Marlene Dietrich, Madonna And The Male Gaze Essay, Research Paper

Marlene Dietrich, Madonna, and the Male Gaze

in Blonde Venus and Desperately Seeking for Susan

As audiences, we subconsciously place the male supporters and take female as spectacle during the movie observation, due to the societal map of narrative movies. ( Turner 72 ) 1 Therefore women’s rightists have been cut downing the expostulation of female organic structure in? ? male regard? ? in the narrative movies over the decennaries. Male regard is in term of the fetishistic scopophilia and sadistic voyeurism. Fetishistic scopophilia trades with male ocular control over females for the aesthetic presentation, which influence the presence of female organic structure in movies. And sadistic voyeurism is the titillating regard in strivings, which shapes the female word picture in movies. Therefore, the female characters in narrative movies portion the common form? ? beautiful and delicate, in other words, non rational and dependent on work forces.

However, Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus and Madonna in Desperately Seeking for Susan knock this form. They breaks the regulation foremost by being the taking characters in movies and such concentration of the female supporter besides means the word picture of male as peripheral to the secret plan. ( Turner 171 ) 2 Another breaking-rule is their word picture different from the conventional female function. Marlene in the Blonde Venus as Helen Jones is rational and capable of work forces? ? s function of raising a household and Madonna? ? s function, Susan, ? ? dramas? ? with work forces, mentioned by Jimmy, Susan? ? s fellow. But the most anomic from the conventional female function in movies is in their manner of executing. And even though they all pose some challenge to male regard, their ways of role-playing are at opposite poles.

Their role-playing can discourse from the three elements to determine their characters, camera motion, mise-en-scene and the public presentation of star.

The camera ever shoots Marlene from a comparative low angle when she? ? s with other male characters. The lone two shootings hiting her from high angle is when she? ? s questioned by the justice in tribunal and she? ? s staring her hubby for rejoining the household once more in the terminal. Plus those invariably close ups of her face with apathetic eyes all seemingly indicates her distance and withdrawal except for her boy, while in the Desperately Seeking for Susan most Madonna? ? s shootings are packed up with some speedy cuts of focal point on her spicy organic structure with fire in her eyes for seeking something dazzling, like glistening places, gold earrings, etc.. While they all appeal to audience in same ocular and sensational pleasances, the camera motions make different positions for Marlene Dietrich and Madonna. Marlene? ? s high angle shooting indicates her comparative superior place to male characters and Madonna? ? s? ? organic structure? ? sequences carries one contradictory message, female organic structure freedom or female organic structure spectacle. The important ground is because that Marlene nowadayss it by non looking sexy but being sexy and Madonna does it by looking sexy in dressing less and exposing herself.

Though in the gap sequences of the Blonde Venus begins with the bare blondes? ? swimming, what audiences enjoy watching is non the stripped organic structure itself but the manner it is presented. The art is in looking. This form carries enormous pleasances through the Blonde Venus, we appreciate Marlene? ? s legs from the position of placing

with the sense of beauty instead than existent sexually desire. Marlene is positioned as a sexual topic instead than sex object in the Blonde Venus. Audiences expect to see what? ? s she traveling to make or what go on to her following non which portion of her organic structure she? ? s traveling to expose. She? ? s being viewed and identified as sexy figure non a spectacle of sex.

Mise-en-scene is besides of import for Marlene Dietrich? ? s role-playing, particularly costumes. Marlene? ? s cross-dressed figure is invariably showed in the movies. Whether with top chapeaus and dress suits traveling her long coffin nail holder, taking one dancing miss by the arm and squeezing her on the cheek in a lampoon of phallic power ( Kaplan126 ) 3 and with fur-trimmed coat and stiletto heels in the conventional codifications of female functions ( Turner 81 ) 4 work together for her cross-gender representation. And we ne’er see Marlene agitate her hips during the show clip like what the other dancing misss do in movie. When we see her performs on phase, she appears in gorilla suit singing? ? Hot Voodoo? ? or in male? ? s suit. As Tynan ( Pam 81 ) 5 puts it, ? ? Her maleness entreaties to adult females and her gender ( non muliebrity ) to men. ? ? Through moving out these male features, Marlene? ? s stamina inquiries the conventional thoughts about female nature and muliebrity in playing? ? like work forces? ? and demanding a uniquely feminine voice and experience. Even though Marlene Dietrich? ? s public presentation is chiefly for entertaining male audiences, but she ne’er use her organic structure seductiveness to make the occupation but her natural temperament for being sexy.

