Announcements • View on your own: The Body Beautiful at film reserves or linked to course reserves online. To access this you need to be on campus or using web proxy and use course password (BGCO). • Teach in on the "Compton cookout" to be led by Penny Rue from 12‐2 on Wednesday Price Center East Ballroom.
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Announcements
• View on your own: The Body Beautifulat film reserves or linked to course reserves online. To access this you need to be on campus or using web proxy and use course password (BGCO).
• Teachinonthe"Comptoncookout"tobeledbyPennyRuefrom12‐2onWednesdayPriceCenterEastBallroom.
Identity, Representation, and Media
Gender and Media • Whatdowemeanbygender?
• Dofilmscreatesexualstereotypes?
• Dofilmsreflectgendernorms?
Early Feminist Critiques • EarlycriHcismfocusedonstereotypesofwomen
andtheirnegaHveimpactonfemalespectators
• AdvocatedforcorrecHveposiHveimagesofwomen.
Feminist Theory: Structural Theory and Psychoanalysis
Intheearly1970sClaireJohnstonwasoneofthefirsttodrawonsemioHcs(theoryofsigns/significaHon)andLacanianpsychoanalysisinlookingatthedepicHonofwomeninfilm.Shesuggestedthat:
• Cinemadrawsmalemythof“woman”toprovideaparHcularideologicalconstrucHonofgender.
• Womaninclassicalcinemaserveasan“emptysign”exchangedbymen;theobjectratherthanthesubjectofdesire.
JohnstonwascriHcalofHollywoodcinema,butalsosawitasanimportantsiteforstudyandintervenHon.ShecalledforanalternaHvenarraHvecinema.
Feminist Theory: Semiotics and Psychoanalysis
TogetherthesetwoframeworksprovidedfeministfilmtheoristswithwaysforthinkingabouthowtheviewerasasubjectparHcipatesinthemeaningofthefilm.
• SemioHcs‐‐theoryofsigns.Atoolforanalyzinghowmeaningisproducedthroughlanguageandideology.
• PsychoanalyHctheory.AtheoryofthesubjectasconsHtutedthroughsexualdifference.
Feminist Psychoanalytic Film Theory
• LauraMulvey’sgroundbreaking1975essay,“VisualPleasureandNarraHveCinema”iniHatedasustaineddialogonhowsexualdifferenceisreproducedintheactofwatchingclassicalcinema.
• Mulveyargueswomenhavebeenplacedinaspecific,powerlessposiHonincinema.
• HowdoesthecinemaHcsystemacHvelyandpassivelymakethisso?
Feminist Psychoanalytic Film Theory
MulveylookstopsychoanalyHctheoryforanexplanaHonofhowcinemareproducesgenderedsubjects:
Men=acHveWomen=passive
ItwasapowerfulargumentinsofarasitshidedanalysistotherelaHonshipofthespectatortotheimage.
TheoryofSpectatorship:NotanapproachtoanalyzingthepsychologicalrelaHonshipsrepresentedinthefilm,butthewaysinwhichcinemaposiHonsusasviewers.
“The Gaze”: three looks Morethantheactoflooking,thegazeisatermusedto
describeaviewingrelaHonshipcharacterisHcofaparHcularsetofsocialcircumstances.
MulveyarguesthatthecinemaspectatorismadetoidenHfywiththemalelook,becausethecamerafilmsfromtheopHcal,aswellaslibidinal,pointofviewofthemalecharacter.Itdoesthisthroughthewaysthat:
• Thecharactersinthefilmlookateachother.• Theviewerlooksatthescreen.• Thecameralooksattheeventbeingfilmed.
Example: Hitchcock • Ver.go,AlfredHitchcock,1958
Kim Novak as Judy
Mulvey’s Critique of Pleasure in Cinema
• LooksatnarraHvecinemaasasystemoferoHcspectacle
• Examineshowcinemaworkswithinpatriarchalstructureofsociety
• Aimstodisruptpleasurethroughanalysis:“Itissaidthatanalyzingpleasureorbeautydestroysit.ThatistheintenHonofthisarHcle.”
Mulvey and Psychoanalysis “PsychoanalyHcfilmtheoryisthusappropriatedhereas
apoliHcalweapon,demonstraHngthewaytheunconsciousofpatriarchalsocietyhasstructuredfilmform”
PsychoanalyHcfilmtheory:
• UsesFreudianandLacanianframeworksforunderstandinghowidenHtyisstructuredandappliesthemtocinemaHcexperience.
