As one of the most influential contemporary film scholars, Linda Williams brought her critical feminist lens to some of society's most maligned and underappreciated film genres and showed their undeniable impact on the evolution of cinema. Melodrama as Provocateur brings what was to be Williams's last project-a comparative investigation of French and American attitudes to theatrical and film melodrama-together with a diverse group of scholars who respond to her provocations, rethinking melodrama's history and potential futures. Their contributions explore melodrama's transnational and transmedia histories, examine how melodrama became the default mode of contemporary media, and question why it plays an increasingly powerful role in political discourse today.