Critical Introduction
How could you use an analysis of the pattern of looks or the identity of the gaze to develop a critical reading of contemporary mainstream film?
“The concept of gaze is how an audience views the people presented.” The types of gaze are categorized by who is involved and who is looking. “The male gaze” which is a term whom Laura Mulvey introduced in this piece of writing, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. Mulvey suggests that women are typically presented as just ‘objects’ in film, serving a sexual purpose for men, she states “Women displayed as sexual object is the leit-motif of erotic spectacle.” (Laura Mulvey, 1975, 11)
This essay will be an analysis of the identity of the gaze in mainstream film with a brief insight to the pattern of looks. The film I have chosen to focus on is Pretty Woman (1990, Director Garry Marshall, Produced by Silver Screen Partners, USA). The plot evolves around a young girl (Vivian) in Los Angeles, who makes her way through prostitution. A chance encounter with a businessman, leads her to fall in love and change her lifestyle. The film brings forth ideas of societal perceptions, attitudes and responses to particular woman, and this essay will highlight these and show how the director has responded and displayed this in his work. I feel “Pretty Woman” (1990) is an appropriate film choice, as I feel observation through other contemporary mainstream films would not be as significant or effective. This film has enabled me to get my point across much clearer with this example. I strongly feel that it displays and explores a strong understanding of the way women can be represented in mainstream film, and how they can be viewed as a source of pleasure or as little as only an ‘object’ through the male eye.
But what effect does the gaze have on film? We might consider the point Jonathan Schroeder makes, “Gazing signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze."
“The concept of gaze is how an audience views the people presented.” The types of gaze are categorized by who is involved and who is looking. “The male gaze” which is a term whom Laura Mulvey introduced in this piece of writing, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. Mulvey suggests that women are typically presented as just ‘objects’ in film, serving a sexual purpose for men, she states “Women displayed as sexual object is the leit-motif of erotic spectacle.” (Laura Mulvey, 1975, 11)
This essay will be an analysis of the identity of the gaze in mainstream film with a brief insight to the pattern of looks. The film I have chosen to focus on is Pretty Woman (1990, Director Garry Marshall, Produced by Silver Screen Partners, USA). The plot evolves around a young girl (Vivian) in Los Angeles, who makes her way through prostitution. A chance encounter with a businessman, leads her to fall in love and change her lifestyle. The film brings forth ideas of societal perceptions, attitudes and responses to particular woman, and this essay will highlight these and show how the director has responded and displayed this in his work. I feel “Pretty Woman” (1990) is an appropriate film choice, as I feel observation through other contemporary mainstream films would not be as significant or effective. This film has enabled me to get my point across much clearer with this example. I strongly feel that it displays and explores a strong understanding of the way women can be represented in mainstream film, and how they can be viewed as a source of pleasure or as little as only an ‘object’ through the male eye.
But what effect does the gaze have on film? We might consider the point Jonathan Schroeder makes, “Gazing signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze."
Bibliography: Gaze Definition [online] available at: http://gaze.askdefine.com/ [accessed on: 14/05/2013]. Mulvey, Laura (1975, rpt 1993) "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" in Anthony Easthope, ed, Contemporary Film Theory, Harlow: Longman. Orbison, Roy ‘ Oh, Pretty Woman’ _Black and White_ Monument Records, 1964. Pretty Woman (1990, Director Garry Marshall, Produced by Silver Screen Partners, USA) Rose, Gillian (2007,“Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials” 2nd Edition. London: Sage Sutherland, Elizabeth (1959) How (Not) to Look at a Woman: Bodily Encounters and the Failure of the Gaze. [online] available at: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ajp/summary/v124/124.1sutherland.html [accessed on: 15/05//2013].