Laura Mulvey's theory

Laura Mulvey's theory is useful in my independent study and for all my texts. As you can see below I have explained will examples of sum scenes that reinforce the ‘MALE GAZE’ as a result follow Mulvey’s theory. Charlie’s angels are my main texts and in this film they use a variety of objects that can be considered as a PHALLIC object. The main trend I have found from all my texts is that the protagonists are FEMALE rather than the stereotypical male, as a result EROTIC pleasure is given to the audience/ SPECTATORS to keep them entertained. Most my texts are action films such as my main texts Charlie’s Angels-full throttle, kill bill and tomb raider. In these films the protagonist is the female and as a result it shows that females can be as powerful as male challenging the active/male and passive/female.

Females may be shown in a active role now however they are still being OBJECTIFIED in films and the meain reason is the lack of female directors resulting in male directors directing films and the audience shown the film from a male perspective.

Below I have explained how Mulvey's theory is relevent to all my texts and gave examples of how the audience are entertained.

Other texts- Laura Mulvey's theory

In all these films the spectator is given VOYEURISTIC PLEASURE in order of fulfilling the MALE GAZE. The women are being OBJECTIFIED though they are being shown in active roles rather than the stereotypical passive roles. By doing this it challenges a PATRIARCHAL society where women are no longer suborninate to men as a result this could result in MISOGYNY.

• In this film Angelina Jolie has PHALLIC OBJECTS that would give the SPECTATOR EROTIC PLEASURE. These symbols include
• -the gun around her- as a result the spectator will feel less ANXIETY.

In this scene and the film, the PHALLIC object is the sword. This gives her power as she uses it to kill people. this would result in AXIETY because a phallic objects is used to get this power by a women.











The plallic object the protagonist has in this film is the WHIP. The whip could also be seen as a FETISH OBJECT. This whip is a tool to give other pain, so SADISM is likely in this film.

In this film, Coyote ugly the phallic objects include the alcohol bottles and glasses. Other phaliic symbols could be the microphone the protagonist uses to sing with in order for the spectator gettin EROTIC PLEASURE out of it.

Laura Mulvey's theory

This clip is taken form the film Charlie's Angels- Full Throttle.

In this scene the angels are in a strip club called 'the treasure chest'. Laura Mulvey's theory can be applied to this scene and i will explain how.

In the scene the angels are shown pole dancing, this gives the SPECTATOR EROTIC PLEASURE as the pole could be represnted as a PHALLIC OBJECT. This would result in the MALE GAZE, as explained by Laura Mulvey. As a result they are being OBJECTIFIED.

FETISH OBJECTS can also be seen in the scens such as the clothes they are wearing and the whip they use in the scene though not shown in the picture. The male spectaors could also feel ANXIETY in this scene as the females dancing dont have a penis, this means that from a male point of veiw the women are CASTRATED. In order for themales to indentify with the females, a phallic or fetish objects is used.

As the famales are getting objectified, the males are given VOYEURISTIC pleasure. SCOPOPHILIA is a type of pleasure that is getting fulfilled in this scene as the spectators are getting pleasure from looking.

Laura Mulvey's theory on the 'male gaze'


Laura Mulvey is a feminist film theorist. She has written a successful esssay called 'Visual pleasures and narrative cinema'.

She came up with a theory on how the audience are positioned so we see from the male perspective, called the 'MALE GAZE' . This results objectification, where women are seen as objects (sexually objectified). As a result, they are subordinate to men reinforcing patriachy (male dominated society). The spectator (audience) watch the female in a sexual way, in order of gaining erotic pleasure (sexual arousal), voyeuristic pleasure (sexual pleasure of watching someone else) and scopophilia (the pleasure in looking).

This is where Sigmund Freud's theory on psychoanalysis can come in and link in with what Mulvey is talking about. During the male gaze, anxiety can arise due to the idea of castration (remorval of male genital organs) on a women. This then can be filled by a phallic object (connotations of a penis) or a fetish object. This is likey to be seen in movies which follow the concept of the 'whore' and the 'madonna', where the whore dresses in a seductively way allowing the male spectators gettin pleasure by looking at them, though the whore usually dies at the end of the movie. This is where sadism can be introduced (pleasure from someone experiencing pain) as the whore should get punished and when she dies it is like a releif, where the spectaors are satisfied that someone bad gets punished. Narcissism can be seen by the hero as he we would want to be more like him and has the power, this allows the spectator to identify with the character.

