Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) -Laura Mulvey

(ref: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/art-history/our-staff/teaching-staff/mulvey)

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist whom is best known for her views on the ‘male gaze’. The ‘male gaze’ is the idea that the female form is sexualised through the use of cinematography and the role of the woman within the storyline. For example the film ‘Taken’ where the main characters daughter gets kidnapped by Albanians to be sold as a sex object, the film demeans woman and shows their bodies being abused. It adapts to the traditional storyline in that there is a female who needs rescuing, however puts a modern twist on it. This takes the power away from woman as it portrays them as weak and helpless, however it also portrays men negatively as they’re the one who are buying the woman to use them for sex. The main ideology is that the protagonist is depicted as a strong active male, who is both physically strong and intelligent.  

From reading the extract Mulvey seems to be saying that the females’ role is to provide the spectator with something visually pleasurable whereas the males’ role seems to be to push the narrative forward putting him in a position of power. The male is still attractive in that he is a role model for males but not presented as an object in front of the camera.

In a lot of cinema films are directed by men so everything seen on the screen is through the eyes of a man, hence why woman are filmed in such a sexualised manner.

What was very interesting about the extract was that she doesn’t mention the female viewers and how they might feel about how females and males are being represented on screen. As a female viewer I feel that having grown up with these images of sexualised woman people have become accustomed to them and it’s now considered the norm in today’s society. I still don’t believe that it’s right that woman are sexualised and portrayed as weak, however I think that in time this will gradually change.

(http://styl.pinger.pl/m/494900)

In film Noire (black and white films) where there is usually a fem-fatale, the cinematography focused more on the beauty of the woman, as it concentrated on the face, however now it seems to concentrate more on a woman’s body. So although it was still a shallow portrayal of women, they still had some element of respect which seems to have been lost as time has progressed. The narrative has also changed dramatically, altering the role of the female. They used to have a very obvious role in that they were a fem-fatale (dangerous woman) or a damsel in distress etc. Now they seem to be more have gained more powerful roles, such as Ripley in Aliens, who is a survival, a fighter and a protector. However she is still very butch in her appearance with the short hair and muscular body, so although she’s less sexualised she’s a masculine character.  

(http://ordinarygamer.co.uk/2013/04/03/i-whip-my-hair-back-and-forth-bayonetta-review/)

III. Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look

A. In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split

between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its

phantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly. In their traditional

exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their

appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to

connote to-be-looked-at-ness. Woman displayed as sexual object is the leit-motif of

erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to striptease, from Ziegfeld to Busby Berkeley, she

holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire.

In applying Mulveys' theory to my own practice I partially agree with what she has said in the essay/article. There are some games which seem to exaggerate and over-sexualise women's features, for example 'Beyonetta' which is a Japanese game (January 8, 2010), the main character wears extremely erotic clothing with very little of her actually covered. In some parts of the game (such as during special moves) her hair is used as clothing. However, I do believe that more recent games are showing women in a less sexualised manner, this is especially noticeable in the Tomb Raider franchise.  

(http://melodyaustin.com/2013/03/09/tomb-raider-2013-brand-identity/)

The Lara Croft character on the right is from the first Tomb Raider game released in 1996, this model is very sexualised as shown by the very tight shorts and a tight tank top which exaggerate her over emphasised breasts. Over time the design of Lara has altered drastically, the left image is from the 2013 Tomb Raider. Lara is now dressed in long trousers which are relatively loose and a flattering vest top which still show off her breasts but with less of an emphasise on them. 

(http://imgur.com/r/gaming/2hPnukU)

Tomb Raider’s past success was a reflection of the mentality of the gaming culture of the time. I spent hours hunting tigers and finding treasure with Lady Croft because she was confident, rich, and adventurous – everything the 12 year old me was not. It’s a common scenario for escapist to be attracted to a particular dystopian character, since they remind us of who we wish we were.

A lot has changed in the gaming culture since Tomb Raider was first released in 1996.  Sixteen years ago, gamers played to witness cool adventures that they could control. Now the culture wants a more realistic experience to divulge in, we want something to filter our lives through. The same goes for our favorite characters as well. This brings up another aspect in the art of escapism attraction- we take in these characters to find ourselves.

(http://melodyaustin.com/2013/03/09/tomb-raider-2013-brand-identity/)

I read an article which compares the 1996 Tomb Raider to the 2013 one and found it to be very interesting. I completely agree with what has been said in the article in that they have Square Enix have developed the game in keeping with the times. As the technology and culture alters over time so do people’s expectations and desires. In the 90's games were only in early development with them being used as a form of entertainment and escapism. They were something new and exciting; developers were limited in what they could do with the technology they had so in one respect characterisation was more difficult. In one way they have over sexualised Lara because they wanted players to know that she is female as the model is so simple, but also as they were under developed and possibly didn't take as much thought into gender issues.  In modern times we want to be able to relate to the character and become a part of their story, to be taken on a journey. They have altered Lara to become a stronger female protagonist with more depth; she is still a hero but less of a fantastical one and more active.

(ref: http://beyondgoodandevil.wikia.com/wiki/Jade)

Mulvey’s theory can be applied to games; I have chosen to pick Beyond Good and Evil in which the protagonist is a woman called Jade. Jade acts as a motherly figure as she cares for several orphan children and when they get kidnapped by the government she makes it her mission to bring them back to safety. She’s also a very strong female who is relatively sexualised by her attire, i think that there are certain pieces of her clothing which could be considered to be more sexualised than others. The tank top is reveals quite a lot of flesh, however the loose combats are less flattering as they're not as tailored to her body shape, the hair style is also less feminine as typically men usually have a shorter hair style. 
The designers haven't tried to make Jade into sex symbol but at the same time they still wanted to emphasise her feminine features. 
Although she is the main character, Jade travels with her uncle, as he’s an accomplice he still plays a secondary role in the game however without him the main character wouldn’t be able to achieve her goals. 

Applying Gender to my practice:

For one of my modules I had to create a level/walk-through in udk, to go with the level i had to create a game design document and research file. Due to a majority of main characters in games being male I decided to choose a female protagonist for my game. I have given my protagonist a very strong role in the storyline, in that she's fighting for what she believes in and is willing to receive training in order to achieve her goals. In some games I think that the female character is usually portrayed as weak or vulnerable, playing a secondary role in the storyline or causing problems for the male character. However in another respect this isn't always a bad thing, for example in Mario peach gets kidnapped and his main objective is to rescue her. Although this is a negative portrayal of a female, if she didn't get kidnapped Mario would have no motivation/goal and therefore in one way she pushes the narrative forwards. 

Extracts from:

Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) - Laura Mulvey

Originally Published - Screen 16.3 Autumn 1975 pp. 6-18

http://www.jahsonic.com/VPNC.html