Old Boy

Positive Western Reception:

• cult reception
• complex narrative
• symbolism of eating the live octopus
• powerful film - depths of the human heart
• age consent 

Negative Western Reception:

• harming animals - octopus     
• sadmasochism 
• puerile
• does not match the standards of a puritanical majority (christian)
• age consent - America has a higher consent age than Korea
• style over substance
• adolescent audience 

Hollywood Reception:

• CHN
• commodifies morals 
• alignment - make the audience sympathise him and give him longer backstory
• happy ending different

Old Boy

• Provocative film; deals with incest and violence 
• Central imagining 
• Freud oedpial complex

How would a black spectator react to Django Unchained?

Tarantino's Django Unchained explores the freeing of a black slave named Django by a white bounty hunter known as Dr. Schultz.

Bell Hook's theory of the black gaze describes an overwhelming desire to look. Whilst black people always realised that mass media maintained white supremacy, presenting white people as the dominant and black people as the inferior.

A spectator may take on a negotiated reading of the film by adapting to the black gaze. For example, we may see alignment with the other black characters rather than the protagonist Django. In the film, Django is freed however, we do not gain any sense of brotherhood or motivation to free other slaves, instead it is as though once freed Django is part of the white dominant culture and continues to oppress other black slaves himself. Instead, one may take on a negotiated reading of the film and therefore align with Dr. Schultz due to his sense of brotherhood.

However, if a spectator was to adapt to the black gaze, one may align more so with the black female characters. bell hooks argued that in cinema there are no positive representations of black women, they are either presented as a portrayal of the white woman, a female slave or as a laughable character. This is evident throughout Django Unchained. For example, the character Bertina is presented as the laughable caricature. We see that she is spoken down to and lacks intelligence in comparison to other black women.
We also see Sheba, who is treated as a white woman who wears expensive clothing and lives in the luxury of Candy's home.

Firstly, we see Broomhilda, Django's wife being from a white German background and therefore associating her with the dominant white culture and dislocating her from the black culture.

We then see Bertina, who acts as a characterture for the black culture, used as a mock by the white culture.

Bell Hooks - Black Gaze

• Bell Hooks - oppositional gaze -All of these attempts to stop black people from gazing produced an overwhelming longing to look, a rebellious desire, an oppositional gaze.  That is what Bell Hooks’ paper is all about.  The “gaze” has been and is a site of resistance for colonized black people globally.  
• As spectators, black men could look at white womanhood without being murdered or lynched.  In the cinema they could enter an imaginative space of phallocentric power (which Mulvey introduced us to) that mediated racial negation.
• Most of the black women never went to movies expecting to see ‘compelling representations of black femaleness’. Aware of the absence of black womanhood in mass media.
• No positive representations of black women - as white women or female slaves / laughable objects

• Black people always realised that mass-media helped maintain white supremacy by presenting white people as dominance, and black people as a mere negation

• The only way to enjoy cinema is to igore racism and sexism - Kaplan, identify with the white women

How would different audiences respond to Brokeback Mountain?

Introduction:

• Different groups and spectators will adapt to a variety of readings of the film Brokeback Mountain. Extra-textual influences will force the spectator to align with and feel allegiance to particular characters or absence of characters within the film. 
• This may result in preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings of the film. 
• Stuart Hall - "the way the text is received, rather than the text itself"

Paragraph one: preferred reading: 

• Taking an intended reading of the film; agreeing with ALL of the messages encoded into the text
• Queer Gaze: Empathy = central imagining - extra textual - based on similar experiences - Sex scene with Ennis and wife - insinuates anal sex with wife - empathy to the coming out process and oppression / having to hide true self - heterosexual spectators may not align with Ennis lack of emotional connection to family due to lack of extra textual background. 
• Rucus - Ennis is the male dominant - Jack is the female, adapting to the stereotypical housewife role = heterosexual relationship structure
• Butler - performance of gender - in film, a homosexual couple must match the heterosexual relationship roles or their will be gender trouble - Jack's wife is the dominant/breadwinner = gender trouble - "This ain't our fault" enforcing the theory that homosexuality is not a choice - they are oppressed by society - homosexual audience may align and feel alliegance more so here than a heterosexual audience. Although a hetereosexual audience may align with Ennis and Jack, they will not feel allegiance and central imagining due to the lack of experience in this sexuality. 

