Feminine Eroticism In Weimar Cinema and Illustrations Asphalt; Pandoras Box; The Blue Angel - Coursework Example

Feminine Eroticism in Weimar Cinema: Three Illustrations–Asphalt; Pandora’s Box; The Blue Angel. Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Background of the Weimar era 4 The birth of New Woman and Expression in German Films 5 Background of films: Asphalt, Blue Angel and Pandora 7 Stereotyping in Weimar cinema 8 Eroticism 9 The passive man and active women 11 Roles of Women and Men in Weimar Films 12 Romantic Roles 13 Theoretical Analysis 14 Conclusion 17 Works Cited 18 Feminine Eroticism in Weimar Cinema: Three Illustrations– Asphalt; Pandora’s Box; The Blue Angel Introduction Popular culture has cemented the notion that men and women are not the same. Gender stereotypes are powerful instruments affecting the perception of men and women. They also create social categories for men and women. Traditionally, men have been stereotyped as competent, self-confident, forceful, independent, and success-oriented while women have been stereotyped as outgoing, mutually dependent, warm, and relationship-oriented. An exception of this was the Weimar era, a brief interwar period in Germany from 1919 to 1933 (Isenberg 13-17). While the Weimar Republic is considered as Germany’s foremost democratic constitution, it also provided women in German the assurance of legal equality and social equity unlike ever before. Besides, the Weimar society was known for the birth of the “New Woman” who practiced unprecedented forms of sexual and social independence (Ashkenazi 2-4). Analysis of films such as the Asphalt and Pandora Box shows that such premise was indeed expressed in the popular culture of the period. Asphalt, Pandora’s Box and The Blue Angel approached the living conditions of the ordinary German people during the Weimar era realistically. They also affirmed the spirit of the New Woman that had entered the German society. Among the realities was the emergence of eroticism in the society, where men became more vulnerable to women’s power of seduction. To this end, the films depicted men as immature and as incapable of taking control. On the other hand, the femme fatale or fallen women was depicted as capable of entrapping respectable and unsuspecting man (Kapczynski & Richardson 54). Throughout this thesis, the image of feminine eroticism in Weimar cinema will be explored as depicted through the three films to show femme fatale and how it reveals male identity in transition than in the divided nature of the women. It is argued that material and popular culture were significant in reasserting the role of women in the society during the Weimer era and that the feminine visibility of the 1920s as presented in Weimar cinema show how the society marked transition from a male dominated world, into a woman’s world of seduction. Background of the Weimar era The Weimar era, which refers to a brief interwar period in Germany that spreads from 1919 to 1933, marked the duration of the growth of Weimar Republic (Silberman 2-6). This also resulted to the prolific portrayal of German Cinema. Some features of German society during the Weimar period -- such as artistic sexual and social freedom -- combined with the tortures during the Wold War II leaving the Germans psychologically and physiological upset. These features produce a distinctive and particular cinematic representation of women and men that spanned the early and silent sound eras (Kapczynski & Richardson 54). It was a period of huge economic and political instability, as well as prevalent unemployment. The era was considered as a period of significant and large-scale cultural revival. This means that music, art, theatre and architecture all flourished. At the same time, film was strategically positioned to benefit from the instantaneous artistic innovation and technical accomplishments. An outstanding confluence of the opportunity and talents prevailed during the Weimar cinema. The technical and stylistic innovations were mostly influenced by the social and political climate of the period included the rise of Expressionism and Realism styles in film production. Weimar period led to the birth of the era of German cinema. From the economic and political instability, inflation and unemployment, the Germans were faced psychologically breakdown. The Germans responded with social and artistic freedom. They brought together achievement and innovations that were unique in the time (Silberman 2-6). The birth of New Woman and Expression in German Films Among the most contested and renowned representation of social revolution in the period was the birth of New Woman (neue Frau). Freedom of expression and movement characterised the fashion and body of the New Woman even as augmented visibility of women occurred at the workplace, which transformed the image of the metropolis (Kapczynski & Richardson 54). Berlin became the core centre of film production during the Weimar Period. The films were targeted at middle- and