Freud is a theorist of psychoanlatic, the founder of psychoanalysis. He had his own theory, where he analysed and was interpreting human behaviour, especially the mind. He came up with the idea of conscious and unconscious using a model of a iceberg. The top half of the iceberg that was visible and over the water was called the conscious and 1/10 of how conscious we were and the bottom called the unconscious and was about 9/10 of how un conscious we are. He said that repression was pushing down or the motion we push into the unconscious and the resistence which he described as to knowing or finding out the truth.

I think that what Mulvey is saying about the male gaze is true to a certain extent becasue its not seen in all text but only a few. Also, her theory is very old now and contemporary society has changed as a result postfeminism was introduced. As a result, her theory is challenged sometimes, especially in recent films that have a female protagonist who is also the hero and not shown in sexual ways, though males can get pleasure from this from the tight suits and the female fighting.

'Appropriated Research'

Alice blog

Both men and women may cross-dress in order to disguise their true identity. Historically, some women have cross-dressed in order to take up male-dominated or male-exclusive professions, such as military service. Conversely, some men have cross-dressed in order to escape from mandatory military service. Mulan (1998)

In this paragraph Alice mentiones how some people may cross-dress to hide their identity. In Charlie's Angels- Full Throttle, their are small scenes where the angels have cross dressed to hide their identity so they can pass their mission.

Jaskeerat blog

There is much male dominance in the scene and there are connotations of patriarchy especially as Shaun comes up with several failed plans. The plans mainly consist of Ed and Shaun saving the two damsels in distress, Barbara (Shaun’s mum) and Liz (Shaun’s girlfriend). Shaun is conveyed as the hero, Ed acts as the donor and the helper, helping with the development of the plan and Liz is the princess (Propp).

Propps theory on character roles is useful to my independent. The hero's in Charlies Angels are Diaz, Barrymore and Lui. The helper and the donor is Bosley, who helps then on their missions. My film also challenges patriachy as the females are shown as the protagonists rather that the usual male.

Jatinder blog

This shows that Thurman's character is the reciepiant of male violence as is a weak person in this particualr scene. She is not able to get her revenge on Budd as it is Elle Driver who is the one who kills him. This could reflect that women (Thurman's character) are subordinate to men and Tarantino is carrying on the hegemonic model of representation. He is mainting the status quo of a patriarchal society, men are mainting their power.

Furthermore, Tarantino can also be accused of using the "bitchy" stereotype about women in kill bill. This is because Thurman's character murders or tortures former friends, 5 women. She tortures Sofie Fatale by cutting her limbs off and kills Copperhead infront of her own child. This reinforces the stereotype that women cannot get along with one another.

However, a different viewpoint can be taken illustrating that Tarantino is liberating women in this film. For example Thurman's character massacres the Crazy 88 (who were all men) and the ring leader of the Deadly Vipers, Bill. Here, Tarantino could be reflecting that women are now becoming just as important as men in society and the mass killings could represent the frustration women have had over the years.

This is useful to me because i wil talk about patriachy in my film and Kill Bill is one of my other texts. This talks about how patriachy, male domination is present in the film which is the opporsite to Charlies Angels so i can use this as my debate i have while answering my question.

Navdeep blog

Feminism = equal rights for men and women

First-wave feminism:
Feminist movement in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, which primarily focused on gaining the right of women's suffrage. The term was not used during the time of the movement; the term was coined retroactively after second-wave feminism began to be used to describe a newer feminist movement- being able to vote and freedom of speech.

Second-wave feminism:
Feminist thought that originated around the 1960s and was mainly concerned with independence and greater political action to improve women's rights. By this time women and teenagers were getting more stronger.

Third-wave feminism:
Feminist movement that arguably began in the early 1990s. Unlike second-wave feminism, which largely focused on the inclusion of women in traditionally male-dominated areas, third-wave feminism seeks to challenge and expand common definitions of gender and sexuality- lesbians.

Feminism is an area i will be looking at and mentioning it in my study as i will be able to talk about women in the past and how they have changed over the decades and how fiminism may be the reason women were able to become more independent and challenge patriachy.

Self-evaluation

Attainment
1= I understand the work that’s being done at the moment quite well.

Effort

2= this is because I put as much effort I could into the subject however I can put more effort. For example, for my blog work I have put a lot of effort in to it as I enjoy this area. In lessons I understand the work however I need to put a lot more effort in to my class-work.

