How Mulvey’s theory could be useful for me in my Independent Study

Although “Prison Break” is very largely male dominated, therefore doubting the use of Mulvey’s theory: male gaze, there are two particular female characters that can be seen as playing a large part in the application of “Prison Break” with the feminist theory.

One of the two main female characters is the Prison Doctor: Sara Tancredi who plays the role (in Proppian terms) of the princess. Therefore, this passive female already conforms to Mulvey’s theory of the audience watching her voyeuristically. This is because the doctor would provide the audience, who are put in a male position, with erotic pleasure but she is always dressed fully with her white cloak. This suggests that the audience are unable to fetishize her body. The story of Michael Scofield liking the doctor could reinforce voyeurism by the spectator. She may also be objectified because she is the only main actress in the first series. Therefore, because of the nature of the character Dr Tancredi and her relationship with Michael Scofield, Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze can be applied to the drama series mainly because of the voyeuristic pleasure experienced by the audience.

Similarly, Veronica Donovan is an attractive woman and possesses the quality of to-be-looked-at-ness. The male audience are able to objectify her and unlike Dr Tancredi, fetishize her body. Mulvey’s idea of scopophilia, taken from Freud, can be applied to this character because the male audience would take pleasure in looking at her on screen voyeuristically. A scene where this would be especially apparent is when Lincoln reminisces back to the moment of himself and Veronica in bed together. However, she plays a lawyer in the drama and so is not very passive but does go under the charm of a male who tries to kill her. This shows that there is a sense of patriarchy in “Prison Break” through the fact that the males play the active roles but in terms of a male audience, it can be noted that the lack of women represented in the drama give doubt to the theory of the male gaze from the spectator.

There is also use of the phallic object in “Prison Break”. Again, this involves the doctor as she uses a syringe to inject medicine into Scofield for his diabetes weekly. This implies the male castration taking place because the actress is holding it. Additionally, there are numerous knives and screw-drivers used in the series and can be interpreted as phallic symbols, conforming to Mulvey’s theory.

Therefore, some of Mulvey’s theories such a masochism and narcissism are not apparent in “Prison Break” purely because of the scale of male dominance in the drama series. On the other hand, the two actresses that play important roles allow the male gaze; voyeurism and fetishism to be apparent signified through interaction with the male characters. Similarly, phallic symbols are numerously used in the series from guns to syringes to pens.












(taken from Prison Break's fan website- screen caps)

Summary of the arguments that Laura Mulvey puts forward in her Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975)

Mulvey’s arguments are influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and focuses on the representation of women in Hollywood films. Conventional Hollywood films have a male protagonist who is active. The audience is assumed to be male. Actresses on the other hand, are seen to be glamorous and attractive and therefore appease to the male gaze. Therefore, the male is active and female passive.

Mulvey argues that through the Male gaze, in which the spectator is put in a masculine subject position, the audience look at films voyeuristically and fetishistically. The audience are voyeurs because they are watching the film (usually in a darkened cinema) and don’t acknowledge the rest of the audience, just the characters on the screen and see the woman as a “modonna”. She argues that this voyeurism involves turning the female character into a fetish, seeing the woman as a “whore”, so they are objectified by the audience because of their looks. This goes onto her idea of women simply having the quality of “to-be-looked-at-ness”.

There are two effects of voyeurism: objectification and narcissist identification. Objectification involves the audience to look at the female character as an object rather than a real person and narcissism means the audience imagine that they are the person they see on the screen, creating them to love themselves. Another possibility of pleasure in the cinema is taken from Freud’s idea of “scopophilia”- where the male audience take pleasure in looking at the female as an object.

Mulvey also talks about the threat of male castration through the substitution of a phallic fetish object, such as a cigarette or a pen.

Metaphorically, Mulvey’s work refers to a way of thinking about and acting within society.

Genre
Genre Studies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre_studies

When studying a genre in this way, one examines the structural elements that combine in the telling of a story and find patterns in collections of stories. When these elements (or codes) begin to carry inherent information, a genre is emerging.

It has been suggested that genres resonate with people because of the familiarity, the short-hand communication, as well as the tendency of genres to shift with public mores and to reflect the zeitgeist.

Cinematic Genre:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_genre

A "genre" generally refers to films that share similarities in the narrative elements from which they are constructed.

John Truby, Hollywood story consultant states that "...you have to know how to transcend the forms [genres] so you can give the audience a sense of originality and surprise."[1] Some screenwriters use genre as a means of determining what kind of plot or content to put into a screenplay. They may study films of specific genres to find examples. This is a way that some screenwriters are able to copy elements of successful movies and pass them off in a new screenplay. It is likely that such screenplays fall short in originality. As Truby says, "Writers know enough to write a genre script but they haven’t twisted the story beats of that genre in such a way that it gives an original face to it."[

SELF EVALUATION

Attainment- 2
I do try to do all my work to the best standard but i feel i could try a bit more.
Effort- 1
I think i put loads of effort into Media Studies through homework and in class.
Punctuality- 2
There might have been a few times when i was late to lesson but none were my own personal fault
Submission and quality of homework- 2
I always hand in my work on time but maybe the quality of it can be a bit more better
Ability to work independently- 1
I think i am very capable of working independantly very well
Quality of writing- 1
My quality of writing is, in my opinion, at its best
Organisation of Media folder-2
I always bring my media folder to lessons and have divided Med 5 from Med 6 but some of it is a bit un-organised.
Oral contributions in class- 2
I put a lot of effort into contributing to class discussion but can contribute even more.
Standard of Module 5 blog-2
I have done indepth research into my independant study but seeming as thought mine is not the "best" maybe i could improve on that and add in some more analysis etc
Standard of Module 6 blog- 3
Sometimes, i feel i can put a lot more effort into this blog but i have kept up to date with the homeworks set for it.

Targets/areas of improvement:
- Improve my blogs
- Organise media folder more

Bibliography: Books

- BUCKLAND, Warren (1998): Teach Yourself Film Studies. Hodder Education, London: Cox & Wyman Ltd

- LACEY Nick (2005): Introduction to Film. Hampshire/NY: Palgrave Macmillan

- STAM Robert (2000): Film Theory: An Introduction. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd