Good morning world! So today I'm on a hunt to understand feminism, film theory and psychoanalysis (not my choice in topics necessarily, but important for today's class). And especially: Does this topic hold any bearing on how we view films today?
My current consensus is that during the late 1970s, 80s, and early 90s there was a lot of hooplah (rightfully so) over the "gaze" or perspective of the camera- what the camera actually showed spectators and how it did it- angles, distances, shots, montage, etc.
A lot of criticism seems to be going back and forth between the idea that the camera's gaze represents a male perspective. The camera was associated with not only the male characters in the film's narrative but also the male spectators in the audience, who vicariously felt the need and/or desire to identify with the male characters, who acted in ways that supported male power. From this identification, male spectators could then long for, or somehow possess, the female characters in the films, as do the male characters. Not surprisingly, female critics and scholars took up this argument and wrote about how the male "gaze" continues to subjugate women and turn them into objects of desire and not actual people with power- (This is just a quick summary- there are more arguments out there)
More recently, scholars in film studies have looked to describe and analyze a different perspective- one that doesn't position women as objects and that gives an alternative model to the act of viewing. Therefore, what can/do female spectators gain from the male "gaze" of the camera? Is it pleasure? Are they angered by the male "gaze" (I know I am- Take for instance Hitchcock's films- the way he treats women drives me mad- how the male characters literally and figuratively drag these women in and about various scenes!!!)
And what about the idea that women somehow represent a threat to male power, and therefore by subjugating them the spectator doesn't feel anxious or afraid? Do male spectators actually experience fear when female characters appear too powerful?
How do we know what female spectators experience? One scholar, Linda Williams, admits that she actually asked women. Is anyone else out there doing clinical/sociological research? Do you, female viewers, feel that you identify with the camera's gaze? If the camera focuses on a male perspective do you identify with that perspective? Is it subconscious?
How does all of this relate to film viewing today? Have Hollywood films changed enough? Is the camera "gaze" still representing a male perspective? Does it depend on genre? Do a majority of films still show women to be weak and in need of rescuing? And if they're too powerful, do they become threatening?
That's the difficulty with my field- I'm not sure if anyone is actually going out there and talking with living people- but I can try. Any thoughts?
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