Study Task 3 - Triangulation

Laura Mulvey's essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' (1975) examines the presence of a Patriarchal society within the film industry and how this 'has structured'(pg.14) its form. Mulvey argues that the roles of men and women portrayed on screen are the 'roots of our (women's) oppression'(pg.15), women are constantly seen as 'bearer, not maker, of meaning'(pg.15) which puts them inferior to men (the maker). In 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture' John Storey describes this differentiation as confirmation of an audience viewing 'women as sexual objects'(pg.83). Similarly, Richard Dyer's 'Stars and Audiences' looks at the generalisation of how film is made and who for, he argues that 'the moviegoer is positioned accordingly to the pleasures of male heterosexual desire'(pg.188).

A focal point of Mulvey's essay is the notion of 'Scopophilia'(pg.18), the pleasure in looking or viewing sexual acts. Storey argues that in a 'world structured by 'sexual imbalance''(pg.82) the evident roles encouraged by this idea are for men to 'look' and women 'exhibit'. This therefore supports the view that women are 'crucial to the pleasure of the (male) gaze'(pg.82). Mulvey considers how objectification can occur when people believe the 'illusion' that they are 'looking in on a private world'(pg.17). Alongside the attention on the human form created by the 'conventions of mainstream film'(pg.17), Dyer suggests that 'male gaze produces a sadistically voyeuristic pleasure'(pg.189).

Furthermore, Storey describes the focus or 'hold' of the female body as a 'pure erotic spectacle'(pg.83) for an audience member. Women are constantly displayed as sexual beings while, as Mulvey examines, men have the capacity to 'control' and emerge as the 'representative of power'(pg.20). In this way, a 'passive' woman becomes the 'active' man's property, in Dyer's words, film 'styles were designed as a spectacle for male desire'(pg.191).

Study Task 2

Study Task 1 - Summary

Roland Barthes' critical essay 'The Death of the Author' (1967) examines the relationship between the author, the reader and the interpretation of a text, but what does this mean in the context of a modernised society? 

Barthes argues that when the author’s identity in regards to their body of writing is lost, this is when the content can thrive in the hands of the reader. 'Language knows a 'subject', not a 'person'' (pg.145), and the removal of the 'person' can change the meaning of a text instantly. However, in some cases the context of the author is important to understanding the context of the work. Andy Warhol’s Pop Art, for instance, was predominantly created using images that already existed. His repetitive prints were based on popular culture, events of the time and his own personal interests. For example, Warhol's famous ‘Campbell's Soup Cans’ (1962) were a reflection of his own routine and everyday life. To differentiate the author and work as two separate entities in this case would take away any possibility of understanding the original intended meaning behind it, ‘the temporality is different’ (pg.145), leaving it open for interpretation by the reader.

Arguably, originality doesn't exist in regards to the identity of the author. In ‘Consumerism is a way of life’, Steven Miles describes the modern society as being ‘constituted in an artificial environment surrounded by artificial objects and artificial ‘nature’’. With this artificiality comes technology and social media. The use of this, duplication of imagery and sharing features in particular can completely eradicate the identity of an author, often the image/text speaks for itself in this case. Similarly, Barthes describes the author as 'a modern figure, a product of our society' (pg.142), which suggests that in order for the piece of work to become timeless the background of its origin must be lost. This loss of background creates a freedom for the writing itself, the reader now has ownership over it and can interpret it as he/she wills. In contrast to this, although Warhol’s ‘Marilyn Diptych’ (1962) can be seen as an iconic piece of work it was still very much appropriated to the time of which it was produced, just four months after Monroe’s suicide. If the same work had been produced today it would not have had the same poignancy.

Ultimately, Barthes expresses the point that in order for the reader to gain everything that he/she possibly can from a text, the author and context must be forgotten. In other words 'the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the author' (pg.148).

10 Themes of Interest

Possible Themes

1. Gender - Focus on terminology used to describe women/men. Expectations.
2. Plastic Surgery - Why do people opt for it? Differences between medical necessity and cosmetic surgery. Social constructs, media influence, celeb culture, psychological and physical.
3. Animal Testing - Is it necessary? Makeup/cosmetic products and medical research.
4. Representation of women in the media - Changes, film and TV.
5. Arts education - how important is it? Encouragement of creativity, early education and school curriculum.
6. Social Media/Internet effects on Children/young people - how things have changed.
7. Art therapy - effects on people, medical and everyday life. Why/how does this work? Case studies.
8. Social hierarchy - roles in society, influences on people and the way they identify themselves. Problems that arise in communities.
9. Consumerism - Advertising and the effects of this on individual people. Debt and snowball effect.
10. Nuclear family - Is this still the ideal concept? Should it be? Gender roles and social change in history.