5. Notion of looking
There is frequent reference to the notion of looking eg. using mirrors,
screens within screens and stages. There is also a particular voyeuristic
treatment of the female body.
Gaze:
The concept of the Gaze deals with how the audiences
views the ideas (or people) presented. Feminists see this is 3 different ways:
How Men look at Women
How Women look at themselves
How Women look at other Women
Theorist Laura Mulvey created the term 'Male
Gaze' in 1975. She believed that in film, the audience
was encouraged to view characters from the perspective of
a Heterosexual Male.
How Male Gaze is shown:
The camera usually focuses on the curves of the female's body and there
are many close ups of this. Also events which occur to women are presented
largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events. Usually the female
character must experience the narrative from a secondary position, by
identification with the male.
Candy Shop Video:
In this video the Male Gaze plays an important part; the females
included are represented in a seductive manor. There are a number of close up
shots of the male's face, revealing that his focus is on the women. The overall
representation of women perceived from the looking notion is that they are seen
as a 'prize'.
Lady Gaga Video:
Lady Gaga is a very controversial artist and she is not afraid to be a
little 'out there' with her video ideas. In this video she completely
disregards Laura Mulvey's theory and instead represents the male actors as
inferior. She has challenged the typical view of women as she shows herself as
the dominant, powerful figure. It is also interesting that in parts of the
video she is in fact not wearing much clothes, however the audience's gaze is
not drawn to this due to the unpredictable use of male actors. Lady Gaga's
target audience consists mostly of females, however she is also very popular
with homosexual males and therefore including explicit views of men (the queer
gaze) is ideal for her audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment