Does 'Sacrilege' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs conform to Laura Mulvey's theory of The Male Gaze.
Laura Mulvey is a feminist who initially looked at Hollywood films and how women are viewed as sexual objects and their purpose is only for male pleasure, she focuses on 'visual pleasure and narrative cinema' to how this is presented.
The Male Gaze Mulvey says occurs when the audience views a media text through the perspective of a heterosexual male. However the Male Gaze only occurs when the use of cinematography highlights this for example the use of slow motion and deliberate camera movements can work to sexualise a woman. This theory 'Masculinzes' the audience as the Male Gaze denies the woman's identity and only allows her status to be as an object therefore she is admired from a males point of view. As women will watch film from a secondary perspective (male) they then will only view themselves from a male's point of view.
The Male Gaze concept has three main areas about how it creates an perspective for both males and females. The first idea is how men will look at women. As the Male Gaze causes women to be viewed as sexual objects the Male Gaze focuses on this by accentuating a womans features (curves, lips, bosom ) this causes the women to be desired as a sexual object and nothing else. Laura Mulvey would argue that this is the only way women are looked at by men in media texts. The next concept is how women directly compare themselves to women in media texts and will produce a low-self esteem and an unrealistic image of what they should look like based on how these girls are presented without considering post-production elements. The third idea is how women will not only compare themselves to these women but create a ideal version of themselves creating an identity of themselves through judgements they make of the women on screen. This then creates an ideology of what men desire therefore these women will strive to conform to this.
Although many of these ideas and concepts are reflected within media texts, there are also some media texts which challenge Mulveys theory. Which can create questions and criticisms surrounding her theory. Some argue her theory is outdated and within modern society many media texts created are not always targeted at males for example fashion magazines which show models and celebrities are aimed at a female audience however Mulvey may argue these magazines will still reflect the an ideology of what is the ideal 'look' and 'appearance' for women therefore women will still consume these with the Male Gaze. Laura Mulvey's theory believes a woman's purpose in media is for the pure pleasure of men but ignores that many women might feel liberated by the way they are presented and want to be viewed this way by people therefore it is not solely for male admiration. In the 2015 VMA's Miley Cyrus presented herself in outfits which she intended to be statement pieces and not to be viewed in a sexual mannor although the majority of the outfits were very revealing therefore some could argue it is still sexualisation of women. We can compare Miley to other female attendees whose outfits conformed to the stereotypes of females and how people would expect them to dress, like Britney Spears and Cara Delevingne. Many would say Miley was successful at creating a statement as I found when googling 'VMAs 2015 Outfits' hands-down Miley and her different outfits is the majority of the images. Which we could argue if women are only there for the pleasure of men, surely these women which conform to this (Britney and Cara) would be on the front of magazines and the most talked about after the VMAs and not Miley Cyrus's wardrobe choices as her intentions were not to be 'sexy' and looked at for pleasure.
Another controversial event at the VMA's which involved Miley was her and Nicki Minaj's disagreement which led to an on-air argument. Many male see women arguing and been 'bitchy' as an unattractive trait therefore having this on camera is not following The Male Gaze theory as if these women were there for men only they would not behave this way, or it would not be shown on camera to the public. Instead this act created controversy and media attention. 
'Sacrilege' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is the video I will be analysing to see how and if Laura Mulvey's theory applies to it. I will also be looking at if there are anyways that it challenges Mulvey's theory. By using visual elements this will help me explain and develop my ideas. Firstly some background to the video. It was released on 28th March 2013. Actress and model Lily Cole plays the main character which the video revolves around. The videos structure is chronologically reversed revealing the events which led up to the starting scenario of Lily and her dead lover in a field surrounded by fire and onlookers watching.
No comments:
Post a Comment