This week our film studies class revolved around the subject
of the male gaze, looking into the portrayal of gender in film and how it is
informed by the author. I have noticed
this technique in a wide variety of film genres which work very effectively
when trying to captivate a viewer into a story or situation. The gaze attracts the viewer whether they are
male or female, seducing them with the use of images and sound. An example of this is from a film we were
shown in class entitled, Gilda.
The scene reveals two male characters walking towards a room
where the viewer hears a woman singing with a soft heavenly voice. Immediately the viewer is hypnotized and
transported into the scene, intrigued.
When Gilda is introduced to the scene for the first time, Jonny’s facial
expression, silent and paralysed, tells the viewer that he is mesmerized by her
beauty. It can also be seen that Gilda
is aware of her natural beauty and this is expressed thoroughly to the viewer
with the way she flirtatiously addresses Jonny in this scene:
“I want all the hired
help to approve of me”.
Gilda expresses this desire directly
into Jonny’s eyes, as if she is speaking directly to him instead of referring
to the public in the casino. Further
evidence of these emotions are when the two gentlemen leave the room and a
close-up of Gilda’s facial expression transforms to a more calmer and neutral
state, as if the cute charm and interesting personality was solely for Jonny –
as if she is thinking about what she has done.
“A beautiful face, is the most
beautiful of sights. There is a legend
who invented the close-up in order to capture it in greater detail. The simplest close up is also the most
moving”
I feel that the author portrays
the character of Gilda very well as it attracts me into the film with the use
of images and sound whilst making me curious as to how these character’s
relationships will unfold. The use of
close-ups in this scene is very powerful.
Over the last few decades women
have become more independent, intelligent and rather superior to the male
gender:
“One might reach the conclusion
that women have escaped the sphere of production only to be absorbed the more
entirely by the sphere of consumption, to be captivated by the immediacy of the
commodity world no less than men are transfixed by the immediacy of
profit…Women mirror the injustice masculine society has inflicted on them –
they become increasingly like commodities”.
Adorno compares the two sexes
with their desires, and rather, clichéd aspects of the gender’s
personality. Women desire men to lust
over them and to be gazed upon as beautiful whilst men desire wealth and power
in the world. I find it fascinating and
effective that he uses the term “consumed” by the viewer because this
metaphorical term really describes men’s lust and attraction to the female
form, as if it is a requirement in everyday life and they have transformed
themselves into an asset.
A section of the reading that I
completely agreed with spoke about the Miss World competition and how it
affects women:
“Their condition is the condition
of all women, born to be defined by their physical attributes, born to give
birth, or if born pretty, born lucky; a condition which makes it possible and
acceptable, within the bourgeois ethic, for girls to parade, silent and smiling,
to be judged on the merits of their figures and faces”.
Miss World Competition can only
be viewed as a positive process through the male gaze. Feminist thoughts from
the 1970s forced women to reassess their position within the world, with many
choosing to reject the objectifying view of patriarchy. These Miss World
competitions effectively reduce women to their physical features, ignoring
their intellectual merits entirely.
Women who take part in these
competitions accentuate their visual aesthetic in order to capture the
attention of the viewer. “Now I’m looking for the ideal man to marry,” a
statement from Miss Grenada, exemplifies the material gain which the majority
of these women wish to achieve through the performativity of their aesthetic
beauty. In an especially feminist stance, one could argue that women play upon
the vulnerability and consuming nature of the male gaze in order to achieve
their goals. Modern women seem to monopolise the patriarchal gaze to their
advantage whilst superficially appearing to submit to established gender
normativity.
Mulvey distinguishes two approaches
in which cinema produces pleasure, both representing psychological desire of
the feminine form. The first is in
relation to scopophilia, pleasure acquired from subjecting someone to one’s
gaze whilst the second is identification with the character in question.
A great example of this
monopolisation is Jessica Rabbit from the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, a human cartoon character who is
perceived as one of the sexiest female characters in animation history. The
scene shown in class exemplified the female form of Jessica, emphasising her
hourglass figure and showing us the reaction of the male crowd who are captivated
by her. Jessica uses her sexuality to bribe Eddie’s character by flaunting her
femininity; guiding her walk using her chest and her long legs, pressing
herself up against Eddie and looking in her hand mirror a lot.
Her
performativity and mystique is what is so alluring to Eddie and he is utterly
captivated. This shows the viewer that she is fully aware of her beautiful
attributes and it fascinates the viewer to ponder what is going to happen
next. I believe that the author portrays
Jessica Rabbit’s character perfectly in this scene alone as she is knowingly
performing to her male audience in a pretence of submitting to the male gaze
whereas in reality she is exploiting this male weakness to her own advantage.
The use of the male gaze in film
is a very effective technique and I consider it to be crucial due to the way
the author characterizes individuals in their pieces of work, which helps the
viewer understand the personalities and general attributes of characters. I feel that imagery and sound play vital roles
in the success of these techniques and they harmonize with each other to help
create a great character which encapsulates the audience.
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References:
Laura Mulvey, Visual And Other Pleasures, (Bloomington,
Indiana University Press, 1989)
Laura Mulvey, Fetishism And Curiosity, (Bloomington,
Indiana University Press, 1996)
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