Disabled Characters Subject to a Normative or Able Gaze within Cinema - Assignment Example

Disabled Characters Subject to a Normative or Able Gaze within Cinema Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 20th October, 2012. 3. In Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Laura Mulvey argues that cinema structures acts of looking through a male gaze. Several of her examples (for example Hitchcock’s Vertigo & Rear Window) are also available for a disability analysis. How are disabled characters subject to a normative or able gaze within cinema? According to Mulvey (2009), there has been a problem of imbalance in the representation of male and female sexes in the cinemas. In most films, men are portrayed as active characters while female represent the passive characters, which has resulted to a big gap between the roles played by men and female in the movies. For instance, Mulvey realized that in most films, women are taken as tools of sex whose work is to satisfy men; therefore, women are represented as objects for sex in satisfying male sexes. Through this look, it shows how women are passively presented in the cinemas as compared to men who take the active roles, which shows control of men over women. It is therefore, important to discuss and understand this issue by analyzing statement by Mulvey on the issue of women representation and their roles in the cinemas. Taking an early example of the movie Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson was the object of affection of Peter who was the main character in the movie, therefore concurring with Mulvey (2009) that women in most cases are passive characters in films. Hence in most cases, women in the films becomes objects of affection for the males but their being the objects of affection in the films is brought about by the male characters who play the active roles in the movie. Within the societies, men and women work together in performing various activities in order to achieve certain goals in life (Strauven 38). This has led to the division of labor among people as they are regarded equally and each person is able to perform various tasks in different areas. Although women are seen as part and parcel in the division of work in the society, in most cases, they have taken the role of autonomous character making them become almost equal to men in their duties (Dimare 159). Moreover, some have performed marvelous works better than men in their area of specialization. Therefore, because these women can perform their duties perfectly just as men, it is important for them not to be discriminated during the division of labor because they have the opportunity to do better work as compared to work done by other men in the same area. For instance, in the movie, The Cat-Woman, Halle Berry (Patience Phillips) is the main protagonist in the movie and this shows that there have been great improvements when it comes to women representation in the movies. Representation of women in the modern day is different from the way women were initially represented in the movies in the earlier days because according to Mulvey (2009), women had poor representation and were always the subjects of the male gaze for nowadays women have had an equal representation in the movies and they equally have attracted the male gaze even when they are the protagonists in the movies. However, this has been done with great precision of the camera filming the woman as an object of affection, that is the camera being directed to the viewers on the woman through filming exclusively parts or dwelling on parts of the human anatomy that are set to capture the male gaze. According to Mulvey (11), “narrative fiction film created images of women used for the gratification of men”. In the movie, the Cat-Woman exhibits the images of a woman who men would feel gratified by the look of her dress code. In addition, the Cat-Woman represents a disabled character, disabled in the fact that she has a persona that is not of an ideal person and has abilities that are not possessed by normal people. Male gaze in the disabled character of the Cat-Woman is captured through Halle Berry beauty, sexuality, size and also the emotions of a sexy woman by the way she swings while walking and jumping like a cat. However, this does not escape Mulvey criticisms that women in the representation of women in films, the women act as a point of view for the man for even though Halle Berry is the main protagonist in the Cat-Woman, she does not succeed on her own and is therefore aided by Ophelia Powers who is a researcher and helps Cat-Woman in her endeavors. The male gaze is also represented through the disabled character of the Cat-Woman whereby, Tom Lone, who is a cop is blinded by the little romance that he experiences with Cat-Woman and fails to realize that she is the woman behind the crimes in the town. Tom Lone, though suspecting is blinded by his gaze on the Cat-Woman and emphasizes that disabled characters too are subject to the normative gaze in cinemas. In most films, the issue of male gaze has been a factor that many movie writers and producers are basing in coming up with different characters and roles in the cinemas (Penley 68). Through this, women representation in the movies have taken a different dimension as they are portrayed as passive characters as compared to male characters that represent the roles of active characterization despite their inability to represent such characters in real life situation. For instance, in the article ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, one of the Mulvey documents, has explained how representations of women in the cinema is poor as compared to male gaze. For example, according to Mulvey (2009) most films have poor attitude towards women because in most film, men are represented as dependant of women because they do look for gaze through women especially via cameras as discovered by most audiences during performances. According to Mulvey (2009), most films portray women as the determinant in the reflection of male gaze. In most cases, especially in the ancient days, women were not recognized in the society and were not allowed to enjoy most of their rights. In most communities, women were not allowed to participate in various activities such as voting, performing certain jobs no matter how skillful they were, and even being denied some of their rights in various cultural practices (Chaudhuri 167). Although this has changed over time because they have fought tirelessly on the issues, they have gained most of their freedom making some to become active members of the society. But according to Mulvey, the fight for women for their representation in the societies is not being recognized in the cinema. To take the point closer home, in the Terminator series of movies, the first movie, The Terminator (1984), Sarah Conner is the star in the movie and she seems as the main protagonist by then. However, as the movie progresses to Terminator 2 Judgment Day (1991), Sarah Conner, is protected by T - 800 from T – 1000 which was on a mission of killing Sarah and her son. T – 800 succeeded in protecting Sarah and her son. However, the act of T – 800 protecting Sarah and John and also defeating T – 1000 which was also female can only ascertain Mulvey assertions that though women has fought hard to have equal representation, they are still miles away from having that equality in the film industry. T – 1000 in the movie, Judgment day, was a stronger version of T – 800 but still was defeated by T – 800, making Mulvey assertions very clear. In the end, T - 800 and John survives to the end of the movie but not Sarah or T – 1000. The terminator movies also display the success of representation of the disabled character to a normative or able gaze within cinema. In the movies, the T – 1000 though in a disabled body of the cyborg does not fall short of capturing the male gaze especially where the woman uses the trick of enlarging her breasts to trick the policeman and ends up killing him. Sarah Conner also exemplifies the narrative of male gaze where she is protected by the cyborg T – 800 and in one time in the movie seen as caring for the T – 800 where she removes the bullets in the T – 800 body. Disabled characters therefore are also subject to a normative or able gaze within the cinema. The success of the male gaze is triggered by actions taken by women characters in the movies to the extent that even disabled characters are represented as heroic characters in the movies through the male gaze (Jones, p7). In regards to the selected movies, ‘The Thing’ by John Carpenter and Spider- Man by Sam Raimi, disability is seen as a normal metaphor. Spider-man is the story of a Peter who deviates from the ideal body but still is used in the film to illuminate the theme of the male gaze for the heroic acts that he engages in are all in the effort of the woman. Therefore, the disabled character in the movie, Spider-Man is used to make an appraisal of some of the focal points in the representation of the disabled characters to be subject to a normative or able gaze within the cinema. The heroic acts engaged in by Spider-Man illuminates some film projections that deserves critical appraisal in the projection of the male gaze through the disabled characters in the films. For instance, Spider-Man is aware that he is in love with Mary but is unable to approach Mary because of his shyness. However, the disabled character has been used to bring the focus of the viewers to the woman (Mary) who is the object of affection of Peter. The use of Spider-Man who has a body that deviates from the normal body served to strengthen the analysis of the able gaze in the film for the disabled characters refuse to be confined to disability and not capable of gaze and therefore serves to show how disabled characters are subject to a normative or able gaze within cinema and in offers a view to come to grips with how disabled characters are subject to a normative or able gaze within cinema. In ‘The Thing’ a film written by Lancaster in 1982, the disabled character is represented by the creature which could imitate human beings. The fiction movie that consisted researchers, only had one woman in the team and this portrayed poor representation of women in the film. The disabled character in the movie ‘The Thing’ is used to exemplify the prowess demonstrated by the female character in the movie whereby she takes the lead from men in fighting the creature that was threatening to kill all of them after the men in the movie started to retreat. The act of the female character becoming heroic in the eyes of the viewers only exemplifies her qualities that make men gaze at the female character for instance being brave and having tender eyes. In conclusion, character representation in arts work is a key factor for any artist in coming up with films (Brooker, p23). Movie directors are lured into making movies that are to capture the attention of the viewers and this concept has been brought out in the essay where even disabled characters are subject to a normative or able gaze within cinema for the disabled characters are used to exemplify the subject of the male gaze in the movies as exhibited in the movies, The Cat-Woman, Spider-Man and The Thing among other films discussed in the essay. From this representation of the male gaze through disabled characters, it is apparent that movie directors try to make the movies become favorites to the views through capturing the male gaze. References Books Brooker, Will. The Audience Studies Reader. London: Routledge. 2002. Print. Chaudhuri, S. FEMINIST FILM THEORISTS. London: Taylor & Francis. 2006. Print. Dimare, Philip, C. Moves in American History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. 2011. Print. Jones, Amelia, The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. London: Routledge. 2002. Print. Mulvey, Laura. Visual and Other Pleasures. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 2009. Print. Penley, C. Feminism and Film Theory. London: Routledge. 1988. Print. Press. 2007. Print. Strauven, Wanda. The Cinema of Attractions Reloaded. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Videography Carpenter, John, Dir. The Thing. Twentieth Century Fiction, 1982. Film. Cat Woman. Dir. Pitof. Pref. Halle Berry, Benjamin Bratt, Sharon Stone. Lambert Wilson, Frances Conroy, Alex Borstein. Warner Bros. Pictures. 19th July, 2004. DVD. Raimi, Sum, Dir. Spider Man. Twenty-first Century Fiction. 2002. Film. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Dir. James Cameroon, pref. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong. TriStar Pictures. 1st July, 1991. DVD. The Terminator, Dir. James Cameron, pref. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton. Orion Pictures. 26th October, 1984. DVD. Read More

