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VIEWING GENDER IN FILM

PHOEBEEMILY

CHARLOTTELYNSEY

+Structure of presentation

Introduce the use of psychoanalysis in films Explain the Oedipus complex Castration Anxiety The two different forms of ‘looking’ Women as the passive/object, men as the active looker Criticisms of Mulvey in relation to Neale’s reading Question to class

+Psychoanalysis in films

Mulvey uses psychoanalysis as a ‘political weapon, demonstrating the way the unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form’ (Mulvey pp.6)

Patriarchal society = Phallocentric society

‘The paradox of phallocentrism in all its manifestation is that it depends on the image of the castrated women to give order and meaning to the world’ Freud

Sigmund Freud 1856-1939

+Oedipus complex

Derived from Greek mythical character Oedpius who kills father and marries mother.

Female figure = fear of castration Fear of having his own penis cut off by the father (‘the

rival’) as punishment for desiring the mother. This is the basis for ‘castration anxiety’

‘It is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father. Our dreams convince us that this is so’ Freud

+Castration Anxiety1. Making the woman’s body something satisfying in

itself rather than as a threat. ‘…complete disavowal of castration by the substitution of a

fetish object or turning the represented figure itself into a fetish so that it becomes reassuring rather than dangerous (hence the cult of the female star)’ (Mulvey pp.14)

2. Making the woman the holder of the guilt. Male asserts his control and subjects the guilty woman to

punishment. This is usually associated with sadism. This sadistic side fits well with narrative because sadism

demands to take control, to make things happen, something that the apparently goes well with traditional  representations of masculinity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AFk95YUz9Q

+ Pleasure in looking/fascination with human form Two types of looking;

1.Scopophilia - pleasure we get from looking.

2. Narcissistic - compares/indentifies oneself to the person on screen.

Two forms of looking contradict each other – Scopophilia depends on seperation from film (Voyeuristic seperation) whereas narcissism based around relationship with character on screen.

+Woman as image, man bearer of the look Female = passive and object Male = active and bearer of the look ‘..women are simultaneously looked at

and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness’ (Mulvey, pp.11)

Affects the narrative structure of a film, as the man is not seen as an object, they are active they need to make things happen and push the story on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0argWNYZJdM

+Criticisms of Mulvey - Masculinity as spectacle Lack of discussion revolved around

how heterosexual men are represented.

Rodowick criticizes Mulvey stating she doesn’t recognize the male star can play the function of an erotic object.

Mulvey only sees the identification with male protagonist as a sense of omnipotence, of assuming control of narrative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gnAW-oeR5E

+Questions to the class

Given that Mulvey’s article was written in 1975, are her points still valid when applied to our contemporary society and why?

Do you think modern media texts provide evidence that there has been a true progression in gender representation or is it an illusion that films have become more liberal?