In the Cut
Critically explore the themes of fairytale, memory and narrative in Jane Campion’s film In the Cut in relation to dominant ideology and gender.
The essay proposed shall examine the way in which ideology and gender help portray the themes of fairytale, memory and narrative. By focusing on ideology through gender in the film, it shall firstly analyse ideology and then gender and combine the two. Important to note here, is that throughout the film gender and ideology is closely linked and throughout the film, narrative is linked to gender and ideology and together they build upon a dominance in the gender ideology. Therefore the essay presented will look at ideology, gender, and narrative separately and then show how they form to complement each other using fairytale and memory as a catalyst to their dominance.
Gender -
Throughout the film, In the Cut gender roles and femininity is explored. In the movie the female plays the main protagonist, which is a recent idea as it has normally been the man who takes on such a role. I am going to explore how this is carried out and what this means for the way in which gender is portrayed in the film.
Laura Mulvey talks in detail about women and media in her chapter Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, in this paper Mulvey looks at the way in which a psychoanalytical approach to look at film shows the constant patriarchy found within the history of film and how this notion is constantly reproduced within the structure of cinema and fascination today. The gaze used in cinema according to Mulvey is a male gaze and the women are “to-be-looked-at.”
“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. “ (Mulvey in Penley: 1988:62).
The detective is intrigued by Franny this alpha male figure holds power while the woman is always the passive object to the man. Women that
The essay proposed shall examine the way in which ideology and gender help portray the themes of fairytale, memory and narrative. By focusing on ideology through gender in the film, it shall firstly analyse ideology and then gender and combine the two. Important to note here, is that throughout the film gender and ideology is closely linked and throughout the film, narrative is linked to gender and ideology and together they build upon a dominance in the gender ideology. Therefore the essay presented will look at ideology, gender, and narrative separately and then show how they form to complement each other using fairytale and memory as a catalyst to their dominance.
Gender -
Throughout the film, In the Cut gender roles and femininity is explored. In the movie the female plays the main protagonist, which is a recent idea as it has normally been the man who takes on such a role. I am going to explore how this is carried out and what this means for the way in which gender is portrayed in the film.
Laura Mulvey talks in detail about women and media in her chapter Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, in this paper Mulvey looks at the way in which a psychoanalytical approach to look at film shows the constant patriarchy found within the history of film and how this notion is constantly reproduced within the structure of cinema and fascination today. The gaze used in cinema according to Mulvey is a male gaze and the women are “to-be-looked-at.”
“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. “ (Mulvey in Penley: 1988:62).
The detective is intrigued by Franny this alpha male figure holds power while the woman is always the passive object to the man. Women that
Bibliography: • Andrew, D: (1984) Concepts in Film Theory. New York, Oxford University Press. • Mulvey, L in Penley, C: (1988) Feminism and Film Theory. New York, Routledge. • Cook, P and Johnston, C in Penley, C: (1988) Feminism and Film Theory. New York, Routledge. • Thornham, S: (2007). Starting to Feel Like a Chick. Feminist Media Studies. 7:1 33-46 • Propp, V: (1968). Morphology of the Folktale. Texas. University of Texas Press. • Jameson, F: (1991). Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. London, Durham University Press. • Barthes, R: (1997). Image-Music-Text. London. Fontana Press • Derrida, J :(1978). A Derrida Reader : Between the Blinds. London, Wheatsheaf. • Bordwell, D. Thompson, K: (1997). Film Art an Introduction. New York, The McGraw-hill Companies.