Research: Audiences and Audience Theory

We have so far studied 3 theories of audience:- The effects model
- The uses and gratifications model
- Reception theory

We will now go on to consider:
- Suture
- Feminist film theory and audiences

Suture:
classical Hollywood narrative, editing and music 'sutures; or positions the audience in certain ways making only one preferred reading possible, however unconscious the audience is of that position

Feminist film theory and audiences:
- Laura Mulvey
- Visual pleasure and narrative cinema (1975)

Cinema reflects society therefore cinema reflects patriarchal society. how does a patriarchal society manifest itself in cinema?

An example:
- Patriarchy and phallocentrism are linked
- The phallus is the symbol of power
- Note how guns are used in films
- Guns = phallus = power

The male midlife crises and phallocentrism

The Gaze:- The 'gaze' of the camera is the male 'gaze'
- The male gaze is active, the female is passive
- Within the narrative male characters direct their gaze towards female characters
- The spectator is made to identify with the male gaze because the camera films from the optical, as well as libidinal point of view of the male character
- Thus 3 levels of the cinematic gaze, camera, character and spectator that objectify the female character (the triple gaze)
- Therefore the audience is constructed as though everyone was male
- Women are forced to look as though they were a male audience member

Agency:
In the classical Hollywood cinema the male protagonist has agency, he is active and powerful. he is the agent around whom the dramatic action unfolds. The female character is passive and powerless and she is the object of desire for the protagonist and the audience.

Erotic desire:
Mulvey argues that women have 2 roles in film:
1) As an object of erotic desire for the characters
2) As an object of erotic desire for the audience