Paragraph two: Negotiated reading:

• The viewer identifies with most of the meanings encoded within the text but does not agree with all of the messages 
• Female oppression 
• Kaplan - having to make a conscious decision to look through the eyes of the female in film - Sex scene with Ennis and wife - insinuates anal sex = woman has no say = male dominance and power - woman may sympathise with wives as they know that the husbands are homosexual = dramatic irony = women have no say even in a homosexual relationship 
• Jack's wife is the worker/breadwinner = against stereotypical values of Mulvey 
• Freud - family abandonment, absence of father figure when younger = search for male companion? - Ennis' children are a constant reminder that he cannot be with the one he loves. 
• A woman may sympathise with Ennis and Jack more due to having an oppressed past. Especially as the film was set in the 1950s, where women were also oppressed. However, a woman may also sympathise with the wives in the film, and lack of other female characters. - Story of Earl and Rich - castration due to sexuality and female absence - father made Ennis see as a warning = Freud / damaged past. Abused childhood = fight with jack = installed from a young age 
• Mulvey - Ennis = masculine, strong build to reinforce heterosexual relationships into the film = men may align with Ennis due to this. "No ones eating unless you're serving it" said by Ennis to wife = heterosexual relationship stereotypes, still oppressed woman = link to Butler's gender trouble / hetereosexual relationship in order for it to work - Jack cooks for Ennis. 

Homosexuality - oppressed/abnormal/treated as an illness until 1990s = modern theorists
Homosexual cinema = alternative/independent
Brokeback Mountain = first mainstream film - gay spectator can directly relate or symphasise  with the coming out process = allegiance with the characters

Judith Butler 

• Gender in all a societal performance
• Masculinity vs femininity 
• Homosexuality is mimicking heterosexual relationships - butch lesbian etc = gender trouble
• Gender trouble is created when these roles are subverted - 500 days of summer Sid and Nancy 
• Gender trouble = doomed to fail
• Gender trouble = hyper masculine or femininity. If this occurs the relationship is doomed to fail 

Derek Rucus 

• Homosexual spectator is forced to become a woman subculture - lust for sexual gaze from Bond
• Gaze upon Bond himself 
• They become the women so that the sexual gaze from the man to the woman is then put upon to them 
• 
  

http://www.wattpad.com/3491084-sins-of-the-flesh-~a-rocky-horror-picture-show-fan

fandom

Fandom: A collection of fans of a particular film
Cine literate: genre literate
Cinephile:

Queer Gaze Theory: 500 Days of Summer: Butler and Rucas

Judith Butler suggests that gender is not biological, but socially constructed. This can link to aspects and themes in 500 Days of Summer. Most significantly in the scene with Tom and Summer in the pancake house. Here, Summer describes her relationship with Tom as Sid and Nancy, then correcting Tom for thinking that he would automatically be labelled as Sid due to his gender. However, this is subverted when Summer describes that she is the masculine, she is Sid. This therefore can relate to Butler's theory, that gender is merely a performance rather than something biological. As a result of this, men may not align with Tom due to his femininity, and therefore through Butler's theory, through his gender performance. This would result in the spectator adapting to a negotiated reading of the film: Although we see the film through Tom's perspective, one may not feel allegiance and therefore align with him, even if the spectator has the same biological gender, as he may not have the same gender performance. 

One may also look at the casting of 500 Days of Summer and expect to align with Tom due to being played by a big Hollywood actor. However, the film incorporates notions of gender trouble; challenging the preconceived notions of gender in the film. The spectator may assume that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character will be stereotypically masculine, resulting in gender trouble. 

Tuesday 3rd March 2015

Queer Theory 
-Emerged in the 1990s - when homosexuality became socially accepted
- Explores the way that heterosexuality is explored as normal
-Representation of gay men and women in the media
-Challenges the oppositional divide between gay and heterosexuality

Judith Butler 1999 
-Suggests gender is not the result of nature but it is socially constructed
-Male and female behaviour roles are not the result of biology but are constructed by society (This could link to 500 Days of Summer Sid and Nancy)
-Sees gender as a performance
-Men in the audience may not align with Tom due to his femininity, whilst vice versa with Summer = negotiated oppositional reading. Aligned with Tom through the director and narrative, but maybe not due to his femininity.
-Any behaviour that disrupts notions of gender - preconceived notions of gender = gender trouble (feminine, damsel in distress etc)

History
-1950s police actively enforced laws that prohibited sexual activities between men
-Sexually abnormal and deviant = marginalised
-1967 homosexuality is decriminalised in UK - India 2009
-In parts of Africa and Asia today is still punishable to death
-1977 refers to homosexuality of as a mental illness - not taken down till 1990

Queer theory suggests there are different ways of interpreting contemporary media texts
Queer theory can be applied to texts when heterosexuality is the dominant.
Queer theory suggests a movement towards an increasing tolerance although heterosexuality is still a norm.

Brokeback Mountain, 2006
-Success of this Hollywood film is an indication of more progressive attitudes to homosexuality
-For some, the film challenges two quintessential traditional images of American masculinity - the cowboy and the fishing trip
-The queer gaze here becomes the dominant active gaze rather than the oppositional gaze.

Homosexual films = desire + empathy of coming out
Heterosexual films = desire

"...being’ a lesbian is always a kind of miming, a vain effort to participate in the phantasmatic plenitude of naturalized heterosexuality which will always and only fail (Butler, 312.)”  Butler is arguing that homosexuality imitates heterosexuality’s defining gender roles.  That a butch lesbian is imitating a man because of her masculine qualities that only belong to a man, so she must be a fake in order be in the gender realm.  The same goes for feminine gay men and even butch gay men whose hyper masculinity is a play on heterosexual masculinity pushed to the edges.  So gender must be a societal construct that constantly emulates the heterosexual definitions of masculinity and femininity in order to differentiate between the sexes.  When homosexual people enter the gender binary, they must imitate these norms in their relationship, but will always fail." [https://yourboyfriendsucks.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/of-mulvery-butler-and-the-homosexual-gaze/] 
Homosexuality imitates the heterosexual qualities, the gay woman imitating the man/homosexual relationships are based on heterosexual relationships
Butler: drag is the only way to show the performativity of gender

Homosexual Male Gaze:
Homosexuals must align with women in cinema, to do so they must be transexual, disregarding their gender and sexuality -> heterosexual male
Derek Rucas
"Rucas is claiming that the homosexual male gaze can only come through the female perspective in cinema that our gaze, because it is a male one, overpowers her and her desire becomes our desire. The homosexual gaze is not transsvestivism, but rather a channeling through an outlet of the female desire for the male character, thus objectifying him while he is objectifying her.  Because the homosexual gaze overpowers the female gaze, we are essentially turning her into a commodity to look at heterosexual men with.  A kaleidoscope, if you will, that alters the perception of the film in our favour to turn a sexual being whose gaze is stronger than the female counterpart and meeting that gaze with an equally strong gaze through the woman."
When the homosexual man puts himself as the woman, when the male gazes at her, he sees it as him being gazed at.
However, Rucas is criticised to being restricted to heterosexual films.

Homosexual films = not just sexual desire, but also emotional, when they explore the process of being gay 
When a gay person watches a gay film, it brings about a much more emotional response, bringing about empathy of the coming out process. 

500 Days of Summer Feminist theories

Marc Webb's 500 Days of Summer, 2009, explores a relationship between two characters; Tom and Summer. The film is portrayed only through Tom's perspective and therefore the male gaze is throughly incorporated into the film. It also means that the spectator must make a conscious decision if he/she wishes to view the film through Summer's alternative perspective. The film explores Tom constantly wanting to develop his relationship with Summer further; from speaking to sex to becoming his girlfriend. However, when it comes to this final outcome, we see that this is only wanted from Tom.

