Lesbian Cinephilia by Patricia White - Article Example

Essay outline Main argument and theme: In the essay “Lesbian Cinephilia”, Patricia White talks about the way different artists of the present day have represented the women of the dyke communities, the women who are falling in love or indulging in sex with one another. She puts forward the idea that the artists represent what the lesbian spectators would be doing unconsciously. They often borrow the ideas from classical Hollywood itself and incorporate their own way of seeing it, which complies with the lesbianism. Iconography is a popular application that is used and elaborated upon in various forms. Thus the inner emotions and desires of a lesbian spectator can be made visible to the audience through the movies. The main concept underlying the idea of cinephilia is fetishism. The author discusses a number of video artists, photographers and filmmakers who utilizes glamour photography, film clips and stories and myths from the stars. The essay highlights the idea of fetishism, lesbian culture, cross-dressing and composite portrait, all of which contributes towards making the lesbianism in cinema more vivid. The exploration of the idea of lesbian spectatorship unfolds several sensitive facts that usually do not come out to the forefront but the artists mind can read into all kinds of perversion, which is not confined, only to the gays. The essay structure: Don’t let us ask for the moon – We have the stars The idea here is to emphasize upon the fact that the heroine Bette Davis would prefer something special and not the usual heterosexual intimacy, which is apparently rejected. Ultimately it is desire that the Hollywood relies upon. The celebrities came out in the 1990s self-identifying themselves with the lesbian audience and previously it was thought of losing their credibility in the process. However time has proved that many lesbian audiences do buy tickets. The female homosexuality has contributed to the appeal of the star system mainly to women. However, the lesbians in the society were not really conspicuous but the lesbian fandom has been extensively documented. Works on spectatorships emphasizes on the need for privileged relationship between the women audience and the female stars. The works also focus on the crushes on female stars and how they represent their relationship with the stars, which goes beyond imagination. The lesbian audience identifies their desires through the stars in the movies. Star signs: This section discusses about the works that explore lesbian adolescents’ views on their favorite stars. The teenager lesbians are interviewed and the idea is mainly to deal with the adolescent awakening rather than a culturally preferred position. Almost like the anti patriarchal stories told by the cultural feminism, the stories of the lesbians are also radical in nature and popular. The close ties between female stars and women spectators emphasize the intimacy between two women or that of feminities. Identification can be categorized into two parts – “cinematic identificatory fantasies” which includes devotion and worship and “extra-cinematic identificatory practices” that centers on imitation. Some critics are convinced of the homoerotic potential of all women and female. The over identification factor is stressed upon and sometimes identification with the female star is totally absent. Deborah Bright has vividly portrayed an instance of identification in her series “Dream Girls” where she superimposes her own face on the man standing behind the woman in front of the mirror. The movie thus provokes the lesbian spectatorship. The meaning of identification being quite confusing, the interviewees often get confused about affection and sexual desire and also the idea of being closely associated with. Hence the accounts provided by them are often self-contradictory and partial with regard to subjective fantasy and the social framework of cinema. Card-carrying Lesbian Fetishist: The section begins with the account of an interview taken of an African-American lesbian “Gladys” who talks about her involvement with the female anatomy while watching a movie. She talks about her fascination to watch Marlene Dietrich’s “pudendum”. The section goes on to cite works of Peter Baxter and Laura Mulvey who talks about fetishism and the sensuality of the female body that not only satisfies the male spectator but also the female spectator. Endless love: The section begins with the instance of Meeting of Two Queens (1991) where the characters of the heroines Garbo as the lesbian Queen Christina and Dietrich as Catherine the Great play the role of determined lesbians. The portrayal is that of a ‘reckless passion’ of Garbo and Dietrich’s ‘calculated sensuality’ and bisexuality. It also depicts the tragic sacrifice of Garbo and the betrayal of Dietrich. The idea perhaps pertains to the complications underlying a homoerotic relationship between two females. The Fetish is Dead; Long Live the Fetish This section discusses the work of Bright “Dream Girls” in the context of communicating with the lesbian culture. The author also discusses some other works to the similar effect. Another instance is that work of Jean Carlomusto who uses computer graphics in the sequence from “L Is for the Way You Look” to show the different parts of the female body parts that the young nun is viewing. Was it love? This concluding section talks about the love for cinema that is the cinephilia itself. The significant message is sent by Christian Metz who states, “I no longer love the cinema; I still love it”. The underlying meaning is the fact that the attraction of cinema lies in the lust within the spectators, be it a man or a woman and the female body holds a source of fascination for all, even a woman who identifies herself with the star. List of terms: Fetishism, cinephilia, cross-dressing, lesbianism, dyke, semiotics, homoerotic, anti-patriarchy, metapsychology, overidentification, paradigmatically Fetishism: the state of arousing erotic feelings at the sight of non-sexual objects. Lesbianism: homosexuality between women Homoerotic: sexual affinity towards same sex Metapsychology: a branch of study dealing with the speculation of the origin of the mind and the relation between the mental and physical. A thought piece: The essay points out some very sensitive and delicate issues about the spectatorship of Hollywood cinema, with special reference to the female class of audience. The work has centralized on lesbian appropriation of classic Hollywood imagery. While the author has done a clear and detailed job of exploring this area, she has not adequately talked about the other arenas of identification besides sexual desire. A woman might want to dress like her favorite star and idolize her in order to please her male counterpart. Hence it is not always a homoerotic potential that drives the female mind towards the cinephilia. Also, it essentially talks about the lesbianism; we do not quite get to know whether the male spectator also fantasizes upon the male body in an equally intense manner. White, Patricia, Lesbian Cinephilia, Read More