Feminist Film Theory

Feminist Film Theory

     In this post I shall be discussing feminist film, Laura Mulvey's male gaze and I will be choosing a scene from a horror movie. The scene I have chosen to talk about is one from the independent movie 'Tucker and Dale vs Evil' as there are many scenes where male gaze has been used.

     Male gaze was given its name by Laura Mulvey, she realized are studying movies that many of the scenes that are mostly shots of women are made to make them look more desirable to men. This was and still is accomplished by using certain lighting, camera angles and by using the costume and props. Any movie can incorporate male gaze into any scene as it is so easy to do and can make a movie a lot more popular because of the sex appeal. It can also cause a lot of uproar from the public, although this isn’t the case as much now as people are less offended by seeing such scenes. An example of male gaze is in a classic 'James Bond' movie where a woman walks out from the ocean, in a revealing swimsuit and holding two shells. This is male gaze as the woman is being watched by a man and the way she is holding and comparing the shells. This is because the shells could represent her breasts and she prefers the bigger shell. When she is confronted she becomes more violent and defensive. This is very much like the myth of mermaids, they are desirable and they lure men in with their beauty and then they kill them, this woman lured in a man and then got very violent.

    In the film "Tucker and Dale vs Evil" there are many scenes where males gaze is used. When the two men first see the group of friends, there is a long period of time when they are looking at one of the females in the group. The girl they are focusing on is squatted down packing a ice cooler. The way her body is positioned, you can see some cleavage and she flips her hair around occasionally, this being what a typical girl does, the way the scene is set up it makes the girl look more desirable. Another scene in this film where male gaze is incorporated would be when the same girl from the previous scene I spoke about is getting into the water. Male gaze is used in the same way here, although this scene is slightly more graphic than the first one. In this scene the girl is undressing to get in the water. The way she takes her top off and adjusts her bra can be seen as being sexual, and as Tucker is watching her it, that enhances this the fact that she it takes her clothes of the way she is. Also the way she turns her body around and climbs down from the rock she was on is done in a way that may have been done simply for the sex appeal. 

    Feminist film theory has been used a lot in this film, the main example of this being the fact that Dale, is trying to save the girl, who clearly doesn’t need saving and seems to be strong enough to look after herself. Another example is the typical 'ditsy' blonde girl with the large breasts wearing all pink. This is a female character that is commonly seen in horror films, she is helpless and relies on men to look after her. She also would be an example of male gaze as the sex appeal towards her is very strong.