Nina Menkes (director)
(studio)
18 (certificate)
108 (length)
12 May 2023 (released)
13 May 2023
The ‘Male Gaze’, from the Oxford English dictionary: ‘the perspective of a notionally typical heterosexual man considered as embodied in the audience or intended audience for films and other visual media, characterized by a tendency to objectify or sexualize women.’ This term first used by Laura Mulvey in 1975 is now well established though arguably apart from that rather dry definition above, still poorly understood.
In Brainwashed filmmaker Nina Menkes, through her presentation ‘Sex and Power, the Visual Language of Cinema’, and some 175 film clips examines the process of filmmaking from the very early to present days. She builds a strong case that design, shots and sound have perpetuated the ‘male gaze’ to such an extent that they have become the ‘normal gaze’, even for some female directors.
The argument here is that female directors, executives etc are so wrapped up in the male-led system that they either don’t realise, or don’t care that they are actually normalising the ‘male gaze’. Though the causes are many the most obvious being the male dominance in nearly all aspects of film production.
Interestingly it wasn’t always like this. In the pre-sound era filmmaking was far more equal until the Wall Street macho moneymen got involved shifting the balance towards the men.
The mix of academics, filmmakers and actors provide a number of different perspectives and the way that prejudices have permeated and are now entrenched within almost all aspects of the film industry.
On practical level via her presentation Menkes takes the viewer through many films and notably a forensic dissection of the swimming pool scene from Raging Bull and another from Titane, that are clearly out of context.
It’s for the directors to defend their work but my guess is that the development of those scenes was more instinctual than calculated. Anyone watching those films again, after this, will certainly view them differently which is probably the point here but at times this film troublingly skirts with advocating self-censorship or even censorship.
Brainwashed: Sex—Camera-Power is now out in cinemas with Q&As at key venues around the country with Nina Menkes and Reclaim the Frame
