Rear Window From A Feminist Perspective
Rear Window (1954) has been viewed from a feminist perspective by critics. Laura Mulvey the feminist film theorist and the author of Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema (1975) calls Lisa Fremont a “passive image of visual perfection” (qtd in Keith 1). 1950s is a period marked by the rise in consumer culture, Beatniks at its zenith and the beginning of cold war. The period was struggling hard to find a harmony between innovation and progress on one side and conformity and tradition on the other. Sticking to gender roles was the only solution to achieve a happy and secured life thought politicians and creators of popular culture. Lisa Fremont can be viewd as one such women-a professional unwilling to return to the prewar status of confinement …show more content…
It is rather difficult to critique his films from a patriarchal perspective as he questions and undermines the system which is very evident from his creation of Lisa Fremont. It also suggests Hitchcock’s ideology that female independence and equality are no no longer detrimental or harmful to marriage. At the same time Hitchcock forsees danger in maintaining the tradition of male authority. Spoto opines that “the highly moralistic Hithcock describes the devastating effect of crime on the victim; his real contempt is for the victimizer, in every case a man. In most Hithcock romances, the woman is courageous precisely because she is willing to risk so much for love—something alien to the manipulative, ungrownupman” (qtd in Keith 1). This aspect of Hithcock films undermine the efforts of some critics to treat him as misogynist. Lisa displays her mettle by climbing the balcony onto a second story window ledge, like a sleuth to win the heart of Jeff. This is one instance where she behaves contrary to the female passivity in narrative cinema which Mulvey talks about. Lisa is brave, active and powerful woman (Keith 1-2). It is seen that Hithcock’s most successful female characters are the ones who challenge traditional gender roles and having a strong sense of self that exists outside male
Life And Times Of Rosie The Riveter: Film Analysis
1211 Words | 5 PagesThe second World War resulted in a demand for workers after men began leaving for the war. Due to a lot of the working men in America going overseas as well as the demand for war products, women became a major source of labor. Propaganda began to address women, persuading them that it was their duty to start working for the men. The film The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter gives personal accounts of some of the hardships women faced in the era surrounding WWII, and how the media was used to create a desire for women to work.
Symbolism And Motifs In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
672 Words | 3 PagesRear Window by Alfred Hitchcock is a fillm full of symbolism and motifs that provides viewers with a bigger meaning. It shows these rhetorical appeals through Hitchcok’s eyes that would not be recognized if not analyzed. Through these appeals I have recognized the window as being a symbol and marriage and binoculars as motifs. After understanding much more than what the eye anitially sees when viewing this film there is a fine line between understanding what is going on in the film and observing what the protagonist Jeff is viewing.
The Handmaid's Tale And The Bloody Chamber Analysis
1647 Words | 7 PagesThis is suggested by Helen Simpson who stated that Carter centralises ‘latent content of fairy-tale’ is that women are objects of male desire hence patriarchal discourse establishes male supremacy to which Carter does this to challenge contemporary perspectives on the place of women by revealing the oppression that society inflicted. The Marquis is an overt example of male ownership of female bodies. Similarly, where Atwood exposes the harsh realities of oppressive patriarchy through the female body, Carter utilises the construct of the Marquis in the eponymous story ‘The Bloody Chamber’ as a grotesque embodiment of patriarchal control. In her essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ Laura Mulvey coined the feminist term ‘male gaze.’ She argues that men are the audience and women are to embody the male perspective of women as objects of satisfaction.
Social Isolation In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
1225 Words | 5 PagesAlfred Hitchcock 's Rear Window explores the lives of those who feel isolated within society. The 1954 film, set in the tenements of Grenwich village, depicts those who are incapable of fitting into society 's expectations, as well as those who feel isolated from common interaction with others. Moreover, Hitchcock displays how its human nature to seek comfort and deeper connection even with those who are surrounded by others. Despite depicting characters as lonely, the progression of the film illustrates how individuals can be freed from isolation. The director asserts the loneliness and struggle that comes from fitting into social mores.
Feminist Standpoint Theory By Julia T. Wood
170 Words | 1 PagesIn the "Feminist Standpoint Theory" by Julia T. Wood postulates, “a feminist standpoint grows out of encountering oppositional knowledge” (Wood). In Shah’s piece, she maintains a standpoint understanding of the subjective disposition of her parent’s cultural perspective construct of her sister’s social choices as compared to her own and her parent’s oppositional expectations. Additionally, she is critical of the disproportionate significances of her sister and parent’s standpoint of the culture of India and one in the United States in regard to her sister’s choice of clothing, her attitude, and sexuality. Shah expresses her viewpoint regarding her culture, her sister’s openness to be “western sexy” through having a feminist boyfriend, being
Ethical Issues In Rear Window
873 Words | 4 PagesRear Window Argues that people should mind their own business. Do you agree? Rear Window, a 1954 romance/murder-mystery by the renowned golden age director Alfred Hitchcock, is a film that explores a multitude of themes and genres through the voyeuristic gaze of protagonist L.B. Jefferies. Jefferies, or ‘Jeff’ as he commonly known throughout the film, is a middle-aged bachelor recently hospitalised due to his high-risk career as a photojournalist. This hindered condition serves as an important foundation on which the movie is built upon as Jeff’s forced lifestyle being in a wheelchair causes an abrupt stop in his usual high intensity way of life and causes him to quench his boredom in other ways, predominantly watching the other residents in his apartment complex through the ‘rear window’ of his apartment.