lower-middle class audiences. A significant feature of the films was the emergence of central tropes in the films produced. The films were viewed to threaten and entice, at the same time, in their dissipation the figure of an immature man depicted as incapable of taking control and the femme fatale or fallen women who was depicted as capable of entrapping respectable and unsuspecting man. The men were therefore the victims of the ruthless society. Therefore, as such films continued to centre on depicting the social and private moments of the time, such as the social issues, the question of the fame fatale women came to light. Representation of the passive male is prevalent in Weimar cinema. On semiotic analysis, such an image appeared to bring to halt the male character, both metaphorically and literarily. The conception is consistent with the displacement of power from a male-dominated society. In the cinemas, the males were depicted as non-judgmental. On a different perspective, the once masochistic male was represented as being passive and pitiable. As Ankum (10-12) states, expressionism formed a comforting mood and texture that depended on a unique visual style that employed high contrast, or what he called chiaroscuro lighting. The lighting was characterised by shifts of concentrated light that contrasted blatantly with intense, black shadows. Space was fractured into a range of unstable surfaces and lines, which were mostly twisted or fragmented into peculiar angles. As expressed by Kapczynski and Richardson (54), German expressionism cinema employed a greatly designed and created mise-en-scene that was not naturalistic. Such expressionism cinema used decentred narratives based on frame tales and flashback narration. The Expressionism’s style and its narrative patterns greatly influenced how feminism was depicted during the Weimar period. In the mid-1920s, German films started shifting towards realistic style, which were shadowy, unsavoury, and downbeat (Haase 14). Examples included the Pandora’s Box (1929), which mixed stark realist style and expressionist style. These realist and expressionist films showed the lives of the working class during the Weimar period (Silberman 2-6). They were viewed as questioning the social order. For instance, Germany was traditionally a male-dominated country and the films were viewed was questioning this order by depicting the passive male who was vulnerable to female power of eroticism. Accordingly, 1924 formed a year when German cinema started to turn from the expressionist psychological themes to the literal yet realistic films. The films such as Asphalt, Pandora’s Box, and The Blue Angel approached the living conditions of the ordinary German people during the Weimar era realistically. They also affirmed the spirit of the New Woman that had entered the German society. Kapczynski and Richardson (54) suggests that lack of pessimism, expectations, disillusionment and resignation as well as the willingness to accept life as it was characterised the films (Reimer & Reimer 333). Background of films: Asphalt, Blue Angel and Pandora There were more than 5,000 movie theatres in Germany by 1930 that offered a range of options and experiences to their audiences. Regardless of the venue, Berliners were presented with images of femme fatales in the movie theatre. Representation of men in films reflected back on the burdened issue of the rises of the women’s place in Weimar culture. Feminine display formed the root of the films, and betrayed a profound uncertainty and women dissatisfaction with their visibility in modern culture. The three main films that stood at the edge of Weimar’s culture as well as formed a narrative of social disruption included Asphalt, Pandora’s Box and The Blue Angel. Directed by Joe May, Asphalt is a 1929 movie that modelled its heroine on Else (Betty Amann, who personified (regardless of her unassuming background), a combination of overwhelming eroticism, professional assurance, and perfect stylishness, and emancipated independence.” The cheery comedy of the film, however, is displaced by a mocking cynicism towards the femme fatale and an effort to reinstate social order. The film represents a romance between Else, who is a female jewel thief, and Albert Holk (GustvaFröhlich) who is the police officer. Else seduces Holk, leading to his ultimate complicity in murder. The Blue Angel is German film that depicts several aspects that characterise the Weimer Cinema, specifically the concept of castration. In the story, Professor Rath (Emil Jannings) is entrapped in the world of Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich), who is a local cabaret. Professor Rath falls in love with Lola, leading to a scandal that costs him is job, as well as a respectable social status. Professor Rath later marries Lola and later leaves town with Lola’s troupe. Since Prof Rath lost his job, he is forced to sale Lola’s pictures and to feature as a clown on the stage as a magician. One day, he is asked to play his