Punctuality

1= my punctuality is good as I try and arrive to lessons on time and try and avoid being late. I also don’t take of much of school, only is I have a excuse such as an appointment or if I am ill, otherwise I attend most lessons so I don’t miss out on my work.

Submission and quality of homework

1/2= the homework I hand in had been good quality as I highlight all the sheets I receive and hand in homework most of the time. I always hand in the homework set that needs to be on the blog as I enjoy doing blog work.

Ability to work independently

1= I think I work well independently as this can be seen by looking at my blog research I have done independently so far for it.

Quality of writing

2/3= the quality of my writing is not that good however this is an accurate grade. I will know the quality of writing when we start doing more writing in lesson, such as for the school magazine.

Organisation of Media folder

1= I think my media folder is good because as soon I get sheets in lesson I put them in a folder so they don’t get lost. I also put my sheets in order of when I got them so they are in order and making it neater. I also bring all my sheets to lesson for both Med 4 and Med 6 so I could refer back to it and will have it with me when I need to have it for the lesson.

Oral contributions in class

2/3= I think that I need to contribute to lessons more when I no the answer however I do think I contribute more, or try to this year than last year, although it isn’t enough.

Standard of module 5 blogs

1= the standard of my module 5 blog is very good as I have kept up with all my homework as is good quality with a lot of detail. I have also done a lot of self directed research which will help me with my independent study. I have also tried to make it attractive my adding colour and have a lot of pictures on my blog.

Standard of Module 6 blog (Year 13s only)

1/2= This is because the work I have done so far on the blog is not as detailed as it should be however I do put my effort into it but not as much as I could. I also have added pictures and used a variety of fonts to make it look nice to look at.

list of three targets/areas for improvement:

• To contribute more in lessons when i know an answer
• Improve my blog for module 6
• Put more effort in class

Adverts on women...

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1471996088770468263&q=adverts+on+women

An advert made for nike based around womens rugby/ girls rugby. This is the advery that challenges the sterotypes on womem where they are takig a more active roles than a passive roles by participating in a soprt like rugby, there we as an audience accociate with males.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYr3ev4CwiA

This is an advert i found that represent the main person, kylie as a whore, due to the way she is acting and the way she i dressed. This advert also reinforces Laura, Mulvey's theory on the male gaze. This is because she is not wearing much clothes and is revelaign her body for the audience to see, she is being objectified.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0dw0nmoMhY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRlGQvOxDwI

This is a traditional advert of a women in a stereotypical role of a housewife cleaning. This can be seen as she is cleaning the fllor with a vacuum and is very the stereotypical clothes women used to wear in th past when they cleaned with the apron round their hips.

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is a U.S.–based film and television production company, part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which in turn is part of Japanese electronics giant Sony.

The Torch Lady in the color version of the Columbia Pictures logo, used in the late 50s and early 60s..

The predecessor of Columbia Pictures, CBC Film Sales Corporation, was founded in 1919 by Harry Cohn, his brother Jack Cohn, and Joe Brandt. The company's reputation was so low that some joked that "CBC" stood for "Corned Beef and Cabbage." Many of the studio's early productions were low-budget affairs; the start-up CBC leased space in a poverty row studio on Hollywood's Gower Street. Brandt was company president and handled sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood.

2000s- some of the films distributed by columbia pichures...

-Charlie's Angels (2000, based on 1970s television series)
-Spider-Man (2002)
-Stuart Little 2 (2002)
-Gothika (2003, with Warner Bros.)
-Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003, international distribution only)
-Spider-Man 2 (2004)
-The Grudge (2004)
-Are We There Yet? (2005) (co-production with Revolution Studios)
-The Longest Yard (2005) (co-production with Paramount Pictures and MTV Films, remake of -1974 Paramount Pictures film)
-Guess Who (2005, remake of 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) (co-production with Regency Enterprises)
-The Legend of Zorro (2005) (co-production with Spyglass Entertainment and Amblin Entertainment)
-Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
-Zathura (2005)
-Yours, Mine & Ours (2005) (co-production with Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Nickelodeon Movies, remake of 1968 United Artists film)
-Christmas with the Kranks (2005) (co-production with Revolution Studios)
-The Pink Panther (2006, distribution only) (with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
-The Da Vinci Code (2006) (co-production with Imagine Entertainment)
Monster House (2006) (co-production with ImageMovers and Amblin Entertainment)
-Casino Royale (2006) (co-production with Eon Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
-Spider-Man 3 (2007) (co-production with Marvel Entertainment)