Based upon the theories of Freud, Bellor and Metz, Laura Mulvey focuses on the male gaze and how women are the subject of the film, only there for visual pleasure. She argued that because film is dominated by the male perspective, this results in the spectator viewing the woman through the sexualised male perspective. As 500 Days of Summer is portrayed only through Tom's perspective, Summer is sexualised and is introduced through close ups of her body. The narrator describes Summer as having the average height but with a slightly larger shoe size. Summer is sexualised from the beginning of the film as she is described as completely normal and average, but that there is something about Summer that men are attracted to. We see Summer walk through the bus to her seat, and every single man double taking at Summer's appearance. This therefore makes Summer an object solely for sexual visual pleasure. The narrator describes this as "The Summer Effect" incorporating high levels of voyeurism from the male. This scene also has a strong theme of the 1950s, the scene is filmed in black and white and incorporates Summer in a typical 1950s mid length skirt, her hair tied with a bow whilst riding a bike. This reinstalls an aspect of male control and the sexualised, submissive woman. This is similar in the ikea scene, when Tom and Summer pretend to be husband and wife, typical of the 1950s; the wife who cooks and waits on the husband.
Mulvey's theory of the male gaze can also be seen prominently in the dance scene. Previously, Tom has just slept with Summer, which cuts to the scene where Tom is celebrating whilst walking to work, with other passers by joining in, all celebrating Tom's success in sleeping with Summer. We do not see Summer's perspective on the couple's sex. The mise en scene in this particular scene also incorporates a masculine theme, reinforcing the male gaze further into the film. Tom and the rest of the passers by all wear blue clothing, which is typically deemed as masculine colour through colour psychology.

Kaplan argues that the spectator aligns with the male in the film as the narrative is portrayed through the dominant male perspective. She argues that the spectator must make a conscious decision to align with the female in the film. This theory therefore can link to my previous point as if the spectator wants to align with Summer, he/she must make a conscious decision to do so. For example, in the scene when Summer finally opens up to Tom about her inner thoughts, the spectator will not be able to subconsciously align with Summer as the male narrator speaks over the top of Summer, making it so we cannot hear what she is saying, but instead what Tom feels about Summer telling him her secrets.  The spectator can only align with Summer, if he/she makes a conscious effort to do so. For example, one may consciously align with Summer  as she does not gain a voice, however if we only view the film through the subconscious male gaze, the spectator may not align with Summer, as the audience cannot hear her perspective.
One may adapt to a negotiated reading of the film; if the spectator is not white, male or straight. Although the film is portrayed through Tom's perspective, if the spectator is not a white, straight male he/she may not feel allegiance towards Tom, disregarding the fact the film is told through his perspective. This may mean that the spectator is more inclined to view the film through alternate perspectives, such as Summer's. Therefore resulting in a negotiated reading as this would not have been the director's necessary intention.

When the female character in film becomes the dominant, she is usually punished as a result of this, usually resulting in her life. In other words, when the male gaze is subverted and film is viewed through the eyes of the woman, she is usually punished in some way. It is therefore usually more difficult to align with this character as she has broken out of her conventional role. One may argue that this is not applicable to 500 Days of Summer as for one, it is not portrayed through Summer's perspective, and two, she is not punished. However, others may argue that Summer is punished through audience response and therefore as a result of this, Williams' theory of the dominant gaze does apply. Another alternative view could be that 500 Days of Summer subverts this theory and reverses it; because the film is told through Tom's perspective, he is punished. This could apply as we see throughout the film that Tom takes on the submissive more feminine role, whilst Summer adapts to the more masculine role. We see this through the scene in the pancake house, when Summer describes the two as Sid and Nancy, then corrects Tom for thinking that he is Sid, when actually she describes herself as Sid. Therefore if we see Tom as the female, the dominant gaze can apply to the film as he is punished towards the end of the film by not getting Summer and going through his torture of her engagement party. Moreover, another interpretation of Williams' theory on this film could be that Summer is actually punished at the end of the film as she ends up caught in a marriage, which she states at the beginning of the film that she does not want.

In conclusion, the film 500 Days of Summer seems to be a male dominated film, if the spectator takes on a preferred reading of the film, not making a conscious decision to view the film through the eyes of the female.  We see aspects of voyeurism and the male gaze throughout the film, whilst it being portrayed by a male protagonist throughout. However, a spectator could also take on a negotiated reading of the film if he/she was to take a conscious decision to align with the female character(s) such as Summer. Overall, it depends on the spectator's allegiance and alignment with the characters and whether they adapt to a negotiated or preferred reading of the film.