role of a clown in front of an audience in his former town. While onstage, he sees his wife kissing another man. Prof Rath loses his mind and slips his way to a familiar classroom to die. Directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Pandora Box (1929) is a German film portraying a seductive, insensitive young woman called Lulu who uses her sexuality to ruin those around her. Lulu is the mistress of Schon, who is a media mogul (LeninImport 1). Schon attempts to call of his affair with Lulu in the hope of marrying his fiance, but Lulu is not willing to accept. Indeed, his fiancé breaks off from the relationship when she catches him kissing Lulu. Schon makes up his mind to marry Lulu but discovers during their wedding night that Lulu had seduced his son Alwa. Schon gives Lulu the pistol and asks her to kill herself. She refuses and while struggling with Schon, a bullet goes of shooting schon (LeninImport 1). Lulu is convicted for murder, but escapes to England during the trial when a friend of hers activates the alarm. Lulu, Alwa and a lesbian countess escape to London, where she is killed by Jack the Ripper Stereotyping in Weimar cinema Indeed, stereotypes lead to certain gender roles that are set up by behavior. Dehchenari et al (25) suggest that when individuals associate patterns of behavior with men or women, they are led into believing that such behavior is inevitably connected with a specific gender. The media, as a social discourse, is instrumental in forming beliefs, subjectivities, values, and both genders’ senses of their positions in the society (Fairclough 5). The media has served to promulgate the idea regarding what a women should be regarded in a specific culture. To this end, the stereotypes of gender can be established as the most noticeable forms of bias, principally in the cinemas. As argued by Griffin (6), cinemas disseminate messages regarding “societal behaviours.” As Dehchenari et al (25) shows, the females consist of more than half the population of the world. Still, they are made to appear less frequently compared to the males in films. On the other hand, when shown on the screen, the women’s presence is painted as being hyper-sexual and hyperattractive. Indeed, that is what can be translated from the three films: Asphalt, Pandora Box and The Blue Angel. Eroticism Weimar Films represented women as sexual objects, or erotic objects for cinematic gaze. Indeed, analysis of Asphalt, Pandora Box and The Blue Angel shows three key categories of the roles of women: ‘alluring’, and ‘seducing,’ and ‘promiscuous women.’ Pandora Box highlights the roles of alluring women and promiscuous. Three films depicted the disproportionate pleasure-seeking lifestyles of the Weimar period and those who profiteered from the wars (Reimer 11). For instance, the daughters of the working class people were played by actresses, who sold engaged in prostitution in the hope of providing for their families. Conversely, the wealthy people were depicted as amusing themselves at the lavish nightclubs, where these women ultimately came to buy them. The films took a form of photographic realism without use of symbolism. The course of womanhood changed for both men and women. The films took on this field of men’s pessimism with women’s visibility that often characterized women’s projected eroticism at the same stage as criminal activity. In the Asphalt, Joe May created a description of the social disorder by creating a woman who could enjoy her social freedom outside her respectable home. The film depicts the politics of looking, where the women should be looked at while the man is the viewer. Indeed, Petrovic (1) explains that in the traditional exhibitionist task, where women are concurrently looked at and put on view, while their looks are interpreted in terms of strong erotic or visual effects in order to be viewed as denoting the concept of being looked at. The film presented women as erotic objects, while the female shoppers outside the glass were portrayed to have masculine look while staring at the models. The confusion regarding the women’s sexual freedom is artfully depicted in the film, as the distinction between the female and male actors. As showed in the film, the choice to present eroticism through flimsy and shorter clothes and more presence of women on the streets implied that it had become trickier to differentiate between women of dissimilar classes, as well as between respectable women and prostitutes. The Pandora’s Box shows the balance between women’s call for equality and their hopes within the modern society, as well as their increased scepticism towards modernisation, which had started to signal the new direction of resurrection of the traditional concepts of womanhood, or the New Woman. Still, the film’s reflections do not necessarily create a link between anti-modernist views of Germanness in addition to the desire to return to the traditional gender roles. This indicates an emphasis on the taxing rather than the invigorating dimensions