cinema and gender final

define male gaze

coined by Laura Mulvey, invokes sexual politics of gaze, sexualized way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women, differentiates between female and male spectator

active spectators understand how films have been constructed, way women are objectified, men do so for their fantasies and desires, women forced to accept fetishizing

distinguished from female gaze which is not a direct equivalent to male gaze - male gaze creates a power imbalance, supports patriarchal status quo, perpetuating women’s real life sexual objectification

define oppositional gaze

coined by bell hooks - recognizes power is within as well as outside

spaces of agency exist where one can interrogate the gaze of the other and also look back and name what they see

critical gaze that looks to document looking relations - one looks in order to resist

oppositional gaze developed independent black cinema away from mainstream representations that negate black representations

2 ways women filmmakers subvert male gaze through independent and feminist filmmaking, using examples from all we imagine as light and antonia

angela mcrobbie - double entanglement in popular and political culture where feminism must find it necessary to dismantle itself - subjectivity where cultural forms call women into being solely as a subject describing them as such, she or them, rather than unproblematically as we

yvonne tasker - feminist filmmaking requires a silent visibility to resist hyperaestheticization and fetishization of female experience, traditionally male working environment celebrate techniques that require assimilation not autonomy

All We Imagine As Light, Payal Kapadia - film not created with viewer’s wishes in mind, film was made to commemorate and celebrate them, “for us” - doesn’t make a political film but makes a film politically; pushes past patriarchal precedent and offers sharp commentary on identity, gender roles, etc.

Antonia, Tata Amaral - highlights female subjectivity, diaspora of experiences; portrays a narrative distinct from representations that young women of color are typically afforded, defies linear approach to cinematic expectations

how filmmakers of color challenge racial and gender stereotypes through storytelling, complex representation, and aesthetic choices: if beale street could talk, past lives, mindy project

Bell Hooks - performative nature of film, don’t give audiences what is real, people watch film to enter a different world, cinema results as a pedagogical tool for many

Nonchool Park - films that don’t cater to mainstream can challenge class politics and nationalism by attacking underlying ideologies and invalidate the entire construct

If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins - rejects stereotypes that undermine autonomy and integrity of black people, creates a complex character in Fonny that is contradictory and fosters empathy

Past Lives, Celine Song - portrays a women with agency, her life not determined by the actions of men surrounding her, minimalist aesthetic allows for intimacy in Nora’s growth to be spotlighted, toning down color pallete allows camera to capture rawness and genuineness, pushes past archetypes of Korean women (good wife/wise mother, femme fatale/seductress)

Differs from Mindy Project, directed by Michael Spiller - white man who portrays a South Asian women consistently through her relations with white men

how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to construct complicated ideas of masculinity, femininity, gender, and sexual norms: Pariah, But Im a Cheerleader

Lois Weber - first amerian women to direct a feature, developed split screens, experimentations with sound; work added layers of complexity and suspense to storytelling, innovative locations for films, surreal/dreamlike quality to her films - snuck in conversations on reproductive rights, gender ideology, other social issues

Pariah, Dee Rees - camera movement and framing shots to highlight realness of Alike’s experiences, despite fictionality, camera style remained fluid whether handheld or mounted, camera provides freedom for Alike to be private about her story, colors used in lighting scenes represent her chameleon nature, resists binary and combats the idea of “coming out”

But Im a Cheerleader, Jamie Babbit - satirical nature of film made possible through high key lighting, rids scenes of shadows, centers characters in grandiose and artificial way, primary/stereotypically gendered colors exposes ironic nature of patriarchal narratives, camera would zoom in during monologues reinforcing gender/sexual norms, highlights ridiculousness

long essay: explore relationships among gender, race, sexuality and how they are represented in film and media; reflect on dancehall queen, antonia, the watermelon woman, origin, how they similarly contend with the male and colonial gaze

how do filmmakers confront radicalized and gender stereotypes, portray subjectivity, represent nuanced understandings of culture and identity?

