Reframing Margaret Thatcher

Against the backdrop of Britain’s historically anti-Thatcherite films of the 1980s and 1990s, Reframing Margaret Thatcher outlines a decisive shift in the collective imagination of Thatcher. Drawing on genre theory, trauma and queer studies, it demonstrates how post-Thatcherite films reflect upon their own entanglement in the polarization of the Thatcher years but also rewrite the clichéd Iron Lady. Chapters on The Iron Lady, This is England, Doomsday, 9 Dead Gay Guys, and the Sherlock TV series investigate various Thatcher imaginations, ranging from Thatcher as a lesbian mob boss, as prime minister in apocalyptic England, to Thatcher as an empty bust. This innovative study shows how the apparent depoliticization of British film makes visible new relations between genre, cinematic form, and imaginations of the past and offers fresh perspectives that both critique and reinterpret Thatcher’s enduring impact.