• Examinesdesireinfilm:construcHonandregulaHon
Mulvey and Pleasure
MulveyarguedthatleasurefuncHonsintwowaysinHollywoodstyleNarraHveCinema:
1. Scopophilia:PleasureinlookingateroHcobjects(VoyeurisHcgaze)
2.Narcissism:IdenHficaHonwithonscreen(male)protagonistasacontrollingfigure
Mulvey: Scopophilia • FromFreud:abasicdrive;pre‐genitalauto‐eroHcstage
• SubjecHngOtherstocontrollingandcuriousgaze(objecHficaHon)
• Voyeurism:desiretosee
CinemaasaformpromotesthisrelaHonship:• darkspace,viewersseparated• screen‐airacHon,promotesvoyeurisHcseparaHon
• repressedspectatorprojectsdesire
Mulvey: Narcissism
FrenchPsychoanalystLacanusesthistermtorefertothewayinwhichouregosareconsHtuted
• Mirrorstage:metaphorically,thechildlooksatmirrorandentersintothesymbolicorder(language).
• ItisarecogniHon/misrecogniHon:IdenHficaHonwithreflecHonthatisdifferentfrompersonreflected
• SubjecHvityisalwaysrelaHonalandunfixed• MulveysuggeststhatNarraHvecinemacentersour
idenHficaHononthemorepowerfuloracHvemalesubject.
Mulvey: Image of Woman as Ambivalent
Mulveysuggeststhattheimageofthewomanisatonceanobjectofdesireandathreat.
CastraHonanxiety‐womanasbearerofthelooksparksfearbecausesherepresentthelackofaphallus.
Resolvedthroughoneoftwoways:1. SadisHcnarraHve:womanmustbepunished
(usuallydeathormarriage)2. FeHshism:womanservesaspolishedphallicobject
(denial)
A Feminist Counter-Cinema
MulveyadvocatesforanalternaHveCinema.Onethatdoesn’tadheretonarraHverepresentaHonalconvenHons.
• Feministfilmmaking‐mustdeconstructanddestroythegaze
• DestroythesaHsfacHon,pleasureandprivilege.
• EmploystechniquesofdistanciaHon(limiHngidenHficaHon).
A Feminist Counter-Cinema WhynotjusthaveacHvefemaleprotagonists?
• ThegazeisnotessenHallymale,'buttoownandacHvatethegaze,givenourlanguageandthestructureoftheunconscious,istobeinthe"masculine"posiHon'
• Thegazeismasculinewithinthetermsofpatriarchalcultureandlanguage.
Feminist Filmmaking Whataretechniquesofdistancia.on?
• FilmAboutaWomanWho…,YvonneRainer,1974StoryofawomanwhosesexualdissaHsfacHonmasksanenormousanger.
• Removed,1999,NaomiUman1970’spornfilm‐foundfootage‐paintedonEliminatedimagesofwomenReplacedthesound
Responses to Mulvey Whataresomeques.onsyoumightraiseinresponseto
Mulvey’sargument?
Responses Inspired by Mulvey Mulvey’sessayhasinspiredmanychallengesandcri.ques
withinfeministfilmtheory:• IsherargumentcomplicitwithnormaHveheterosexual
orderinsofarasitdeniesthepossibilityofotherformsofspectatorship?
• Howcanshedenyformsoffemalespectatorialpleasureincinema?
• Isthespectatoralwaysstraight?• DomenseewomenasrepresenHngtheircastrated
selves?WhatotherpsychoanalyHcmodelsareavailable?
• Doestheemphasisonpsychoanalysisoveremphasizethebinaryofgender?HowdowereconcileotherformsofidenHtyanddifference?
Films with women protagonists MaryAnneDoaneandothersbegantoconsiderthefemale
spectatorinrelaHonto“theWoman’sFilm”(duringthe1940snumerousfilmsbegantoappearthatfeaturedfemaleprotagoniststargeHngfemaleaudiences).
• ALeGertoThreeWives,JosephMankiewicz,1949
• GentlemanPreferBlondes,HowardHawks,1953
Fan Culture and Reception Theory
Mee.ngofTwoQueens,CeciliaBarriga,1991
• Re‐usesclipsfromfilmsstaringGretaGarboandMarleneDietrich
• UsesmoHfs,gazes,andgesturestolinktheshotsandtoimplysamesexdesire.
Recent Feminist Film Theory • Femalespectatorshipandmasquerade• Genderasperformed• GenderisproblemaHc/wonderful/complex• OpposiHonalViewing• PsychoanalyHctheorybecomeslessmonolithicasdiscussions
movebeyondthebinaryofmasculine/femininegenderandaddressotheraspectsofidenHty(race,age,ability,etc)
• QueertheorybroadenstheframeworksforunderstandinggenderedidenHty.
