Mulvey's Gaze

Humor is used regularly in the original print version of A Christmas Carol, and the reader gets a sense of Dickens’ true personality and a peek behind his creative curtain through it. Even his observation in the opening chapter questioning the use of the term “dead as a door-nail” brings a lightness to the very heavy topic of Marley’s death (p. 1). When viewing the movie, the audience is not given the same chance to watch the scene with the author as their guide, nor the ability to hear his voice. They witness the proceedings first-hand, and are left to find humor and focus where they will. In effect, the movie lacks a certain lightness that the book provided, and seems to carry a deeper feeling of darkness and gloom.

The male gaze puts his fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled, in a unique sort of way. In this traditional exhibitionist, role women are continuously being looked at and their appearance is delivered to the male gaze in such a way as a strong visual and erotic impact and provides male desire. The presence of a woman in a normal narrative film is the key of the movie. However, the key of the narrative film works against the development of the story-line and stops the action due to the erotic gaze. Butt Boetticher said: “What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance”.

Several film theorists have used a variety of tactics and view points to analyze feature films since their inception. One of the most prominent theorists of those that analyze films from a feminist perspective is Laura Mulvey. Mulvey is famous for her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” which presents an array of theories involving the treatment of women in films. Arguably the most notable idea presented in Mulvey’s work is the existence of the “male gaze” in films. This essay will examine Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze in relation to Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Vertigo. Vertigo does not fit the criteria of a film that

Cléo from 5 to 7, directed by Agnes Varda, is a film about one woman’s struggle to come to terms with the possibility of her potential illness. Not only is Cléo struggling with her physical health, but she is also dealing with her beauty and the consequences of being an attractive woman in the modern world of the 1960s. When examined through the lens of Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” theory, another aspect of the film comes to light. The film seems to objectify Cléo and thus trivialize her struggles with others’ perceptions of her throughout the film by adhering to the construct of the male gaze. Although Cléo from 5 to 7 appears to play into the construct of the male gaze through the repeated objectification of Cléo, it actually subverts this idea and instead confronts the viewer, and the notion of women as passive objects to be viewed.

Meanwhile, Carol’s costume and performance paint her as simultaneously both more and less of an outsider than Therese. Establishing shots show throngs of holiday shoppers in dark wool coats and neutral colored suits, bustling around completing their holiday shopping. Then, the audience meets Carol. In an extravagant, caramel colored fur coat, a scarlet hat and scarf, and with fiery red lips and nails, Carol stands out from the crowd. Her slow, deliberate gaze contrasts the hustle of the shoppers. She is alone, while most other are accompanied by spouses, friends, or children, and she exudes an air of mystery and angst. Carol’s costume and mannerisms in this case align with Doty’s claim, however the classically feminine and glamorous way in which Carol presents herself complicates the connection. While Carol is in fact depicted as being an other, she aligns better with normative standards of female beauty and sexuality than all others in this scene. This notion is present throughout the film as Carol embodies the pinnacle of what women in this time aspired to exude; she’s elegant and witty, intelligent and compelling, beautiful and wealthy, and a wife and mother. However,

To do so, Levy turns to the experiences of several young women whom she interviews. From her interpretations of these experiences, Levy reaches the conclusion that these women’s sexual nature revolves around their need

Carol’s state of mind degenerates, or breaks down because of her repulsion of masculinity in a sexual context. Through Carol’s eyes, we see masculinity as being aggressive, obsessive, crude/sexually suggestive, rapacious and

Irene’s queer personality lives repressed in her id and the attraction can be noticed through many too detailed descriptions of Clare body parts and personality. “Her lips, painted a brilliant geranium red, were sweet and sensitive and a little obstinate. A tempting mouth” (45). It is impressive to see how this supposedly straight woman describes Clare’s mouth as tempting, yet she does not stop there, because Irene also describes her voice, “What was it about Clare's voice that was so appealing, so very seductive?” (52). The utilization of these adjectives is questionable because even when Irene talks about her husband Brian, she never uses adjectives that could express desire or even love. Irene is aware that her marriage is an arrangement where according to Brian sex is a just grand joke (60).

Women in today’s society face the reality of the male gaze every day. When we step outside, our movements are followed no matter what we wear. Even today, gender roles are enforced by the power imbalance between men and women. Rear Window, one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most reputable films, can be analyzed stylistically through a feminist scope in order to narrow down the patterns that occur throughout the film. By examining the stylistic patterns in the cinematography, mise-en-scène and editing throughout Rear Window, we can see reoccurrences of pro-patriarchal themes.

Historically, The United States has been a racially and ethnically a diverse nation. Since Americans represent a variety of cultures and have a variety of viewpoints, we share many cultural traditions, values, and political ideals that cement us together as a nation. Children can develop their ideas and their identity at early stages in schools. Education should stress the value of diversity and avoid portraying one culture or group as superior to others. A multicultural educational system would not only educate the students in a classroom, but also enrich the teacher and society. The definition of multiculturalism is education that focuses on providing equal opportunity for students who’s cultural or

Even though male gaze is still the fundamental construct in modern films, I do not think lesbians and majority of women these days enjoy objectification. Women are trying to break through gender differences and evolve as equal being to men. In trying to explain how women are positioned in films, Kaplan says “Psychoanalysis a crucial tool for explaining the needs, desires and male-female positioning that are reflected in film” p. (). Kaplan uses psychoanalysis to argue how women take

The colonization of the Americas was a time defined as when Europeans began to explore and colonize the Americas around the 1400s, but disrupted many native civilizations in their way. The Europeans realized that they needed some type of work force to help start this new world after killing off most of the Native Americans, which was a starting point for the Atlantic and triangular slave trade to support plantations in the New World. Throughout the hundreds of years that the colonization of the Americas was occurring, many European nations were able to benefit from the colonization because of either there gain of land, gain of resources, or a better trade route for that nation, but for these nations to benefit,

What can be said of the menacing literary masterpiece that is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is that the gender issues Joyce so surreptitiously weaves into Stephan Dedalus’s character create sizable obstacles for the reader to overcome. Joyce expertly composes a feminine backdrop in which he can mold Stephan to inexplicably become innately homosexual. As Laurie Teal points out “… Joyce plays with gender inversion as a uniquely powerful tool of characterization.”(63) Stephan’s constant conflict with himself and what he wants generate a need for validation that he tries to simulate through day dreams and fantasies but is ultimately unable to resolve. Through exploring the tones of characterization and the character development of

Nowadays, drugs are usually used for recreational purposes. There are a lot of drugs that people usually know such as heroin, cocaine, crack, alcohol, amphetamines, marijuana,… However, there is one type of drug that also can be used as medicine, it is marijuana. Most people think marijuana as a normal drug, which is used for recreation and bad for health. Nevertheless, the scientists have found a new type of marijuana called medical marijuana. Medical marijuana is a new important discovery in medication. The goal of this paper is to show the benefit of medical marijuana by comparing recreational marijuana and medical marijuana’s effects.

The film version of Diary of a Teenage Girl, rather than condemning patriarchal privilege and its attendant exploitations as the book does, is instead a very careful take on a young 's girl 's exploration of her sexuality. The film and the book share the same premise but ultimately differ on delivery due to their inherently different approaches to capturing Minnie’s life as her and the other characters are portrayed differently, so much so that is a cautious take on an otherwise un-barred novel. Rather than touching upon patriarchal privilege and its exploitations, the film smooths over many of the more intense aspects in order to create a happy ending for itself, which is fundamentally different than what the book intended.