Themes:

• films resist dominant (white, patriarchal, western) ways of looking and knowing as a result subverting the male and colonial gaze

• directors depict characters that are marginalized in complex roles where they can actively shape their lives and identities, instead of passively

• gender, race, sexuality, class are all interconnected have direct implications on characters in all movies, by acknowledging intersectionality one is able to understand nuance of culture and identity

In class: Hollywood is a company, recognizes humanity through characteristics central to western conception of livelihood, enough to fit in narrative and dehumanize others to justify their oppression, encourages questions to not be asked, dangers of this perspective of looking not recognized - deconstruction of our past viewing experience, rewire brains to acknowledge culture

Claire Johnston: men inside history, women considered ahistoric and eternal, femal stereotypes reflection of society, not conscious strategy of hollywood - releasing collective fantasies, when objectification is made invisible seems natural, demystifying and naming these ideologies

Dancehall Queen, Rick Elgood - portrayed women who reclaims her body and image through dancehall culture - hypersexualization of caribbean women, sexual violence from male figure in home, puts complex topics that are imperfect and real, shows direct impacts of colonization and racism, starts dialogue, complexities of motherhood, Marcia’s sexuality as site of danger and liberation

Antonia, Tata Amaral - pushes back against racialized and gendered invisibility in media, women assert power through hip hop, confronting cyclic hate and poverty in Sao Paulo’s favelas, identity is layered

Watermelon Woman, Cheryl Dunye - universalizes experience to connect to anyone who watches, aim to connect to viewer not create jealousy or feelings of unfitness, confronts erasure of black lesbians in film, asserts authorship over story, intra community dialogue, not monolithic experience

Origin, Ava DuVernay - refrmaes historical trauma and systemic injustice, visually centers story of Black discovery and intelligence, Wilkerson reclaims historical pain through personal journey, connects caste, race, personal grief, identity combines all these elements to universalize deeply historical and global experiences

explore representations of lgbtq identities from new queer cinema and third cinema to new representations of queerness. How do these complicate dominant understanding of gender and sexuality? How can film and media with complex representations of diverse genders and sexualities encourage understanding and acceptance?

Fire, Pariah, Pose, Sense 8, Sex Education, Get Milly Block, Lovecraft Country, I am not okay with this,

Third Cinema - advocates for politicized filmmaking approach that focuses on issues of race, class, religion, national identity globally

New Queer Cinema - wave of independent films that feature LGBTQ characters, challenge mainstream narratives, embrace defiant approach to queer identity and sexuality

Laura Mulvey - fascination of film is reinforced by pre existing patterns of fascination already at work within individual subject and social formations that molded him, straight socially established interpretations of sexual difference controls images, erotic ways of looking/spectacle

Julia Wood - women consistently underrepresented leaving men to falsely imply that they are cultural standard and women are unimportant

Daniel Contreras - queer practices, drag, mimic heterosexual institutions of femininity and masculinity reshape and transform familiar gender roles, superficially resemble heterosexual representations, thus liberatory

Themes:

• dominant understandings of gender and sexuality are not monolithic far from binary thinking, films acknowledge complexity can resonate with audiences

• rejects conventional tropes by allowing for complexity, divisiveness, political conversations

• address race within a directly queer context, intersectional approach to viewing

• rejects that queerness is negative or cultivates oppression, leaves victim centered narratives and offers resistance, joy, empowerment in moments that generally would be times of defeat in mainstream

Pose - makes space for identity intersections, celebrates black/latinx trans women in nyc ballroom scene during 80s and 90s, honors characters, controversially stigmatized topics, HIV/AIDS epidemic, gender expression, transphobia

Sex Education - multiple queer/trans characters as they navigate gender/sexual identity, allows for nuance and childhood essence, trauma porn

All we imagine as light director

Payal Kapadia

Antonia director

Tata Amaral

If Beale Street Could Talk director

Barry Jenkins

Past Lives director

Celine Song

Pariah director

Dee Rees

But Im a Cheerleader Director

Jamie Babbit

Dancehall Queen director

Rick Elgood

Watermelon Woman director

Cheryl Dunye

Origin Director

Ava DuVernay

Pose Director

Janet Mock

Mindy Project director

Michael Spiller

Sex Education director

Ben Taylor