Mulvey Final Project

Over the course of this semester, I have enjoyed reading Laura Mulvey’s theoretical ideas the most. I believe that her ideas were the most thought provoking and controversial. It seemed that after we read her work, the class discussion was more dynamic than usual. I was inspired by her direct approach to the subject of scopophilia, and the pleasure that humans receive from observing. For my final project I decided to re-cut clips from Boogie Nights, Tootsie, and Body Heat. Although each of these films are from completely different genres, I believe that they are each necessary to illustrate how the “gaze” can be interpreted.
My film is separated into four acts. The first act is a montage of clips from Tootsie as Michael prepares for his grand transformation. Becoming Dorothy is an active task, which requires Michael to step out of himself, and become a female character. The montage shows the beautification process that many women go through in order to prepare for the gaze that they expect to be subjected to. The goal of this particular sequence is to illustrate the level of awareness of the male gaze that females encounter daily. Throughout Tootsie, Michael shifts from being in control, and gazing at others to being the subject of the male gaze.
Act II provides an actual definition for scopophilia, and displays a quote from Mulvey regarding Freud: “At this point he [Freud] associated scopophilia with taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze.” (p. 713). This sequence consists of two clips that exemplify the traditional male gaze. The excerpts were taken from Body Heat, and Tootsie, and in both films the male characters gaze at the female characters, clearly intrigued, and their stare places them in control of the situation forcing the female characters to later acknowledge them in some way.
Act III focuses on my primary inspiration for this project. One of Mulvey’s most provocative arguments states: “According to the principles of the ruling ideology and the physical structures that back it up, the male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification” (p. 716). The goal of this sequence is to disprove her argument. Men are often the target of sexual objectification, however this objectification is usually more convert, and therefore rarely addressed in our society. The clips in this act oscillate between a shot of four TV screens from Tootsie with Dorothy as the focus, as well as a shot of Michael covering himself in his underwear. The shot of Dorothy is important because it represents a male figure transforming and learning about the burden of the gaze. The shot of Michael’s character covering his body is important because it effectively demonstrates that males are not comfortable when they become the subject of the gaze. Interwoven between the repeated shots of Dorothy and Michael are clips from Boogie Nights and Tootsie which show male characters as the subject of the gaze. As the target of the gaze, these male figures become sexually objectified.
Act IV opens with another quote from Mulvey stating: “…there is a close working here of the relationship between the active instinct and its further development in a narcissistic form” (p. 713). The goal of this sequence is to contrast the earlier clips in which the gaze is forced upon the subject, compared to situations in which the gaze is welcomed. The clips from Tootsie and Boogie Nights show characters observing themselves in the mirror which is in essence subjecting themselves to objectification, forcing them to be the target of the gaze. The beginning of the sequence shifts between the masculine décor of an ideal male’s bedroom, and images of this character shooting a gun, them smoothly smoking a cigarette. There is also a break in the pace of the sequence where a full clip from Tootsie with dialogue is inserted. This clip shows a woman in the mirror, while the male character (dressed as a female) gazes at her actions. Scenes from Dorothy’s photo shoot were inserted to display the male’s enjoyment of the gaze, which also forces the viewer to question whether males truly believe that females enjoy being the object of their gaze. These images along with the mirror scenes represent the narcissistic nature of the gaze in contrast with the active instinct of the gaze in which it occurs naturally.
This film ends with a final quote from the Mulvey reading which states: “At the extreme, it [scopophilia] can become fixated into a perversion, producing obsessive voyeurs and Peeping Toms, whose only sexual satisfaction can come from watching, in an active controlling sense, an objectified other” (p. 713). I chose to end with this quote because over the course of the film, it is intended for the viewer to become more and more active in their watching through various ways such as trying to figure out the rhythm of the editing, and interpreting the quick cuts. However this quote at the end, forces viewers to question their intentions as consumers of images.