of women's experience of the modern German during the Weimar period (Reimer 11). This kind of portrayal of women (instead of the delight with the new aspects of women’s lives as embodied by Lulu), is an important dimension of the rejection of these professed models of femininity. This is consistent with Kapczynski and Richardson (54) argument that construction of the "New Woman" is similar to the cynicism with modernization that originated from the ineffective implementation of the modern American economic concepts of post-war Germany as well as the draw back from a French-influenced explicit sexualization of the female body. The passive man and active women Popular culture has cemented the notion that men and women are not the same. Gender stereotypes are powerful instruments affecting the perception of men and women. They also create social categories for men and women. Traditionally, men have been stereotyped as competent, self-confident, forceful, independent, and success-oriented while women have been stereotyped as outgoing, mutually dependent, warm, and relationship-oriented. An exception of this was the Weimar Republic (Kapczynski & Richardson 54). While the Weimar Republic is considered as Germany’s foremost democratic constitution, it also provided women in German the assurance of legal equality and social equity unlike ever before. Besides, the Weimar society was known for the birth of the “New Woman” who practiced unprecedented forms of sexual and social independence. Analysis of films such as the Asphalt and Pandora Box shows that such promise was not totally fulfilled. Although nervous male fantasies are not specifically distinctive to the Weimar period, the cinema is fascinating for its explicit construction of such fantasies that have to be examined in terms of the social realities, particularly the amplified visibility of women in Weimar Republic (Reimer 11). Like many other movies produced in Germany between in the 1920s and early 193os, Asphalt, Pandorae Box, and The Blue Angel can be understood in terms of their historical context as established by sexual and social anxieties and transformation of cinematic themes into realism that pervaded the culture of the Weimar Republic (Reimer 11). Indeed, a psychoanalytical review of German misogyny shows that the misogynistic discourse of the Republic is based on what could be considered as comparatively “timeless” male anxieties regarding women; and particularly the social reality that pervaded the Republic between in the 1920s and early 1930s. Indeed, the cinematic growth into highlighting the visibility of females in Weimar underscores the distrustful response towards women in the discourse of filmmakers and intellectuals. Indeed, the cinematic representation of male fears regarding women experiences a major developmental change in Weimar Republic. It marked a shift that is a mixture of sexual manipulation and brutal revenge against women. This is shown in the film Pandora Box, where Lulu manages to bring all her male suitors such as Schon and his son Alwa to grief through her seductive manipulation. Lulu later escapes to England, where she is killed by Jack the Ripper. Roles of Women and Men in Weimar Films According to Harris (1), such wily representations of women showed the male filmmakers and the society’s growing suspicion of women and the shift to femininity-oriented in place of the traditional violent hard male bodies. Still, the sudden shifts in the way women were represented caused confusion. In the Weimar films such as Asphalt, Else tended to be more proficiently artful and smarter than the male characters such as the jeweller, and in Pandora Box, where Lulu escapes conviction with the help of her lesbian friend after causing the death of Schon. Still, it would be difficult to characterise the females as heroes in the two Weimar films since they acted in the space between the traditional roles of female and male genders (Dehchenari 27). In the film Asphalt, the traditional stereotyping of the males as the defenders of order is showed, where Albert is the police officer. For instance, he controls traffic to assert the symbol of authority in the chaotic street. Still, he too succumbs to the seductive manipulation of Else, allowing the traffic to lose control. This indicates the notion of femme fatale and the rise of passive male in the Weimar Republic. The women as also depicted as creating social disorder through their seductive power, and men’s divided attention in upholding the social order and yielding to the females’ seduction. For instance, while Albert controls the traffic, a young woman crashes her car into the buttress island where Albert is standing. Albert struggles to free the woman, while at the same time seeking to keep. Romantic Roles Romantic stories prevailed as sub-plots in the Weimar films. While Films like Pandora Box, Asphalt, and The Blue Angel used romance to enhance the plots, it is clear that it was not intended to serve the real purpose of the story. Among