Representation of women in the modern day is different from the way women were initially represented in the movies in the earlier days because according to Mulvey (2009), women had poor representation and were always the subjects of the male gaze for nowadays women have had an equal representation in the movies and they equally have attracted the male gaze even when they are the protagonists in the movies. However, this has been done with great precision of the camera filming the woman as an object of affection, that is the camera being directed to the viewers on the woman through filming exclusively parts or dwelling on parts of the human anatomy that are set to capture the male gaze.

According to Mulvey (11), “narrative fiction film created images of women used for the gratification of men”. In the movie, the Cat-Woman exhibits the images of a woman who men would feel gratified by the look of her dress code. In addition, the Cat-Woman represents a disabled character, disabled in the fact that she has a persona that is not of an ideal person and has abilities that are not possessed by normal people. Male gaze in the disabled character of the Cat-Woman is captured through Halle Berry beauty, sexuality, size and also the emotions of a sexy woman by the way she swings while walking and jumping like a cat.

However, this does not escape Mulvey criticisms that women in the representation of women in films, the women act as a point of view for the man for even though Halle Berry is the main protagonist in the Cat-Woman, she does not succeed on her own and is therefore aided by Ophelia Powers who is a researcher and helps Cat-Woman in her endeavors. The male gaze is also represented through the disabled character of the Cat-Woman whereby, Tom Lone, who is a cop is blinded by the little romance that he experiences with Cat-Woman and fails to realize that she is the woman behind the crimes in the town.

Tom Lone, though suspecting is blinded by his gaze on the Cat-Woman and emphasizes that disabled characters too are subject to the normative gaze in cinemas. In most films, the issue of male gaze has been a factor that many movie writers and producers are basing in coming up with different characters and roles in the cinemas (Penley 68). Through this, women representation in the movies have taken a different dimension as they are portrayed as passive characters as compared to male characters that represent the roles of active characterization despite their inability to represent such characters in real life situation.

For instance, in the article ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, one of the Mulvey documents, has explained how representations of women in the cinema is poor as compared to male gaze. For example, according to Mulvey (2009) most films have poor attitude towards women because in most film, men are represented as dependant of women because they do look for gaze through women especially via cameras as discovered by most audiences during performances. According to Mulvey (2009), most films portray women as the determinant in the reflection of male gaze.

In most cases, especially in the ancient days, women were not recognized in the society and were not allowed to enjoy most of their rights. In most communities, women were not allowed to participate in various activities such as voting, performing certain jobs no matter how skillful they were, and even being denied some of their rights in various cultural practices (Chaudhuri 167). Although this has changed over time because they have fought tirelessly on the issues, they have gained most of their freedom making some to become active members of the society.

But according to Mulvey, the fight for women for their representation in the societies is not being recognized in the cinema. To take the point closer home, in the Terminator series of movies, the first movie, The Terminator (1984), Sarah Conner is the star in the movie and she seems as the main protagonist by then.

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