"How far does a spectator's gender affect their viewing experience in contemporary cinema?"

One may argue that the film Black Swan by Darren Aronfsky, could be seen as a provocative film, however this is dependent on whether or not you view the film through theories such as Mulvey's male gaze. If one was to take on an oppositional gaze, they may view the film as intellectually demanding.

Freud's theories of psychoanalysis and the Oedipal Complex could apply to this film. Freud argued that the 'ID' controls and suppresses the animalistic desires and fantasies. However, if these desires take over, the said person faces insanity and therefore the ID is released. This could apply throughout the film, Black Swan, but most prominently through the lesbian sex scene with Nina, the protagonist herself and her ballet colleague Lily. However, we soon realise that this scene must have been a hallucination of Nina's as Lily denies this situation. This therefore could be a coherent example of the escape of the ID and the animalistic sexual desires. Another way that Freud's theory could apply to the film could be that the typical, innocent Nina is represented as the white swan, whilst her oppressed fantasies and desires (ID) are represented as the black swan. As the film develops, we see aspects of the black swan take over Nina's innocence, this could therefore portray the escapism of the ID. As the black swan takes over Nina, she becomes more promiscuous and therefore loses her innocence.
We can also see aspects of Freud's Oedipal Complex within the film. The Oedipal Complex is the parental modelling and its lack of and effect. Nina is absent of a father figure and therefore throughout the film it could be argued that she is seeking for the fulfillment of this role. We can see this through the role of Thomas, Nina's choreographer. He is clearly older than her and directs her throughout her role as both a dancer and as a person. However, this father figure becomes corrupt when we see Thomas manipulate Nina sexually .

Another way that gender could affect the spectator's viewing experience is Mulvey's male gaze theory. Here, she describes that film is portrayed for and through the eyes of the male, satisfying the man's sexual fantasies and desires at the expense of the woman's. One way that the male gaze could be incorporated into the film Black Swan could be in the lesbian sex scene, satisfying a male fantasy. Another way could be through objectifications. The women in the film, are viewed as sexual objects and are portrayed and sexualised through close ups, whilst the male characters are not. This is clear on the train, when Nina is being winked and blown kisses at by the older man who sits opposite her. This man objectifies and sexualises Nina as merely a sex object. We also witness an aspect of voyeurism throughout the film. It is coherent that Nina has hallucinations throughout, whilst we view the film in her perspective, we see and witness these hallucinations too; making it more difficult to separate the reality from the fantasy. However, voyeurism is incorporated into the film, one being through the audience who watch Nina in the show, and the other being Thomas, who controls and constantly watches Nina. One could also argue that the aspect of mirrors also act as a voyeur; constantly following Nina; always being a reflection where ever she goes. These mirrors represent Nina's mental stability. (Broken mirrors, broken minds.)

Therefore, Lacan's mirror stage theory is very relevant to this film. The spectator gains a god-like perspective of film, creating an omni-potent and omni-present feel; making the camera go everywhere and see everything, without any restrictions. Like the camera, the mirrors in the film, go everywhere that Nina goes. Although these are not necessarily the same mirrors following her, Nina's reflection is constantly surrounding her, developing into her insanity. Lacan argued that who you identify with in film,  is the expression f the suppressed subconscious and fantasies. Creating a distorted idea of who you are. The mirrors in Black Swan could be so significant to the narrative if one views the film as Lily being an extension of Nina. If Lily is not real, but just Nina's darker side/Black Swan whilst, Nina is momentarily the white innocent swan, the mirrors could be foreshadowing her mental state and this major factor. Constantly encouraging Nina to analysis and realise her mental stability. This could link to the ending of the film when Nina believes that she stabs Lily whilst she is dressed as the black swan. However, as the film develops we realise that it is not Lily who Nina stabs, but herself. This could portray the death of Nina's innocence, the black swan killing the white swan, who resembled Nina at the beginning of the film.

Black gaze -> marginalised groups and a sense of community / belonging / brotherhood  -> Django does not give us a sense of brotherhood. The black gaze is not always about the ethnicity of the characters. It accepts that white culture is dominant, and a history of subordinating the other cultures. La Haine has the black gaze.

