Marlene Dietrich Madonna and the Male Gaze
Marlene Dietrich, Madonna, and the Male Gaze in Blonde Venus and Desperately Seeking for Susan As audiences, we subconsciously identify the male protagonists and take female as spectacle during the film watching, due to the social function of narrative films. (Turner 72)1 Thus feminists have been slashing the objection of female body in "male gaze" in the narrative films over the decades. Male gaze is in term of the fetishistic scopophilia and sadistic voyeurism. Fetishistic scopophilia deals with male visual control over females for the aesthetic presentation, which influence the presence of female body in films. And sadistic voyeurism is the erotic gaze in pains, which shapes the female characterization in films. Thus, the female characters in narrative films share the common pattern Ð beautiful and fragile, in other words, not intellectual and dependent on men. Nevertheless, Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus and Madonna in Desperately Seeking for Susan smash this pattern. They breaks the rule first by being the leading characters in films and such concentration of the female protagonist also means the depiction of male as peripheral to the plot. ( Turner 171)2 Another breaking-rule is their char
" Barbara Kruger's motif fits for Madonna's case. The crucial reason is because that Marlene presents it by not looking sexy but being sexy and Madonna does it by looking sexy in dressing less and exposing herself. We see she show off her body all over in the Desperately Seeking for Susan, even the almost transparent brassiere doesn't stop her from changing clothes in public. Marlene's high angle shot indicates her relative superior position to male characters and Madonna's "body" sequences carries one contradictory message, female body freedom or female body spectacle. Such shooting pattern is never used on Cary, Jimmy or other male characters in the films. Anything related with Susan appears in film are not positive in societal standards so that audience judge susan from these attached messages. Women and Films Philadelphia : Temple University Press6 Cathy, Schwichtenberg ed. Mise-en-scene is also important for Marlene Dietrich's role-playing, especially costumes. Dez's home is a tiny little place right on a Chinese restaurant and he has been called "pimp" even he tries very hard to deny it. Even though some conventional ideas about female like domestic role still can be found in films, their ways of performing provides more possibilities both for males and females. Even the stolen Egypt golden earrings, Susan gets them first by "sealing". The location where Susan hangs around is linked to poverty. Cited Works1,2,5,7,8,9,10 Turner,Grame. She may fall into the trap of male expectation of female sexuality. Madonna's Susan doesn't care those men's whistles or gazes when she passes them by on the street for her body.
Common topics in this essay:
Seeking Susan,
Gary Madonna,
Susan Bordo,
Marlene Dietrich's,
Blonde Venus,
Roberta Susan,
Jimmy Susan's,
Boy Toy,
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Madonna Marlene's,
male gaze,
female body,
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marlene dietrich,
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roberta susan,
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conventional female role,
image material girl,
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Acceptance Essays
