How far does a spectators gender affect their viewing
experience in contemporary cinema?
I feel that whilst a spectator’s
gender does have a great influence on their viewing experience it is not as
important as other factors that come into play. There are several other factors
to consider such as The Mirror Stage, Psychoanalysis and oppositional gazes
such as The Queer Gaze or The Female Gaze which have much larger impacts on the
viewing experiences of the spectator. I will be applying these gazes and
theories to the films; A Clockwork Orange, Black Swan and Magic Mike.
Firstly I will start with the
mirror stage. Within film the mirror stage is the idea of trying to see a
reflection of ourselves within characters through the way in which we view
films. The mirror stage comes into play through the way that we as a spectator
can see the film from all angles rather than just from the set angle of the
protagonist or other characters. This allows us to see multiple narratives from
an omniscient point of view, giving us as a spectator a sense of power and
control over what is happening. Of my three texts the mirror stage is most
heavily applicable to the film Black Swan
and the character of Nina. Through Nina’s struggle for identity we see her take
on multiple personalities and characters being unable to control them. The most
evident of these are the virginal, sweet white swan and the dark, seductive
black swan whom she is trying to become for the dance. A key theme throughout
the film is the use of mirrors. These mirrors are placed so frequently and in
such great numbers throughout the film to emphasise Nina’s struggle to find her
own identity, and escape from that which has been forced upon her by her
mother. During her transformation into the black swan many scenes take place in
front of mirrors, such as when Nina peels back the entirety of her skin on a
finger from the base of the nail to her hand. This shows through the mirror her
mental state, that we as a viewer would not otherwise have been able to see. I
feel that the mirror stage is a key factor that will affect a viewers
experience but it may not be fully understood by most audience members making
it less important than the gender of the spectator.
Despite containing content
that illustrates many examples of the oppositional gazes the film can still be
very clearly seen through the male gaze. The male gaze being the traditional
white, western, heterosexual take on films. The male gaze uses heavily
voyeuristic views of women and see’s them more as visual enjoyment rather than
key characters to influence the plot. This voyeurism is obvious throughout the
film due to the outfits worn in the dance scenes but most predominantly during
the scene in which the character of Nina has a gay encounter with another
dancer. The scene makes use of many close-ups of the two kissing, emphasising
that the scene is filmed for a male audience. The casting of the characters is
also important as the actresses are Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman. Two
actresses who are credited as heavily desirable throughout the world. This
scene however could be viewed very differently through other gazes such as the
queer gaze. Due to the fact that the encounter takes place inside Nina’s head
and is not real, seen through the queer gaze the scene could tell of Nina’s
internal struggle with coming to terms with her sexuality. A sexuality that can
only be expressed through her subconscious. The male gaze gives female viewers
very little to relate to but gives male viewers much visual enjoyment and
stimulation, leading me to say that gender is very important in the viewing
experience of contemporary cinema.
The factor that I feel is
most important in affecting the spectators viewing experience is the emotional
response which spectators have to
the film. This emotional response is influenced by the alignments with the
characters on screen, but is also heavily dependant on the individual
themselves and the experiences that they have been through in their lives.
Emotional response influences how we feel towards characters in the film and
what outcome we hope the film has for them. In Black Swan we as spectators are
supposed to align with Nina from a first person perspective and sympathise with
her throughout her struggle. We see her struggle with her mother, and
undetermined sexuality and see a much deeper view of the woman that she is. In
A Clockwork Orange however women are seen as nothing more than disposable
objects that the character of Alex can rape and harm as he sees fit. Although
gender will affect how spectators align with the characters in a clockwork
orange women are given no real female characters to relate to so are forced to
align with Alex regardless of gender. They will however have a different
opinion on his actions to that which would be taken by men due to their
mind-set and the likely difference in past experiences to that which would have
happened to male viewers. This leads me to say that gender is important as it
directly affects how different actions within the films are interpreted.
Another oppositional gaze is
the female gaze. An idea that is made clear within the film Magic Mike. Telling
the tale of a group of strippers and focusing around a man named Mike the film
gives a very voyeuristic view at the male body, and everything that comes with
the male stripper lifestyle. Magic Mike rejects the traditional male gaze and
instead flips it around, giving voyeuristic views of males. This film will be
viewed very differently by the different genders. Women will see the film as a
raunchy, erotic piece and will focus on the sexualisation of the strippers
whilst many men will struggle to watch the piece due to the untraditional
over-exposure of the male body. The film raises questions over why it is so
acceptable for both genders to witness female nudity but so shocking when
solely male nudity is played onscreen. This reinforces the idea that gender is
very important in the viewing of cinema as different genders would have very
different interpretations of, and views about, this piece.
The final point that am going
to raise is that about the idea of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is another major factor that affects how
audiences view and interpret films. A key belief within psychoanalysis theories
is that children are heavily influenced by and will eventually become like
their parents. This is shown clearly through the character of Nina in Black
Swan where she aims to please her mother and relies on her for everything. This
is shown clearly during the scene in which Nina does not want to eat her
birthday cake but due to her mothers angry, distraught reaction Nina forces
herself to in order to please her. Psychoanalysis allows us as spectators to
further see the mind-set of the characters within film and what influences
their decisions. Another major idea within psychoanalysis is that girls aim to
find lovers that remind them of their fathers. Nina however has no father
present throughout the film so we presume that he left her at a very young age.
The only male role model within the film is Nina’s dance instructor, a man who
she eventually has some sexual interaction with. The lack of a male role model
may explain Nina’s confusion about her sexuality as she has had no predominant
male interaction within her whole life. Psychoanalysis is not greatly affected
by gender as the majority of it’s ideas are taken from a male perspective and
only fit within a Male gaze viewpoint.
In conclusion I feel that
gender is important in affecting a spectators viewing of a film however other
factors such as sexuality and emotional response are more important. I feel
that personal relationships and the alignment of the spectator with the
characters are most important as they influence how the entirety of the film is
read by the viewer. This allows a much more personal
interpretation of the film to be created, unlike that which could be created
from gender which would simply be one of two viewpoints, either male or female.
