Laura Mulvey's 'The Male Gaze'(1975)
- Cinema reflects society.
- Therefore cinema reflects a patriarchal society.
- How does a patriarchal manifest itself in cinema?
Erotic Desire
Mulvey argues that women have two roles in film;
- As an object of erotic desire for the male characters.
- As an object of erotic desire for the audience.
The Gaze
- The 'gaze' of the camera is the 'male gaze'.
- The 'male gaze' is active however the female is seen as being very passive.
- Within the narrative male direct their gaze towards the female characters.
- The spectator is made to identify with the male gaze , because the camera films from the optical point of view,as well as the point of view of the male character.
- Thus creating three levels of the cinematic gaze - camera, male character/s and spectator- that objectify the female character.
Problems with the theory
- The theory assumes that all women are presented as erotic desire throughout film however their are female characters who are supposed to be anything but an erotic desire.
- With the turn of the century, women have gained more equality with men and now are being represented as heroes, villains comedians in film.
- It also assumes that this may also apply to male characters being seen as the erotic desire.
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