Quite different from Marlene Dietrich, Madonna uses exact the same object of male desire to penalize male regard, female organic structure. And that makes women’s rightists celebrate and reprobate her.

? ? Your organic structure is a battleground. ? ? Barbara Kruger? ? s motive tantrums for Madonna? ? s instance.

Unlike Marlene Dietrich, Madonna defies instead than culls male regard, badgering with her ain regard in the show of her organic structure on intent.

We see she demo off her organic structure all over in the Desperately Seeking for Susan, even the about transparent brassiere doesn? ? t halt her from altering apparels in public. Madonna? ? s Susan doesn? ? T attention those work forces? ? s whistlings or regards when she passes them by on the street for her organic structure. And she takes good advantage from such attending, which is besides a signifier of penalty for male regard, stealing work forces? ? s Black Marias and money. Dez warns Roberta non to? ? steal? ? anything when he mistakes her as Susan. Susan doesn? ? T head to travel over Gary? ? s topographic point and lie down with him merely for talk. She is sexually aggressive but it is Gary who feels uncomfortable or say sexual stirred when she asks him to lie down with her. Madonna plays away and mocks all male given ( both Gary? ? s and audiences ) that Susan is ask foring Gary for sex but what truly happens on screen has nil to make with sex but Gary confides in to Susan.

Madonna hunts for organic structure freedom through her rebellious gender ( Susan slept with whoever she wants to ) and tries to acquire rid of male regard by declining to be obedient to dominant and normalized criterions of female function, like Roberta. As Susan Bordo writes, ? ? Madonna uses simulation strategically in ways that challenge the stable impression of gender as the building of sexual difference. ? ? ( Cathy 281 ) 6

But her manner of emancipating female from conventional gender relationship by exposing organic structure and her image as stuff miss still stir up disapprobations, while women’s rightists celebrate her opposition to incarnate any positioned subjectiveness.

There is great contradiction. On the one manus, Madonna exposes her organic structure for challenge male regard to take female organic structure as the sex object while she takes female organic structure as nature and portion the beauty of it. On the other manus, Madonna fulfills male regards and their voyeuristic desire to see the object. She may fall into the trap of male outlook of female gender.

What? ? s more basically is that Madonna? ? s representation of female organic structure isn? ? t different from the other shows of female organic structure as cinema spectacle from those Hollywood narrative movies. Madonna? ? s image as material miss, who wears miniskirt and puts on tonss of glistening accessorie

s, bargains and gull all around, tends to be a negative presentation of female function. Thus work forces non merely see female organic structure as object but besides trade good. Like Turner ( Turner171 ) 7 puts, ? ? On the other manus, Madonna herself has been offered as a trade good to her male and female fans through Boy Toy ticket which undercuts progressive impressions of female. ? ? Therefore Susan may be the heroine who breaks all the codifications and punishes the male regard but besides she may be nil but a wild, fetid miss who seeks for bangs in life ; it all depends on audiences? ? reading.

And within the narrative movie? ? s societal map ( Turner 72 ) 8, we of course place with the conventions what our society and movies unconsciously install in our heads. Under life in this male dominant universe, we have been educated to accept male high quality and female subordination so it? ? s easy for audience to read Urgently Seeking for Susan in male regard careless gender difference. Such reading irritates women’s rightists and they condemn the initial social negative message attached to Susan by Madonna? ? stuff miss image.

Besides Madonna? ? s manner of acting, the camera motion and mise-en-scene besides put the stuff miss image in the negative place.

When it comes to Madonna? ? s shooting, the camera shoots her organic structure before we get the long shooting to cognize this is Susan. First, near focal point on some portion of organic structure, chest or hip in a few quick cuts so does the camera continue to travel on hiting Madonna. Such shooting form is ne’er used on Cary, Jimmy or other male characters in the movies. This camera motion happens on Madonna so frequently that it makes audiences acknowledge her by the organic structure instead than by herself This lead audience to fall into the believing form of male regard? ? take single portion of female organic structure as female individuality.

And from the beginning of Susan? ? s outgrowth in movie through the sequences she hangs out with cats to the chew the fating scene with Gary, Madonna is shoot by camera from high angle. The perspective camera creates in this movie somehow indicates that even Madonna is make bolding and powerful but she still is put under the male regard. The camera moves within the model of male laterality.