The Reservoir Dogs Feminist Analysis
1811 Words | 8 PagesGenerally, in films, women change the attitude and behavior in men. Women make men more subtle and calm. Men also watch what they say and what they do. In Reservoir Dogs, there are no women. The absence of women in The Reservoir Dogs makes it okay for them to be disrespectful and vulgar between each other, and demonstrates that in times of tragedy, men will defend and comfort one another.
Relationships In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
827 Words | 4 PagesAlfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window has several themes. One major theme is relationships. The lead character, Jeff Jeffries, a photographer and committed bachelor, is involved in a relationship with Lisa Fremont, a model, although the relationship has some tension due to Jeff’s lack of commitment. When Jeff is confined to his apartment recovering from a broken leg, he begins spying through his rear window on his neighbors in a nearby apartment. Through her frequent visits, Lisa is drawn into this spying as well.
Feminist Film Criticism Of Joyce Carol Oates's The Girl
66 Words | 1 PagesThis article is analyzes how filmmakers critique gender ideology with the use of Joyce Carol Oates's works. Feminist film criticism has explored the representation of women operates as a form of exploitation masked as idolizing and the ways that the female spectator can subvert the masculine point of view. It focuses on Joyce Carol Oates's short story "The Girl" which depicts the filming of a rape.
It Happened One Night Analysis
2528 Words | 11 PagesThis analysis will focus on questions of gender and notions of femininity existing during the Great Depression in US Culture, which are reproduced through the film itself. To support my thesis, I will analyze the most important key scenes
Gender Roles In Movies Essay
1137 Words | 5 Pages“Contributors explore issues of femininity as well as masculinity, reflecting on the interface of popular cinema with gendered realities and feminist ideas. Topics include the gendered political economy of cinema, the female director as auteur, postfeminist fatherhood, consumer culture, depictions of professional women, transgender, sexuality, gendered violence, and the intersections of gender, race, and ethnic identities.” We will use this book to draw certain categories of textual and performance analysis to then, see the impact on romantic relationships. One of the unique aspect of this volume is the analysis of the perversion of feminism in Hollywood movies: violence, misogyny, homosexual characters: is Hollywood embracing feminism or is it creating a machos equivalent of
The Male Gaze Theory
1180 Words | 5 PagesIn Mulvey’s essay, the role of women in films was examined. Through this examination, Mulvey courageously stated that the portrayal of women was done
Gender Stereotypes In Cowboys And Aliens
1456 Words | 6 PagesIn contrast to the twentieth century we still see some of this in our current day and ages. Contrasting portrayals of men and women in films leave us with the fact that we haven’t changed. Men and women are sought to have different gender roles within
Rear Window Final Scene Analysis
627 Words | 3 PagesIn the film Rear Window, the director, Alfred Hitchcock uses a variety of techniques to create suspense and leave viewers on the edge of their seats throughout the film. Hitchcock uses a good assortment of tempo to create thoughts in the viewer's mind. He slows down the pace to create anticipation, and speeds it up to show a change in intensity. In the ending scene of Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock uses changes in pace and tempo, lighting, and a short term deadline to constitute an immense atmosphere of suspense in the viewer's mind.
Mean Girls: Post-Feminist Analysis
1687 Words | 7 PagesMean Girls, set in Illinois, depicts the socio-political climate of an American high school, with it’s protagonist, Cady Heron moving from Africa and homeschooling to be socialised in her new society. The antagonist throughout the film, Regina George, is portrayed as an authoritarian woman who has total control of the school (Mean Girls 2004). Regina is shown to engage with numerous sexual partners at the same time and promotes her liberation through wearing a tee-shirt with her bra protruding out the front when she finds two holes cut at her breasts; motivating a new fashion trend throughout the cohort (Mean Girls 2004, Robinson-Cseke 2009, p. 45). This depiction of a strong, independent woman aligns with ‘Post-feminist texts-films, books, magazines and television programs characterised by a model of young womanhood that is empowered, successful, entitled, independent, socially mobile and free to choose her destiny’ (Toffoletti 2008, p. 72). Post feminism is further reflected in the film through the power change which occurs, transferring from Regina to Cady, mirroring the transfer of power from second wave feminism to post feminism.
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