500 Days of Summer

Submissive Gaze (aligning with other people):

In my opinion, it is difficult for the spectator t align with any other character but Tom, excluding their gender and extra textual reasons. The spectator will mainly and most likely align with Tom as the film is told through his perspective throughout. We are also informed from the very beginning that the relationship ends with Tom being hurt, therefore the spectator is most likely going to view Summer negatively since being told this factor. As we know that Tom's feelings are the ones that are hurt, we are more likely to align and sympathise with this character.

The only point in the film where we begin to witness Summer's side of the story, her dialog is blocked out by the narrator speaking over the top of what she is saying. This therefore results in the spectator being less likely to align with Summer even more so as we do not relate what she is opening up about, as the audience cannot hear this.


Dominant Gaze (Women must suffer if they become the active gaze):

This film is told through the male's perspective only (Tom), therefore we are forced to align with this character. We do not see the narrative through Summer's perspective, therefore we do not see if she suffers. Instead, this theory is reversed, Tom is the dominant, active gaze and suffers as a result of this; through the torture of their break up.


Male Gaze:

One way that the male gaze is portrayed in this film is in the ikea scene. We see Tom and Summer acting out as a married, almost traditional 1950s couple. Where Summer is the housewife and Tom is served. This incorporated the traditional, patriarchal values of the male gaze into the film.



Another key aspect of the film that incorporates the male gaze is the dancing/victory scene. This scene is the mass celebration of Tom sleeping with Summer. As this is portrayed through the male's perspective and seen as a goal post, this coherently incorporates the male gaze. The scene also heavily induces masculine aspects of mise en scene. For example, at the beginning of the scene we see Tom walking past a water fountain which explodes; creating phallic imagery. We also see him hit a ball with a baseball bat which could also symbolise phallic imagery and the fact that sleeping wit Summer is seen almost as a sports achievement. Although it could be argued that the dancers are dressed in blue as this is the colour of Summer's eyes, one may believe this also incorporates the male gaze. In terms of colour psychology, the colour blue is deemed as masculine.

American Beauty - the Male Gaze

Dominant Gaze:
Williams' dominant active gaze = punishment is reversed here. Instead of the female being punished for her desires and fantasies, it is the man who is punished, leading towards his death, which is Lester.  Williams argued that when we see the film through the females eyes and she is dominant and active she is punished, however American Beauty is portrayed through Lester's perspective, therefore this theory is reversed.

Male Gaze:
The male gaze however is used here. We see women viewed as objects. For example Angela is portrayed through a sexual, voyeuristic gaze, and Lester's wife, Carolyn is viewed through the male gaze being the submissive housewife. However, this is reversed when we see her having an affair, making Lester submissive. The film could also subvert the characteristics of the male gaze as it deals with homosexuality through father of the next door neighbour.
The symbolism of the red rose could also portray yonic imagery, whilst the gun portrays phallic. The fact that it is the gun that kills Lester could symbolise the male hierarchy and dominance over women.

Voyeurism:

Kaplan's submissive Gaze:

You look through the eyes of the female towards the end of the film. You look through Carolyn's eyes when she realised Lester's death, and similarly with Angela when we realise how young she actually is. 

• film works on an unconscious level that shows childhood development
• males dominate the gazes 
• when females dominate the gazes they are punished - Williams 
• Oedipal desire is the MALE fantasy
• dominant or submissive gaze 
• Mulvey; visual pleasure equals sexual pleasure yes but for the male
• Mulvey, Metz and Bellah
• Williams
• Kaplan

Black Swan

Paragraph 1 (justify)

First reading response:
-emotional response -> disturbed
-Body transformation -> monstrous
-VFX -> enjoyment = entertainment = realistic
-Intellectual response -> sub-concious suppressed - her desires and fantasies are coming out - her animalistic desires emerge sexual or violent)

The white swan symbolises her childlike state - innocence and virginity -MES -> childish room

Pre-pubescent body transformation 

Alignment 

Ending could be liberating: wings grow out 

We see nina's mental state therefore we must be aligned with her to see this. 