the predominant romantic roles explored in the three films included love triangles, patriotic lovers, girlfriend, mistress, obsessed lovers, soft-hearted lovers, and lovers-at-first-sight. For instance, in Pandora Box, Lulu is depicted as playing the role of mistress, who has power over Schon. Here, Schon plays the role of an obsessed lover and soft-hearted lover. At the same time, since Schon is supposed to get married to a respectable socialite, Lulu is also seen to bring out the role of love triangles. Either way, the notion of femme fatale and the passive male arises in the sense that Lulu the mistress is able to manipulate and play to Schon’s fantasies. Conversely, Schon is depicted as a weak and passive male, who yields to Lulu’s seductive manipulations. In the end, while attempting to kill Lulu, it is still Schon who gets killed. In The Blue Angel, Professor Rath plays the role of of-hearted and observed love while Lola plays the role of a femme fatale. Prof Rath is portrayed as weak passive man who loses everything, including his own life. On the other hand, Lola determined to insensitively and defiantly maintain her promiscuity. Theoretical Analysis The portraits of women in Weimar films were mostly primary and superior to that of the male role. The central position of the women often tended to be the focus, as men’s naïveté and passiveness took center stage, such as Asphalt, where Else is the central focus of attention, Lulu is the central focus of attention in Pandora Box, and Lola is the central figure in The Blue Angel. As Kapczynski and Richardson (54) states, it is such notions that prevailed during the Weimar period. As a matter of fact therefore, the films tended to bridge the gap between realism and expressionism. To a greater extent, the films tended to subdue the traditional patriarchal structure that dominated the German society during World War I and before. They centred on the vulnerable emotions and sexual desires of the male protagonist, which the females used to their advantage. Women were severely over represented, or used to draw attention to a weak aspect of the male protagonist’s character. Mostly, the films portrayed the central roles of women by centralizing of love affairs, relationships, as well as illustrating the female body as an erotic object (Harris 1). Films such as Asphalt, The Blue Angel and Pandora Box had a telling characterization women and took them into a fetishized scope, hence defeating Freud's argument that only men can fetishize (Cagle 24). Indeed, several theories have offered to explain the cinematic representation of women. In an essay by Laura Mulvey, she reviews juxtaposition of men and the female object of their affection based on the concept of a ‘modernist narrative film.’ In the essay, the influential male gaze is seen to have projected its fantasy on to the female form that is styled seductively. In accordance with their traditional exhibitionist role, women are at the same time viewed and displayed (Halle & McCarthy 321). Indeed, their look is coded for strong erotic impact. Indeed, display of women as sexual object is the theme of erotic display. On the other hand, expression of men’s fantasy and erotic thoughts are positioned on the woman with the view of getting materialized, as well as to be debated on throughout the films (McCarthy 85). In a way, women are seen to represent the peak of men’s fantasies. Men are depicted as having dedicated desires to view women and watch them materialise into the physical representation of dominant figures, in place of the patriarchal figures. Rather than just build the concept of to-be-looked-at-ness, the Weimar cinema reinforces the manner in which women are to be looked at into the display itself. Harris (1) argues that certain fascinations of films can be fortified through the use of pre-existing patterns of fascination that already exist in the social formations, particularly consideration of the sexual differences. According to 'Psychoanalytic Theory, sexual differences can be a political weapon that can demonstrate how the patriarchal society has framed the cinema. A vital source of pleasure for the male viewers, according to Harris (1), is scopophilia, which is defined as the pleasure in viewing and in being looked at. According to Freud, scopophilia is an important constituent of sexuality, that can develop into obsessive perversion, which comprises acquiring satisfaction from 'viewing an objectified others’. The Scopholic pleasure prevailed in Weimar cinema as the audience watched in an enclosed world images that projected their desired on to those acting. Consistent with Harris’s (1) statement, Weimar films centred on the human body, in addition to storyline, space, and stories provide the pleasures of recognition. Still, the central focus of Weimar films was development of the ego, hence the concept of mirror phase. In describing the mirror phase, Harris (1) explained that it is where the spectator of an image in the mirror enables one to recognise