SPECTATORSHIP, POWER, AND THE GAZE Flashcards
Intro
“There is power in looking” – Hook (115)
To think about: sitting in rows vs in a circle
Laura Mulvey and the male gaze in film
• Draws from a lot of psychoanalytical theory
Scopophilia
pleasure involved in looking at other people’s body as objects, especially as erotic objects
• Dark theatre atmosphere sets up the spectator; no one can see the spectator looking so they can really engage in the act of looking; promotes voyeurism associate w/ scopophilia
• In patriarchal society → pleasure in looking has been split b/t active/male and passive/female
o There is a real tendency towards this dynamic
o Men = active, controlling subjects (in charge of plot, help story move forward)
o Women = passive objects of desire for the men in the story and for the audience; bearers of the look and in film only to be looked at
• “to be looked at-ness” of female characters even if they may be main characters (i.e. love interest)
These relations are created through filmic devices, including plot, camera angles and framing, editing, lighting, and sound
i.e. Vertigo
Two characters: ex-detective to follow this woman
* pay attention to the film language – think about the shots, angle, perspective, music (guide audience on how to feel about the clip), lighting, editing (sequence)
• to see and not to be seen
• the women is completely unaware of the man looking, nonchalantly looking around in the flower shop
• see from Scotty’s perspective; the man controls what we’re looking at
• the eerie music, makes it feel like you’re creeping on her
• dark lighting vs bright flower shop (contrast makes it apparent that we’re seeing from the POV of that character), surreptitiousness of what he is doing
• the whole apparatus controls OUR gaze to follow his perspective
Male gaze
how cinematic language creates a relation of viewing in which men are structured as active viewers while women are passive bearers of the sexualized male gaze
Hook reading: Problems with this theory of “the gaze”
Does not consider:
• Sexuality → assumes a male perspective of the world; heteronormative
• Race → ignores the fact that many ppl of colour (i.e. black ppl) have views that have not been the same as white people
o Black man looking at white women in context of slavery it was forbidden
o Black women don’t expect to see themselves in film
• Possibility for a viewer who reads “against the grain” of the film → limiting way in which the audience is assumed as being dumb; we can’t see the film critically
o There aren’t a lot of ppl of colour in mainstream Hollywood film
o To ignore the stereotypical representations to ignore the possibility for oppositional viewing
“The ‘gaze has been and is a site of resistance for colonized people globally…” (Hooks 116)
The gaze can be seen as a site of resistance
There is a critical gaze (look back at people, challenge those relations)
We can be critical of the film text that is stereotypical
Claiming and cultivating awareness
• Stopped watching film for a long time and educated herself
• She was able to have that oppositional view of the gaze
• There is a way to gaze in resistance
i.e. The Book of Negroes
felt aligned with the girl’s perspective
o the girl staring at the slave owner as he walks away
o switch → two women looking thru the window at the end of the clip
• because of the angle we see the slave owner, upward; inclined to her perspective, looking up at the owner
• the female character, Aminata – did she have an active gaze?
o An oppositional gaze, as indicated from her body language
o Resistance against authority, looking back at authority
o The fact that she stands up
o Length of time we see her face in that shot; camera spends a lot of time on her face
• Gives power to her even though there is no equal power between her as the salve and him as the owner
• Imagine if she was looking down…what would that have changed?
• Is it successful in constructing an oppositional gaze or offering another way to view?
o To an extent it is successful, especially the last part where the owner walks away and they look out the window
Aside from film, in a larger context:
• The gaze can be applied across media
• With advent of social media, relations of looking have shifted
o Before the internet and social media, the flow of content was assumed to be one-way, from broadcaster to spectator
• With user-generated content and online feedback tools, media is now more multi-directional flow (info and images)
i.e. a tumblr that came out after the incident concerning Mike Brown in Ferguson
• if they gunned me down, what photo would they use?
• iftheygunnedmedown.tumblr.com
o stereotyping by the news media
o they know that a lot of people will not do research of their own so they will pull info from whatever the news chooses to release; people will go along with what they see
o how one picture completely throws off someone’s impression of a person
THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF (2 THINGS)
IfTheyGunnedMeDown
o collective action – all these individuals coming together to post on social media under
o always this juxtaposisiton
• grad photos, family photo versus stereotypical photo
• imposes a particular perspective on us (i.e. thugs or partyers)
o there is a gaze → a gazing back
o what institutions providing a back story:
• news media
• social media (in everyday life, multi-directional gazes)
• police (the gaze of the police disciplining; disciplinary gaze)
• the justice system, the legal system