Mother = abusive 

Narassacist 

Old man blowing kisses = father figure 

Vincent = sexual control and manipulation = male fantasy and control = insulting men ? Stereotypical/ sexual deviance 

Difficult to align with Nina due to her mental state = victimised. An exaggerated example of control over women's lives 

Manipulated by mother, mila and vince 

Cake scene with her mother -Freud no father figure = arrested sexual development - seeks sexual and father figure with her boss /director 

Conclusion:

Meaning:

Metaphor coming of age : death of innocence (white swan) 

Punishment = religion / Adam and Eve 

Darren aaranofsky 

ID : desires and fantasies if the ID takes over you go insane - Nina kisses boss and dies at end, ID is released 

Mila kunis is her revival through animalistic wats she is fucked and killed

Penetration : broken mirror - Lacan 

Childhood development - mirror stage 

The mirror stage is about the expression of the subconscious 

Godlike powerful perspective on film : 3rd person and continuity edition

An illusion of who you think you might be 

Your suppressed ideas and fantasies empowering you 

When you watch a film you see the overall situation = a god like perspective. Persuing the fantasy. Losing yourself in the reality 

Continuity edits, jump cuts and direct address ; jolts you out of the god like perspective you recieve In The film. 

Omni-present : nothing restricts the camera. God like perspective 

Omni- scient : know everything 

= hallucinations proves this 

Multiple versions of herself 

Whenever she sees herself she bleeds. Is her other personalities hurting herself ? This is physically representing her mental damage 

Broken or distorted mirrors 

Alignment 

Ending could be liberating: wings grow out 

We see nina's mental state therefore we must be aligned with her to see this. 

Mother = abusive 

Narassacist 

Old man blowing kisses = father figure 

Vincent = sexual control and manipulation = male fantasy and control = insulting men ? Stereotypical/ sexual deviance 

Difficult to align with Nina due to her mental state = victimised. An exaggerated example of control over women's lives 

Themes of mirrors:

• Mirror in the breakfast scene in the morning 
• 'Whore' on the mirror

Influences of Parents:

• Phallic imagery of licking icing off of the mother's finger. 
• Child like room 
• 'Take off your shirt' mother to nina 

Exploration of repressed fantasy and desire:

• Nina and mila kunis sex scene - fantasy 
• Masturbation scene 

Male Gaze and voyeurism:

• Director insinuates sex with Nina for her to get the part
• Man blowing kisses to Nina on the tube
• 'Whore' on the mirror
• Takes cigarette from Mila Kunis = phallic 
• Licks icing off of mother's finger = phallic 
• Voyeurism through the mirror
• Voyeurism through Nina's eyes watching the old Black Swan - Winoa Ryder 

Fractured, struggle for identity:

• Child like room 
• Tube reflection 
• Nina sees herself dressed in black in the alley 
• Winoa  Ryder smashes mirror 
• Hallucinations - nail scene
• Mother's paintings resemble Nina's mental state 

Character Alignment:

I did not align with any of the characters due to their change in mental state. The film is portrayed through Nina's perspective therefore it is difficult to align with any characters. However, a woman may align with the characters more due to their gender, for example they may be more sympathetic towards the rape scenes, whereas a man may take on a more male gaze driven, sexualised approach to the film. 

Lacan mirror stage

Define 

- Lacan, 1977 

-building on Froid's work of psychoanalysis and the subconscious (sexual v violent) 

- identity and self image 

-reflection on reality / fantasy

-occurs in childhood development 6-18 months 

-recognises themselves. Identity with that image they see 

-representation not actuality -fantasy / fake / hyper reality / distortions 

How it applies to cinema / spectatorship

- voyeuristic act 

- reflections on reality and fantasy

- suppressed desires = fantasys 

- the camera = power and illusion 

- it gives the illusion of power to the spectator, the camera shots show everything because you are there 

-the camera goes everywhere - it follows everyone - a god like perspective - all watching all powerful

- film gives you the illusion of God like qualities: omnipotence all powerful and omnipresent everywhere 

-3rd person perspective in film seeing everyone and everything 

-camera = potent Phallus

-CHN has been designed to hide the voyeuristix approach of the camera = immersive