an idealised and perfect version of himself, or what Mulvey (1) called narcissm. In which case, recognition is integrated with misrecognition, while the mirror image is taken as an idea ego on the basis of models of others. The tension between self-image and image is established. For instance, Pandora Box, The Blue Angel and Asphalt are sufficiently fascinating to allow temporary loss of male ego, while at the same time reinforcing the male ego. For instance, in Asphalt, Albert has to swallow his ego as being the police officer and the controller of social order to yield to Else’s seductive power. While Albert loses his ego, Else’s ego is reinforced. Hence, there is a contradiction between two types of pleasures, the narcissistic, and the scopophilic pleasure. While Scopophilic pleasure comprises viewing of others as the objects of sexual stimulation, the narcisstic pleasure emanates from identification or recognition of the image to eventual effects on maintenance of the ego. Hence, Asphalt provides certain version of reality that allows such contradictory pleasures to co-exist. Still, such pleasures are accompanied by threats to ego by the images of women that crystallise the tension (Petrovic 1). What makes the sequencing unique in the Asphalt, The Blue Angel and Pandora Box, rather than the traditional scopophilia-scene, is the shift of balance of power towards the women. As a tradition, when characterising scopophilia, the males are at the forefront and look to women for affection as well as objectify them. Additionally, the males tend to convey their innate and erotic desires and become the control of the scene. Hence, the women are viewed as being more than materialisation of the men’s passion. However, in the Weimar films such as Pandora Box, it is Else who is in control rather than Schon, even if it is momentarily. Schon is depicted to be awe of Else’s presence, and she is the one to order him around. As a matter of fact, Pandora Box does something revolutionary. By giving Else a voice, the film gives the females more purpose rather than just being Schon’s object. Towards this end, the role of the woman in cinematic representation is extensively altered as it gives women power or voice despite existence of strong men. Conclusion In conclusion, material and popular culture were significant in reasserting the role of women in the society during the Weimer era and that the feminine visibility of the 1920s as presented in Weimar cinema show how the society marked transition from a male dominated world, into a woman’s world of seduction. Among the realities was the emergence of eroticism in the society, where men became more vulnerable to women’s power of seduction. To this end, the films depicted men as immature and as incapable of taking control. On the other hand, the femme fatale or fallen women was depicted as capable of entrapping respectable and unsuspecting man. The films took a form of photographic realism without use of symbolism. Works Cited Ankum, Katharina. "Women in the Metropolis: Gender and Modernity in Weimar Culture." University of California Press: Berkeley, c1997 Ashkenazi, Ofer. "Weimar Film and Modern Jewish Identity." Palgrave Macmillan: New York, 2012 Cagle, Robert. "Auto-Eroticism: Narcissism, Fetishism, and Consumer Culture." Cinema Journal 33.4 (1994): 23-33 Dehchenari, Abdali, Mardziah Abdullah and Wong Bee. "A Critical and Semiotic Analysis of the Shift in Women’s Erotic and Romantic Roles in Action Movies and Movie Posters across Three Eras of Hollywood." International Journal for Innovation Education and Research 2.6 (2014): 27-39 Fairclough, N. “Critical Discourse Analysis.” Longman: London,1995. Haase, Christine. "When Heimat Meets Hollywood: German Filmmakers and America, 1985-2005." Camden House: New York, 2007 Halle, Randall & Margaret McCarthy. "Light Motives: German Popular Film in Perspective." Wayne State University Press: Wayne, 2003. Harris, Dave. "Reading Guide to Mulvey on Cinema and Psychoanalysis," n.d. 5 Nov 2014, Isenberg, Noah. “Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era.” Columbia University Press: Columbia, 2009 Kapczynski, Jennifer & Michael Richardson. "A New History of German Cinema." Boydell & Brewer: New York, 2014. LeninImport. "Pandora Box," 2014. 5 Nov 2014, McCarthy, Margaret. "Sex and the Developing Brain." Morgan & Claypool Publishers: New York, 2010 Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Screen. (1975): Print. Petrovic, P. "The Culturally Constituted Gaze: Fetishizing the Feminine from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen to Zack Snyder's Watchmen." Interdisciplinary Comic Studies 5.4 (2010): 1-12 Reimer, Robert. "Cultural History Through a National Socialist Lens: Essays on the Cinema of the Third Reich." Camden House: New York, 2000 Reimer, Robert and Carol Reimer. "Historical Dictionary of German Cinema." Scarecrow Press: California, 2008. Silberman, Marc. "German Cinema: Texts in Context." Wayne State University Press: Wayne, 1995. Read More