Mulvery. L (1975) - Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema
Storey J (2001) - Cultural Theory and Popular Culture
Dyer, R (1979) - Stars
Task - Read through Laura Mulvery's Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, identifying the structure of her argument in each paragraph.
- summarise each section of the texts, explaining the meaning behind each.
- then read through the 2 other texts and compare them to Mulvery's text.
Word definitions
- Psychoanalysis - A way to release repressed emotions and experiences.
- Linchpin - someone or something vital to a cause or organisation.
- Phallocentrism - Belief in the superiority of males through the appraisal of the male phallus.
- Scopophelia - Derives from the pleasure of looking. Refers to the sexual pleasures from viewing erotic imagery. (sexual objects, naked bodies, photographs, pornography.) - This related to the cinema in Mulvery's text as she explains how the cinema is primordially about the wish to view for pleasure.
Summary of the male gaze theory
When looking at the different ideas of the three sources, we can tell that Laura Mulvery's theory of the male gaze can be challenged in its truthfulness. The idea of the male gaze is explored in Mulvery's writing and is explained as being a way for cinema to portray women as objects for male audiences gratification. Mulvery uses the term Scopophelia to describe the ways in which the pleasure of looking at something can be considered for sexual gratification. This is related to the cinema as the cinema is primarily about receiving pleasure and entertainment from viewing.
In her book she says: 'The cinema satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking, but it also goes further, developing scopophelia in its narcissistic aspect. The conventions of mainstream film focus attention on the human form.' This means that Mulvery suggests that mainstream cinema is deliberately focusing attention on the human form as an object for male gratification. She then goes on to say, 'The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly.' and 'Women displayed as sexual objects is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle'.
In the second text Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Mulvery's theory is challenged. It says, 'Citing Freud, she suggests that it is always more than just the pleasure of looking: scopophelia involves 'taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling gaze'. The theory of the male gaze is also challenged in the third text, in which Dyer suggests that Mulvery's is biased in her views of cinema. Dyer says, 'Narrative film continually includes looks directed at the male body and also looks between male characters.' This suggests that the theory of a 'male' gaze cannot be, as the cinema can also portray men in the same way that women can be. However, there is evidence to suggest that the objectification of men in cinema isn't as objectifying as it is to women, because men are more likely to see this as an ego boost.
In her book she says: 'The cinema satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking, but it also goes further, developing scopophelia in its narcissistic aspect. The conventions of mainstream film focus attention on the human form.' This means that Mulvery suggests that mainstream cinema is deliberately focusing attention on the human form as an object for male gratification. She then goes on to say, 'The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly.' and 'Women displayed as sexual objects is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle'.
In the second text Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Mulvery's theory is challenged. It says, 'Citing Freud, she suggests that it is always more than just the pleasure of looking: scopophelia involves 'taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling gaze'. The theory of the male gaze is also challenged in the third text, in which Dyer suggests that Mulvery's is biased in her views of cinema. Dyer says, 'Narrative film continually includes looks directed at the male body and also looks between male characters.' This suggests that the theory of a 'male' gaze cannot be, as the cinema can also portray men in the same way that women can be. However, there is evidence to suggest that the objectification of men in cinema isn't as objectifying as it is to women, because men are more likely to see this as an ego boost.
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