Aderthe1980s:anincreaseinfilmsbywomendirectorsandwithcomplexrepresentaHonsofgenderandsexuality
• AnAngelatMyTable,JaneCampion,1989• ThingsYouCanTellbyJustLookingatHer,RodrigoGarcia,2000
Gender in Recent Cinema
Aderthe1980s:anincreaseinfilmsbywomendirectorsandfilmswithmorecomplexrepresentaHonsofgenderandsexuality
AnAngelatMyTable,JaneCampion,1989
ThingsYouCanTellbyJustLookingatHer,RodrigoGarcia,2000
bell hooks: “TheOpposiHonalGaze:BlackFemaleSpectators”
hooks essay responds to the limitations of feminist film theory and theorists of black cinema.
She draws on both these traditions to argue for a more complex discourse on how identity is constituted through the practices of viewing, interpreting and creating representations.
hooks: history and defiant looks
• Lookscanbeaformofresistancetoauthority• Inslaveryblacklookingwasregulated• hooksnotesthereplicaHonofthistraumainblack
parenHngandspectatorship.Sheisofferingahistoricalunderstandingofspectatorshipratherthanapsychicone.
• MichelFoucaultoffersamodelforthewaysinwhichpowerreproducesitselfthroughsimilarmechanismsofinternalizedcontrol/self‐regulaHon
hooks: against a totalizing gaze
• Thecinemawasrecognizedbyblacksasaformthroughwhichwhitevalueswererepresentedandreproduced.
• TherewasalwaysanunderstandingofcriHcalspectatorship‐‐defiantformsoflooking.
• Thecinemaandtelevisionwereaprivatespaceinwhichblackscouldlookback.
• hookscitesStuartHallandFranzFanontoassertthatwhiterepresentaHonsofblacknessarenottotalizing.Therearealwaysspacesofblackagency.
Complex and Conflicted Relationships to Dominant Visual Culture
“WelaughedattelevisionshowslikeOurGangandAmos’n’Andy,atthesewhiterepresentaHonsofblackness,butwealsolookedatthemcriHcally.”‐‐hooks
• Inhisdocumentary,ColorAdjustment(1992),MarlinRiggs(dir,TonguesUnited)presentsthehistoryofblackrepresentaHonsonTelevisionfromthe1940s‐1980s,contextualizedthroughinterviewswithviewers,actors,directorsandotherprofessionals.
• RiggsconveyshowtheacHverelaHonshipofviewerswasvariedandinvolvednegoHaHngmulHplereadings,relatedtothespecificpossibiliHesoftheirhistoricalcontext.
• ThefilmsuggestthatthenoHonofprovidingmoreposiHveimagesbringsanewsetofmoresubtle,insidiousproblems.
• TherolesofAfricanAmericansactors/actressescanbeseenascomplicitwithhegemonicordominantrepresentaHon.Howdoweunderstandthecomicself‐representaHonofthecharacterstheyhelpedtodevelop?
Color Adjustment Marlin Riggs, 1992
• DocumentstherepresentaHonandrecepHonofimagesofBlackAmericansfromtheearlyhistoryoftelevision.
bell hooks:
• Blackwomen’sspectatorshipwasdifferentfromblackmen’s(andwhitewomen).BlackmencouldtakeupthephallocentricposiHonoflookingatwhitewomenasobjectsofdesire.
• CiHngMaryAnnDoan,hooksnotestheproblemofageneralizedconceptof“women”asobjectinclassicalfilm:Itiscomplicitwiththedominantpatriarchalculture,inthatisdoesn’tallowthepossibilityofarHculaHngwhatisrepressedinclassicalcinema.(Atotalizingviewthatdoesn’taccountforopposiHon)
bell hooks:
• hookspushesustoconsiderthemulHplefuncHonsofwomeninfilm.
• hooksdescribesblackwomenviewersvariedresponsestomainstreamfilm.ThoughtheysharethesameconflictedrelaHonshiptotheirabsenceorsubordinateposiHonsonscreen.SomeresistthepleasureofidenHficaHon,othersparHcipatebutexpressedthedifficultconflictsitrequired.
