The Piano, from feminist perspective
Ecem ŞEN
Film Theory-1035673 ecemsenn@gmail.com The Woman who looks at men from behind her own fingers
There has been an undeniable increase in the number of people who argue that how mainstream films can shape or reproduce spectator’s look and position in movies. Mainstream films follow a particular narrative structure and format that shapes how we understand films. The speactator looks at what camera sees or “demonstrates” them. In this case, there is a construction and reproduction of reality. Cinema always re-constructs gender and sexual identity. According to Mulvey camera works for men. Male character looks, “female character is looked at.” Actually male gaze is a sexual gaze. Women are objects of desire. Spectators are put into a masculine subject position. (Althusser,1971) How does cinema alter the position of spectator? This sense of self is produced by personal choices of director. Using eye-line matches, close-up shots of the male character looking, intercut with shots of female character’s body and so on.
What happens if a movie was written and directed by a woman and it is a woman story? It can be said that the Piano is an example of attempting to create female gaze in a movie. Not only the existence of female director and female protagonist but also using shot types and objectification of male characters can be seen as reasons to say that.
The Piano is about a woman who is mute and plays piano as a passion. It is a way to speak for her. Women in mainstream cinema seldom has a voice her own. Piano can be seen as Ada’s own voice to say something about herself. According to Attwood, traditionally men ask questions such as “what do women want?” but do not let women answer; women can not be the speaking subjects of the knowledge. Then the men answer the question themselves, based on their own male desire. In movie, Ada can not speak to her husband. He wonders what she wants and then he claim that he can clearly hear her in his mind. This
Film Theory-1035673 ecemsenn@gmail.com The Woman who looks at men from behind her own fingers
There has been an undeniable increase in the number of people who argue that how mainstream films can shape or reproduce spectator’s look and position in movies. Mainstream films follow a particular narrative structure and format that shapes how we understand films. The speactator looks at what camera sees or “demonstrates” them. In this case, there is a construction and reproduction of reality. Cinema always re-constructs gender and sexual identity. According to Mulvey camera works for men. Male character looks, “female character is looked at.” Actually male gaze is a sexual gaze. Women are objects of desire. Spectators are put into a masculine subject position. (Althusser,1971) How does cinema alter the position of spectator? This sense of self is produced by personal choices of director. Using eye-line matches, close-up shots of the male character looking, intercut with shots of female character’s body and so on.
What happens if a movie was written and directed by a woman and it is a woman story? It can be said that the Piano is an example of attempting to create female gaze in a movie. Not only the existence of female director and female protagonist but also using shot types and objectification of male characters can be seen as reasons to say that.
The Piano is about a woman who is mute and plays piano as a passion. It is a way to speak for her. Women in mainstream cinema seldom has a voice her own. Piano can be seen as Ada’s own voice to say something about herself. According to Attwood, traditionally men ask questions such as “what do women want?” but do not let women answer; women can not be the speaking subjects of the knowledge. Then the men answer the question themselves, based on their own male desire. In movie, Ada can not speak to her husband. He wonders what she wants and then he claim that he can clearly hear her in his mind. This