The mise-en-scene in this movie determines the place Madonna is put, particularly costumes and scenes. Susan? ? s dressings are considered as inexpensive and valueless, even that glistening earrings look like forgery. When Roberta wears Susan? ? s pyramid jacket. Police even take her as cocotte when she puts on Susan? ? s frock. The location where Susan hangs around is linked to poorness. The street where Roberta follows after Susan is full of black people and when Cary tries to happen Roberta in that apparels store, he can? ? T stop the three black work forces picnic tilting on his auto. Dez? ? s place is a bantam small topographic point right on a Chinese eating house and he has been called? ? procurer? ? even he tries really difficult to deny it. Anything related with Susan appears in movie are non positive in social criterions so that audience justice susan from these attached messages. Material miss therefore is projected in negative significance for audience.

The narrative construction needs a character who stands on opposite side from what Roberta takes to hold the struggle and? ? binary resistance? ? ( Turner74 ) 9 to make the ups and downs and dramatic points in the flow of narrative and do it appealing to audiences. Thus the comparing between Roberta and Susan in the Desperately Seeking for Susan can do a long contrast list, Roberta is conventional, businessperson, sexually submissive and constrained but Susan is unconventional, anti-bourgeois, sexually aggressive and free. Such a contrast provides rich stuffs and information for narration to make a better occupation in story-telling and audience-appealing.

So the audiences get the zigzagged narrative line from Desperately Seeking for Susan instead than directly or simple one. Audiences are drawn to see what go on next instead than experience world-weary with the movie, because they have guessed the secret plan before it has been presented on the screen. Merely by the struggle in Roberta and Susan and what that struggle brings out, makes the narrative construction possible to pull the narrative line in this movie. So Susan has to be a material miss and she is Madonna.

Meanwhile, even the stuff miss character is necessary in narrative construction, the manner Madonna punishes male regard through? ? illegal? ? , ? ? felon? ? stealing still poses the job in movie. Even the stolen Egypt aureate earrings, Susan gets them foremost by? ? sealing? ? . Such job demands to be resolved and that causes the transferences of characters. When Susan goes to Gary? ? s place to assist him seek Roberta, Susan mentioned she may? ? acquire used to? ? Gary? ? s house, which means life manner. And Jimmy mentioned a twosome times in movie that Susan may desire to? ? settle down? ? . The movie attempts to work out the job by makes Susan become domestic function but such declaration doesn? ? T work out really good.

During the procedure Susan seeks for Roberta, Susan recognizes Roberta? ? s domestic function, while Roberta takes on Susan? ? s life manner and finally decides to dump her original domestic function. This makes Roberta? ? s romantic determination non realistic and non practical, one time she lives Dez, money is the job. Like Marlene Dietrich makes a life as cocotte in Blonde Venus and audiences come to be with justice in those high angle shootings, questioned and condemned her? ? non good? ? for a female parent.

The character transference besides makes audience identify with the thought of? ? settle down? ? and domestic function for females. Since Roberta follows Susan? ? s measure, Susan? ? s settling down may connote Roberta? ? s big opportunity to settle down excessively. Therefore even audience have been offered the sequences when Susan and Roberta are honored as heroine without their fellows? ? outgrowth on the award platform. Finally Susan and Roberta still will travel back to the form of female domestic function. ? ? What a brace? ? non merely refers to sisters besides the twosomes.

This happens to travel parallel with Marlene Dietrich? ? s instance, she goes back to her domestic function in the terminal. And when camera shoots her from high angle, we comes to equal with her hubby and see her powerless precisely in male regard. Although it looks like Marlene Dietrich merely goes back to her life, but her life is deadening domestic homemaker besides non a perfect declaration. The transference from Susan to Roberta besides works in the transference of Helen Jones, they all become of domestic functions which adult male expect.

Quite different from the sex- symbol blonde Marilyn Monroe? ? s presentation in movies as well-meaning sex object, person who need protect and the conventional thought of? ? dense blonde? ? ( Turner127 ) 10, Marlene Dietrich and Madonna? ? s public presentations in Blonde Venus and Desperately Seeking for Susan all pose to command or penalize the? ? male regard? ? . Even though some conventional thoughts about female like domestic function still can be found in movies, their ways of executing provides more possibilities both for males and females. They all deserve some hand clapping for their efforts to seek.

Cited Plants

1,2,5,7,8,9,10 Turner, Grame. Film As Social Practice. London and New York: Routledge,1988 3 Kaplan, E.Ann. Women in Film Noir. London: BFI Pub.,1998

4 Pam, Cook and Philip Dodd erectile dysfunction. Women and Films Philadelphia: Temple University Press

6 Cathy, Schwichtenberg erectile dysfunction. The Madonna Connection: representational political relations, subcultural individualities, and societal theory St Leonards: Allen & A ; Unwin, 1993

Bibliography

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