Movies

Film theory is defined as the study of filmmaking from the technical aspects of making a movie to its relationship to other reality and art forms and its effects on society and culture. Film theory however is not an independent fieldin order to be realized, it must borrow ideas from other branches of study such as psychology, philosophy, and social and political science, among others. Film theory has branched out into several specializations because of the myriad approaches used to study it. One of the major approaches to the development of film study is feminism, thus giving rise to feminist film theory.

Feminist film theory had its beginnings in the 1960s, during the period of second-wave feminism. Scholars such as Marjorie Rosen and Molly Haskell analyzed the stereotypes of women in Hollywood and art films, and their societal implications for the female audience. At the time, movies often cast women as wicked or helpless beings or as sexual objectsfor example, madonnas, whores, vamps, scatterbrains, bimbos, gold diggers, schoolmaams, nags, and sex kittens (Stam 171).  Smelik notes that such fixed and endlessly repeated images of women were considered to be objectionable distortions that would have a negative impact on the female spectator (491). Because of this, the feminist critics lobbied for a more positive depiction of women in movies. It soon became apparent however that it required a lot more than positive images to change the basic structure of cinema. Feminist scholars thus turned their attention to patriarchy as the driving influence behind the creation of visual imagery, using psychoanalysis to better understand the dynamics of a male-dominated film industry.

Key Concepts
In the years hence, feminist film theory has grown considerably and has given rise to several major concepts that point to the portrayal of women as disempowered members of society and as objectsboth in the sense of being objectified in film and as an object of desire from a male perspective. One of the most-quoted film theorists is Laura Mulvey, who in her essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, introduced the concept of the gaze to describe how Hollywood cinema typically assumes a male perspective in the cinematic process. Because of this mode of viewing, the treatment of films in general and women in particular always had patronizing and erotic undertones.

According to Mulvey, there are three basic types of gazing or looking. The first is that of the camera as it records what happens in the film. The second is that of the audience as they watch the film and identify with the main character. The third is that of the characters as they deal and interact with each other in the course of the film. In all three types of looking, the look originates from a masculine point of view. This assigns the role of the active looker and storyteller to the male gender, thus giving them power or control within the movie. Women, on the other hand, are forced to take the passive and therefore powerless role of the one being looked at. They are relegated to just being the object of the male gaze.

Mulvey further elaborates that there are two ways that women can be viewed in their position as the one being gazed at. The first is the voyeuristic view wherein the women become highly sexualized objects of desire. In voyeurism, the (male) looker derives pleasure from observing the woman without being watched in return. The second is the fetishistic view wherein the woman, while still being a sexual object, has become untouchable. She has been over-glamorized and put on a pedestal, becoming a possession of the male protagonist and of the audience.

Ever since the publication of Mulveys groundbreaking essay, female filmmakers have endeavored to counter the male gaze. The next two sections will study how feminist film theories are reflected in two of the movies produced after Mulveys theories were made known to the film world.

Boys Dont Cry
Mulvey pointed out that traditional Hollywood movies are characterized by their use of the male gaze. In her analysis, Mulvey stated that the woman, and consequently her body, is the object of male desire and the source of his viewing pleasure. However, in Boys Dont Cry, the lead character Brandon Teenawho is femalebecomes stripped and exposed in a horrifying way. For example, audiences are introduced to Brandon as he looks at himself in a mirror while his cousin cuts his hair. From the male point of view, this imagery of the female character is not at all erotic nor sexually appealing. Later depictions show Brandon binding his breasts and stuffing a sock down his pants, prompting his cousin to call him deformed.  Brandon makes a conscious effort to conceal his natural female body by wearing oversize jackets and pants. This behavior is not typical biological female behavior as defined by the male gaze. Where under the traditional way of looking femininity would be flaunted and overplayed, it remains concealed in the movie.

Since the male gaze does not exist in the movie, what does In the context of feminisms advocacy for equality, some feminists have called for a corresponding female gaze in which women would be the ones objectifying men and subjecting them to their desires and pleasures. According to Enszer, Boys Dont Cry presents some modicum of the female gazethe lookers being the other female characters of the film, and their object (while not a man, biologically speaking) being Brandon Teena. The first woman viewing Brandon is Candace, whom he meets and flirts with in a bar. Enszer explains the dynamics of the scene

Candaces interaction with Brandon is counterpointed with Candaces interaction with another, older man who approaches her at the bar. Brandon, who has already told his gay male cousin that women like him as a man because he cares for them, when held up next to the older, heterosexual man, is clearly winner from a desire perspective in the heterosexual female gaze. The ensuing scene the next morning with Candace and her child, Brandon again performs his masculinity, not from his perspective, but from the perspective of Candace and her desires for a male partner.

The second gaze belongs to that of Lanas mother. She scrutinizes Brandon because he is dating her daughter, and her scrutiny almost uncovers Brandons masquerade. Yet it does not. Enszer explains that this is because the heterosexual female desire for a decent man who is kind and caring transcends generations in the film. It is wanted by both Candace and Lana as well as Lanas mom. Brandon loved women and knew how to treat them, as a result earning him the adulation of the other women in the film. The scrutiny of Lanas mother did not survive this objectification of Brandon.

