Killig Me Softly: Representations of the Female Victim’s Body in Italian Crime Film and Television

Abstract

The essay examines the socio-cultural theoretical implications of representations of the female victim's body in the Italian media, with a particular focus on film and television adaptations of true crime events. It begins by analyzing the role of the female corpse as a sensational and hermeneutic body, a powerful site of signification that embraces and destabilizes certain sexual and cultural norms. Despite the increasing presence of female detectives, the examined adaptations often uphold a traditional focus on male heroism. As a result, they perpetuate to varying degrees fetishistic paradigms where the female body is dismembered and subsequently disappears, reflecting a desire to dominate and neutralize the perceived threats posed by sexual difference and abjection. The essay identifies recurring themes such as the disappearance of young women, the feminine blaming, and the institutional distrust fueled by complex legal procedures that obscure clarity and ontological certainty. These themes help to outline interpretative trajectories and trends common to these media representations. The essay concludes with a call for further reflection on narratives that strive to subvert the traditional, monolithic, and Oedipal frameworks.