chick flicks and how they affect, and are affected by, the female audience. Examining major girly films such as Pretty Woman, Legally Blonde, and The Devil Wears Prada, Radner draws her readers' attention to recurring themes including girlishness, self-fulfillment, and consumer culture. As I suspect is true for most viewers of chick flicks, my previous knowledge of such movies consists only of my experiences watching them. But Radner's book illustrates the world of feminism, film and consumerism that lies beneath the superficial facade of the chick flick.

I was astounded to learn of the resonance girly cinema has had within our culture and how the evolving female audience, in turn, has shaped these films. Anyone