For whatever reason, the first movie that came to mind was The Mask, in which Cameron Diaz makes her film debut as a sexy nightclub singer. She emerges from a flower of palms in a slinky, glittering dress with her back facing us so we can admire her curvaceous body. She then makes her way down the stairs from her pedestal cooing "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You", conveying the subservient demeanor of the spectacle that is woman, as described by Mulvey.
Nick: Since when did girls smoke cigars?
Then, confirming Diaz's status as an object of desire, the camera reveals the greasy mafioso watching her who exclaims, "Beautiful!" But the purpose of this modern commodification of women is explained when the other spectator is revealed: Jim
Carrey as "the mask". Carrey ogles Diaz with cartoon-like actions, turning into a howling wolf as well as the exaggerated jaw drop/eye pop (pictured). This scene mocks the outdated and previously accepted tradition of the man's gaze that is only relevant in this film when put in context with Carrey's zoot suit and later on his impressive swing dance with Diaz - other elements comically brought back from yesteryear.
Another interesting example of a modern twist on this old film convention was last year's grossly overlooked Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. In it, Amy Adams plays Delysia Lafosse, a hopelessly bubbly singer/actress with a slew of suitors who wants nothing more
than to be a star. This spritely yet frivolous bombshell, unable to manage her own affairs, seeks the help of a social secretary.
Instead what she gets is Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), a frumpy, out-of-work nanny who is desperate to keep herself fed and off the streets. These two characters come to represent the spectacle of the past and the voice of reason (I'm sure you can guess which is which).
For Delysia, the true affair that needs sorting is whether she will choose love or life in the spotlight. She describes the reasons for her various suitors, "With Nick, I get this magnificent flat. With Phil, I get a chance to be the star. Michael wants to marry me." With the first two, she gets the glitz and glamour that she longs for, whereas Michael can only offer his love. From the beginning we see how willing Delysia is to throw away this man who offers himself to her for the sake of her acting ambitions. So long as she can maintain her many romantic relationships she can stay in the spotlight, but this maintenance proves to be a bit taxing. Miss Pettigrew's first task as social secretary is to hide the evidence of the affair with Phil when Nick arrives. Nick spots a cigar butt, which Miss Pettigrew claims is her own:
Miss Pettigrew: If I want to smoke cigars, I'll damned well smoke cigars.
Nick: They're yours?
Miss Pettigrew: You betcha, baby. [takes a puff and coughs]
This comical interaction suggests that Miss Pettigrew can't quite keep up with the boys, but through her strong will she persists and successfully throws Nick off the track. Throughout the film, Miss Pettigrew acts as the backbone of her mistress and begins to show her there is more to life than being the object of a man's gaze, that she can be equal with a man in a relationship based on love. When Delysia starts to understand Miss Pettigrew's words, she reflects back on the time when she was once a simple, small town girl who went by the name of Sarah Grubb.
This light comedy, whether intentional or not, displays the progression of the movie actress from screen siren to human being and helps us recognize that behind every Delysia Lafosse is a Sarah Grubb.
I like the specific example you cite from "The Mask"- it seems to hit Mulvey's point right on the dot. The picture of Jim Carrey with his jaw hitting the table and his eyes literally popping out of his head truly conveys one of the looks that objectifies women that Mulvey lays out (the viewpoint of the male character and how he views the female character).
ReplyDeleteIn your discussion of "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day," you conclude with, "This light comedy, whether intentional or not, displays the progression of the movie actress from screen siren to human being and helps us recognize that behind every Delysia Lafosse is a Sarah Grubb." Do you think that the reason the film was "grossly overlooked" is due to the fact that it moves away from Mulvey's "phallocentric society" in the way that it emphasizes that there is more to a woman than her body?
You do a great job of linking up Mulvey with "The Mask". Cameron Diaz's entrance reminded me of Marilyn Monroe's entrance in "The River of No Return" and Rita Hayworth's in "Gilda". You realize that "The Mask" is a great example of the male gaze at work (perfect picture choice and youtube link), and you successfully show how it links up with Mulvey's ideas. I would've liked a mention or brief explanation of how "Basic Instinct", which you mention in the beginning, also links up to the male gaze. Similarly, I like the example of "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day", but would be interested to see how that directly connects up with Mulvey's points of view. It might also have been a good idea to bring in Graeme Turner's "Film as Social Practice IV", especially because the two movies you dissect both feature female celebrities at the start of their careers (definitely the start for Diaz, more of a round two for Adams). How do these films go on to shape their celebrity persona?
ReplyDeleteWhat I find most intriguing about the issue of the male gaze is how it's become so pervasive as to be almost invisible in society. The first time I ever watched "The Mask," I didn't think of the men watching around me, and how Diaz's dance routine was tailored specifically to this male gaze, even as Carrey's eye's bugged and his jaw dropped. Now, however, I begin to see what should have been obvious from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI think the example you used is absolutely perfect; these are women who, for the purposes of the film and the conventions therein, are made into spectacles, emphasizing the male gaze and providing a perfect example of Mulvey's argument.
Although looks and "gazes" are able to tell us much about one's feeling and do better than words at conveying messages at times, I do not believe they are that integral to the understanding of a film. In this example, the view of Diaz perhaps serves to portray her beauty but is that so important? Even without the "gaze" we see Cameron Diaz and already identify her as symbolizing beauty.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, when taking the sort of perspective that Mulvey is trying to encourage, I believe this is a very good example. The image of a woman is at times able to do more than their lines.
To reiterate what the others say, great example on the Mask! It is a caricature of classic Hollywood cinema, complete with the ritzy nightclub, dance numbers, and mafiosos.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't see the link between Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day and Mulvey. I haven't seen the film, but Amy Adam's body doesn't seem to be fragmented or objectified in any blatant way--at least not in the marketing schemes for the film.
I agree with you in that a lot of comedies continue to commodify women, as a social commentary on the superficiality yet inevitability of this dynamic. The teen-flick comedies all run together in my mind, but films such as "American Pie" all involve a male gaze at the female body, such as Shannon Elizabeth as the foreign exchange student, or the MIFL (classic). Without dynamic female characters, however, their story lines are flat caricatures of the male gaze, and I think your use of the Mask as an example opened this new aspect of discourse vis-a-vis Mulvey's article.
I like you example from The Mask! I think its a very unique choice that works well for what you are trying to convey. I think the difference in this scene is that the director is directly displaying the appreciation from the male gaze, almost vindicating any guilty pleasure that an audience member feels from ogling at Cameron Diaz's body.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised, however, that the only movies that employ the "women as spectacle" mentality that you could think of were the ones mentioned above. Maybe I am misunderstanding your argument, but what about the likes of Chicago??
You make an excellent point that many of today's movies make light of the once-accepted over-the-top objectification of the female form. The example you cite from The Mask is great evidence of this. However, I hesitate to imply that the ogling no longer occurs. It seems to me that a photo-worthy face and figure are still de rigeur demands of Hollywood actresses, and that female beauty is championed and celebrated by the lens now as much as ever. Perhaps the male gaze has simply taken on a more subtle role in the dictation of cinematic choices. Even if women are not put on a literal pedestal, they are frequently filmed in arousing ways.
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