Lastly, there is the heterosexual female gaze of Lana. Some would argue that, toward the end of the film, it is transformed into a lesbian gaze, since Lana eventually finds out Brandons biological sex. If that is the case, writes Enszer, it is a powerful commentary on the state of lesbianism, which is one of the major female issues lobbied by feminism. Powerful in the sense that, according to Enszer, lesbians are more acceptable for the gaze to revert. Furthermore, she writes that

I think that Lana is as conflicted about her gaze as the viewer. She first wants to swear to her family that Brandon is male. She says, I know what you are, as though she can see his real self. When she is forced to look at the naked Brandon she seems to respond more to the violence of the situation than to the revelation of Brandons genitalia. Overall, I think that Lanas gaze is created by her as an adolescent female presumed to be heterosexual. Perhaps she wouldnt be perhaps she was a lesbian perhaps she was a heterosexual who would in the future partner with a metrosexual male.

What is essential, however, is that Lana also objectifies Brandon and he is a source of her pleasure.
Finally, the films role in shattering womens stereotypes cannot be ignored. Whereas women in traditional Hollywood cinema were portrayed as one-dimensional and powerless to change their fate, Brandon Teena is depicted as a complex character and therefore more reflective of how women like him are in real life. Also, Brandon did not rely on someoneespecially a manto save him he wanted to be a boy and he took measures to make his desire a reality. In this manner Brandon Teena took on the active role typically reserved for (biological) men and broke through the boundaries of classic gender roles.

Working Girls
Working Girls is a film that covers several days in the life of a madam, as seen through the eyes of her prostitute Molly. Like Boys Dont Cry, this film about prostitutes working in an expensive, high-rise Manhattan brothel presents three-dimensional female characters who thought and acted independently. While it is true that the films characters come of a sexual background, they are not the immoral people that traditional cinema would have audiences believe. They are women who are capable of making their own choices and who are in control of their lives, yet who also deal with the same complex issues encountered by women in real life. In the movie, the central character, Molly is an aspiring photographer and a Yale graduate with degrees in English literature and art history. She is also a lesbian who lives with her black lover, who does not know about her job, and her lovers daughter.

The other characters, while not as extensively drawn out as Molly, defy the prostitute stereotype as well Dawn is studying for a law degree, Gina plans on opening her own beauty salon in the future, Mary just saw an ad to be a hostess and decided to try it. April, who is much older than Molly, is dealing cocaine as a sideline and seems to be in the life mostly to prove to herself that she still has it. The women ply their trade in a pricey Manhattan bordello, where they deal with everything from the mundane to the profane while servicing all kinds of men.

What is notable about the film is that is destroys so many stereotypes other than that of the female character as presented by classic Hollywood cinema. For example, almost all of the prostitutes are content with their jobnone of the girls are victims of circumstance. Nobody forced them to become prostitutes nor were they led there because of lack of opportunities or poverty. None of them were also depicted as having suffered or as suffering from past trauma (like sexual abuse), drug addiction, or some other unfortunate circumstance. Those women chose to be in the profession because the pay is good and the working hours are manageable. The film reflects Bordens belief that if a woman decides shed rather have sex with a man three times a week instead of working 40 hours a week in a Xerox store . . . she should be allowed to make these choices.
Working Girls also destroys the stereotype of sex as just an expression of carnal desiresas a matter of fact, the sex scenes are not erotic. For the films female characters, sex is a natural resource that, as long as the society remains as it is, might as well be exploited (Canby). The women are no different from people who have regular day jobs like office workers or waitressesexcept that they strip down and have sex to earn money. Yes, the work is exhausting and can even be unsanitary, but at the end of the day, its an opportunity to pay educational and living expenses, support a child, pay for housing (Dougherty).

The silver screen of Hollywood has been the battleground of the sexes for many years. Feminist film theory claimed that men and women are differently positioned by cinema men as subjects identifying with agents who drive the films narrative forward, women as objects for masculine desire and fetishistic gazing (Freeland). Laura Mulvey, one of the leading theorists of the time, believed that radical change was the only way to redefine the portrayal of women in film and in society. Feminine film theorists also encouraged women filmmakers to create alternative film aesthetics, so that women stereotypes and the limitations of established gender roles could be broken.


Feminist film theory has come a long way since it began in the 1960s. While there are still significantly less female directors in the film industry, the concepts of feminist film theory have made a deep impact on the realm of filmmaking. Women filmmakers have become more active in the practice of filmmaking, even without access to the funding and distribution of Hollywood film production. They turned to independent cinema, making documentaries and experimental films to reflect their real experiences. Because there were no major studios and production companies telling them what to do, these women directors retained artistic control of their films, thus enabling them to focus on issues relevant to women or attack the typical patriarchy that is the world of film. They also offer alternative characterizations of femininity. Films like Boys Dont Cry and Working Girls examine important female issues lesbianism, sexuality and prostitution. These kinds of films not only offer more complex representations of women, they also address womens issues and concerns.