Visual Pleasure and
narrative cinema
This theories stemmed from two assertions;
- Cinema reflects the way society
is
- Society is patriarchal (male
dominated)
·
Males predominate in roles of political
leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property.
·
Males dominate in the family, fathers or father
figures hold authority over women and children
·
It implies the institution of male domination
and entails female subordination.
The Gaze
Laura Mulvey’s argument;
·
The gaze of the camera is the male ‘gaze’
·
The male gave is active while the female gaze is
passive
The triple gaze
The spectator is made to identify with the male gaze ,
because the camera films from the optical , as well as libidinal , point of
view of male characters.
The three level of cinematic gaze can be seen in Dr no
Audience -> Camera
-> Sean Connery -> Ursula
Agency
·
In the classical Hollywood cinema the male
protagonist ha agency – he is active and powerful.
·
He is the agent around whom dramatic action
unfolds
·
The female character is passive and powerless
she is the object of desire for the protagonist and audience.
Erotic Desire
Mulvey argues that woman have two roles in classical cinema;
1.
As objects of erotic desire for characters
2.
As object of erotic desire for the audience
Music Videos
Laura Mulvey’s argument about the male gaze is particularly
relevant when considering music videos.
A significant proportion of music videos features women as objects of
erotic desire.
An example is Rihanna'a 'shut up and drive'
Throughout the video she is presented as erotic object. Even through she is fixing cars in the first park she is wearing heals and a very sexually provocative outfit. Her body language is seductive and matches the suggestive lyrics
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