Multiple forms of Opposition
hooksproposesthatopposiHonalspectatorshipismorethanresisHng.MorethanreacHveitiscrea.veandinvolvesarangeoflookingrelaHonsthat:
• Contest• Resist• Revision• Interrogate• Invent
Illusions, Julie Dash, 1982 (dir., of Daughters of the Dust)
SetinaHollywoodstudioduringWWII,theperiodof“theWoman’sFilm.”Mignon,themainprotagonist,isanexecuHveinastudiowhopassesforwhiteandusesherpowerwithinthestudiotosupportEstherJeeter,ayoungblackwomanwhoprovidesvocaldubsforwhiteactresses.
• hooksnoteshowthefilmoffersspectatorsrepresentaHonsthatchallengedominantnoHonsof‘racial’idenHty.
• ThefilmportraysthecomplexdynamicsofpassingapparentonlytoMignonandEsther,throwingintoquesHonthewhitemalegazeandit’scapacitytoknowanddefine.
• Itaddressthesimultaneousabsenceandpresenceofblackwomeninmainstreamcinema.
New Formulations of Identity
hooksdrawsonBriHshculturalstudiestheorist,StuartHall,tosuggestthat:
1. IdenHtyisnotreflectedinrepresentaHons,butconsHtutedthroughthem.
2. AnalternaHvecinemacanparHcipateinconstrucHngculturalidenHty,notjustamoreaccurateorcompleximageofrealitythanprovidedbystereotypes
3. Processesoflookingthatarecounter‐memory(fromFoucault‐meaninganintervenHonincollecHvememory)areawaytoknowthepresentandimaginethefuturedifferently.
4. Notsimplyofferingdiverse,“realisHc,”orposiHverepresentaHons.“Offerpointsofradicaldeparture.”
New Formulations of IdentityCertainlytheseideasareapplicabletoarangeofrepresentaHonsand
posiHonsofspectatorship.
TheremanyexamplesofalternaHvefilmsnegoHaHngandenvisioningcomplexityofculturalidenHtybegantoappearsincethe1970s.
• BushMama,HaileGerima,1974• KillerofSheep,CharlesBurnei,1976• ChanisMissing,WayneWang,1982• WhoKilledVincentChin?,ReneeTajimaandChrisHneChoy,1987• MyAmerica—orHonkifYouLoveBuddha,ReneeTajima‐Pena,
1997• SmokeSignals,ChrisEyre,1998
Do the Right Thing Spike Lee, 1989
• SetinBrooklynamidstandrepresenHngraceconflictsbetweenwhiteethnicandblackcommuniHes.
• Ironicallyengagesarangeofstereotypes.
• Self‐consciouslyarHculatesconflictaroundtheroleofrepresentaHoninreproducingracism.
Killer of Sheep Charles Burnett (US 1976)
AboutdailylifeinLosAngelesWai’sneighborhood.Focusesonthepleasuresandstrugglesofamanwhoworksinasheepslaughterhouse.
InfluencedbyItalianNeorealistCinema
ThefilmwaschosenbytheNaHonalSocietyofFilmCriHcsasoneofthe100EssenHalFilms.In1990,itwasselectedforpreservaHonintheUnitedStatesNaHonalFilmRegistrybytheLibraryofCongress.
Shohat and Stam: Stereotypes and the Struggle Over Representation
• MostcriHquesofracistorotherwisebiasedrepresentaHoninmediahasfocusedonaccuracy.
• ShohatandStamsuggestthatweshidfromjudgingmediaintermsofaccuracytoconsideringtheparHcularpointofviewsandvaluesthattheyproject.YoucanhaveamoreaccuratefilmthatismorecolonialistorracistandamorefantasHcalonethatconfrontssuchvalues.
• WhileallnegaHvestereotypeshaveahurtulimpact,notallhavethesamepower.
• TheysuggestamovefromdiscussingposiHveandnegaHveimagestoengagementwithdiscourse/voice.Thisisinpartanissueofself‐determinaHoninrepresentaHon.
How is voice/representation mediated in cinema?
• AcHng:whoplayswhomhasbeenconsideredasignificantcontribuHngfactorinnotjustauthenHcitybutthenegoHaHonofacommunity’srepresentaHon
• PeoplerepresenHngidenHtyorcommunityinhigherleveldecision‐makingroles(producers,directors,writers,sponsors)
• Plot,dialog,backgroundsoundandformaldevicesofmise‐en‐scenecanallcontributetostereotypicalportrayalsofrelaHonshipsamongcharactersandgroups.
• LanguageanddialectasamediatorinrepresentaHonsofidenHty.• SocialandculturalaspectsofrecepHon(dominantideasabout
idenHty)shapetheinterpretaHonofaworkbeyondtheproducer’sintenHons.
bell hooks on Spike Lee
• bellhooksonyoutubediscussesSpikeLee
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