Introduction to Laura Mulvey's 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'

The first in a series of videos on Laura Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" and her theory of the "male gaze," with an emphasis on key principles in psychoanalysis and examples from Rear Window and Vertigo.

*Corrections:

1. The video suggests that for Mulvey the erotic display of women in Hollywood film necessarily halts the flow of narrative. But upon closer inspection to the text, it's more likely the case that *in principle* erotic display for Mulvey halts narrative flow because it is spectacular in nature, but mainstream Hollywood cinema successfully integrates it into the narrative flow by having female characters display themselves in the context of a romantic subplot or, more broadly, as the object of interest by a male protagonist. In other words, while Mulvey writes "[the woman's] visual presence tends to work against the development of a story line, to freeze the flow of action in moments of erotic contemplation," she also says "Mainstream film neatly combined spectacle and narrative." Because of this, the examples from Vertigo that dramatically elongate Scottie's moments of looking might be seen by Mulvey as reflecting upon the conditions of erotic display--i.e. how it inherently works counter to narrative--that more mainstream film conventionally hides. This reinforces a point made in Part 3 of the series, which is that Vertigo is less a straightforward example of the cinematic structures that Mulvey argues exist than it is a reflection or meditation on them.

2. The video suggests (around the 10 minute mark) that the convention of men visually objectifying women in Hollywood film is a means of alleviating the castration anxiety that the image of woman triggers for male viewers. This is inaccurate, as the text doesn't suggest this. What the text does suggest about castration anxiety is more accurately reflected in Part 2 of the video series, which is that the objectifying look at displayed woman itself triggers castration anxiety, which films alleviate through two means: voyeuristic sadism and fetishistic scopophilia.

[Frogster.Braedyn]

Film Studies student from the UK here! This helped immensely with my essay assignment! Definitely helped me with a refresher on Freud and a better understanding of Mulvey's theory! I also loved your very considerate language choices throughout this, very aware:) Thank you!

[gojiplusone]

The first time I read Freud's works I was like, "Wow! This is fascinating and very enriching to my filmmaking perspective." But as I try to understand him more I was like, "Well... This is as far as cocaine and loneliness can get you."

[nickwatson]

This is such a great refresher! Perfect antidote to JP anti-feminism, anti-semiotics and general anti-intellectualism. Gender Issues in Film was such a brilliant branch of criticism.

[samareshdas]

I am a student of English literature from India. Bunch of thanks ✨ ✨ ✨ for making such an awesome video on this essay. My doubts got cleared because of this.

[ashleyn.]

This has helped me alot for my uni essay :') Really appreciate your effort

[emiliaa]

this really helped me understand mulvey's work! a very good explanation

[samodonnell]

Holy crap I stumbled upon this video while trying to write my annotated bibliography about Visual Pleasures for my Film Theory class, and I thought your name sounded familiar. I didn't know you were a teacher at Binghamton University! I go here! My AB is for Professor Wall's Cine 321 class! thats so cool!

[joeha]

Fascinating stuff! This is the film theory course I always wished for but never had. And I've attended a couple.

[vaishnavisanap]

Simply Thank you.🙏. for such a informative video. This article is in my study. So it's useful for me. For today you are become my guider. 👍

[edwardroberts]

Really good - I am enjoying these videos

[alexandroff]

Thank you! This will really help with my oral exam tomorrow:')

[kubricklynch]

Great video, you earned yourself a sub! Keep it up.

[MyCipherComplete]

I havent seen part 2 yet, but to the extent that the arguments laid out in this video are more or less paraphrased accurately and self-contained, I wholeheartedly disagree with the overall analysis. There is a significant leap of logic between the psychoanalytic concept of castration anxiety and a slow pan across a room. I ask myself - are the other explanations for a slow pan just as, or more convincing that yours, and the answer is usually yes. The woman in the bed at the end of the slow pan is not necessarily being objectified by what they call "the Male gaze". Plausibly this slow pan is representative of the power/comfort felt in the safety of your own home, after engaging in some form of healthy interpersonal relationship ending in sexual activity (a thing that humans do with one another). A shot of a person sleeping when that person happens to be female is perhaps "Male-centric", but it could simply be the fact that the male in that situation was the character we were asked to consider in that situation by the filmmakers. Why must the filmmakers be accused of committing an analysis of deviance when they fail to show perfectly reciprocal scenes? The video (perhaps the whole field) seems to me to be fraught with political speculation.

[Spooki_Ghst]

11:54 "men look at women and women dont look back at them".. see, to me this to me explains the sexual/power disparity.. to look is to focus upon and thus give ones power to.. tell me, would you rather be the looker or the observed? For me, id rather be the looked at— the one who the other looks at with eyes of desire and longing, as opposed to the looker.. longing for reciprocity. the observed has the power in this situation.

[pavamation]

Would you say performance, such as the scene in Gilda 1946, flicking her hair link to her Mulvey theory?

[billharris]

Mulvey and her psychoanalysis are simply wrong in saying that male dominance comes from any sort of deep, unconscious drive. Rather, it's clearly states and in your face. As such, it's the working assumption behind hollwood mooviez because if it wasn't it wouldn't sell.

[Heather-xmul]

I'm writing an analysis of this for a class. I think referencing Freud was a weak means of conveying her point, as he was a loony tune, and much of his work has been tossed out.

[villeneuve]

There is no such thing as a 'cis girl'. Only girls.