Women as Image
One of the most basic connections between women's experience in this culture and women's experience in film is precisely the relationship of spectator and spectacle. Since women are spectacles in their everyday lives, there's something about coming to terms with film from the perspective of what it means to be an object of spectacle and what it means to be a spectator that is really coming to terms with that relationship exists both on the screen and in everyday life. Judith MayneSince the 1960's feminist film theory has been examined in relative detail. The idea of the male gaze, conjectured by feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey in her well known article "Visual pleasure and narrative cinema" became a base point for further analysis of the spectators role in film. However relevant the idea of the male gaze became, an area requiring more investigation was that of the female spectator and her role in viewing the spectacle on the screen. In the above quote Judith Mayne highlights the importance of the female spectator's journey through realizing herself as a spectacle in her everyday life and realizing herself also as a spectator viewing herself as a spectacle on the screen. By coming to terms with the fact that women a
Rather then identifying with the 'ideal ego' and viewing the female as a spectacle through the male protagonist, the female spectator can assume the role of viewing the male spectator, who is in turn viewing the female protagonist as spectacle; because they themselves are spectacle in every day life. In a narcissistic twist, the very point of Bridget being offered up here as a spectacle of ridicule allows her to ultimately achieve one of her desires. Lorelei, Dorothy and Bridget Jones all manage to observe their own spectacles creating a space for the female viewer's identification with herself as spectacle. Bridget however is continually obsessed with herself as spectacle and the female spectator is given the unique view of Bridget as a spectacle but at the same time as a spectator herself. Bloomington : Indiana University Press Kaplan, E A (1983): Women and Film: Both Sides of the Camera. The female spectacle is offered up as an object of fetish for both the male spectators in the film and in for viewing audience. By taking back the gaze [acknowledging herself as a subject of the male gaze] she substantiates the importance it played in her achieving her desires. Feminist Film Criticism, Indiana University PressReferences:De Lauretis, Teresa (1984): Alice Doesn't. Although 'Piggy' sees Lorelei as and object of fetish, Lorelei returns his gaze, replacing his head with a gigantic symbol of her ultimate goal - a diamond. Patricia Evans (1990): Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Although the two films address different audiences with entirely different socio-economic situations, they both address the idea of the female spectator's relationship to herself as spectacle. The female spectator can both see the female spectacle in a scopophilic manner as well as identifying with the image.
Common topics in this essay:
Bridget Jones,
Jones Diary,
Lorelei Dorothy,
Judith Mayne,
Rose Cairo,
Ann Kaplan,
,
Laura Mulvey,
female spectator,
female protagonist,
Press Doane,
Patricia Erens,
bridget jones,
achieve desires,
voyeuristic gaze,
indiana university press,
university press,
feminist film,
male gaze,
female protagonists,
indiana university,
bridget jones diary,
criticism indiana university,
film criticism indiana,
feminist film criticism,
|
Acceptance Essays