-breaking continuity editing (jump cuts) shows the mirror stage and identity - finger bleeding - stops and make you question / irrationalise 

- The mirror stage is about the expression of the subconscious 

Godlike powerful perspective on film : 3rd person and continuity edition

An illusion of who you think you might be 

Your suppressed ideas and fantasies empowering you 

Analyse black swan - infer meaning 

-black swan deviates from 3rd person. It challenges the Godlike perspective of 3rd person. Filmed in 1st person because we see her hallucinations 

-self image is fragmented 

- godlike perspective = power = 1st person perspective = no power = Nina has no power 

Synthesis - explain / justify / arguing - different interpretations avaliable - director = preferred reading. (Dominant reading of the film vs alternative reading of the film) 

Wednesday 7th January 2015

Gazes
Psychoanalysis
Freud -> parental influences - oedipal complex
          -> sexual and/or violent desires -> why do we regulate this? Fuck it or fight it -> humans are no                 different as animals 
Lacan -> fantasy - mirror stage - identity - subconscious - identity is a set of ideas or concepts 

A concept is a rule that doesn't really exist
^^A reading of film from a male perspective ^^

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Yonic and phallic are subconscious details 
Director -preferred reading of the film 

Male gaze = the only way a woman can read the film is from a man's perspective (the dominant gaze)

Oppositional gazes: own case studies with one gaze to analyse 

How is the spectator affected in A Clockwork Orange?

Alignment is the process of identification with something or someone. The way spectators are encouraged through macro and micro features relate to characters emotions as well as adopt their points of view. The emotional impact of a film frequently depends on spectator alignment with central characters. 

It is portrayed that Alex almost has two personalities and characters; on one side, we see him as a typical teenage boy whereas the other side of him portrays him as a violent rapist and murderer, which for many makes Alex difficult to align with. This is subtly shown through the first time that we see Alex. Although he is the first character that we are placed with, as well as being portrayed through a close up; to the spectator it may become difficult to align with Alex. Firstly, his costume, hair and make up reflects his personality as unknown, and may make the spectator become unsure, therefore alignment may not occur instantly as it stereotypically would with the incorporation of the cinematography and the fact that he is the first person the spectator is met with.  Secondly, Alex takes on an impression, which portrays him with psychotic, unhinged behaviour. Alex takes on the classic evil stare, through his eyebrows, which instantly conveys a hint about his personality. Alex’s deep breathing then continues to add to this effect, furthermore making the spectator feel less aligned with the protagonist.

The false eyelashes attached around Alex’s right eye could also convey the fact that he has two personalities and two characters in fact. This could give reason as to why the spectator feels even less aligned with Alex. It subtly conveys something about Alex that the spectator should be unsure about.

Most films and filmmakers will encourage an audience or shared emotional response. One way that this can be done could be by playing on audience fears and phobias. A Clockwork Orange most definitely tackles this, and was banned after its initial release in 1971. Another factor that could contribute as to why the spectator does not align with Alex could be a subtle hint towards homophobia, which was still seen as a norm. Alex’s eye could veer towards a female aesthetic; therefore the spectator may not align with Alex due to this.

Stanley Kubrick shoots Alex through macro and micro aspects that would typically encourage a spectator to align with this character, however, because of the narrative, at the beginning of the film especially, it is more difficult for the spectator to align with him. For example, throughout most of the film, Alex is positioned central within the shot. This would usually encourage a spectator to align with this particular character, however still the spectator does not. Stanley Kubrick also incorporates a backstory for Alex, which again would usually promote a sense of allegiance or alignment in the viewer, however in my opinion these micro factors have no affect on the alignment that the spectator feels due to the actions that Alex performs.

However, as the film develops, the alignment that was absent in the first half of the film begins to alter. Once Alex is arrested, imprisoned and forced to under go treatment, alignment begins to appear more coherently with the spectator. We see Alex become institutionalised, and strangely feel sympathetic towards him, disregarding his past. 

In my opinion, it is narrative that is the strongest form of persuading and encouraging the spectator into an alignment with Alex; as the narrative develops so does our alignment with Alex. At the beginning, we do not align with Alex due to what is told through the narrative, despite all other factors encourage us to align with the protagonist.