Thursday 19 September 2013

The Male Gaze in James Bond



The James Bond franchise is a clear example of film objectifying females and forcing the audience to view females via the male gaze. The scene within 'Die Another Day' when James Bond meets the character Jinx demonstrates my previous statement through several elements. For example one being the language. The way in which Bond speaks to Jinx, saying things such as "magnificent view" and "predators usually don't come out 'til sunset...it's when their prey come out to drink". He is not generally talking about the sea view, he is merely objectifying her. Although it may be taken either way, to me it seems that she goes along with this objectification, making it look acceptable to women watching. He also describes her as 'prey', objectifying her further and making her out to just be on object of mens desire, nothing more. This shows a patriarchal society and than males dominate females in film in most ways. They are seen as the ones in control. 
Another way in which the female is objectified, is right at the start of this scene when Bond it seen to be looking through binoculars at the sea view, then moves to look at Jinx coming out of the water. The post production of the film has edited and staged her entrance to appeal to men watching her. She is shown in slow motion as to increase the way she is objectified and make it more appealing to men. Non diegetic, calm music has also been edited into the clip to control the viewers emotions and the way they look at this character. She also exits the water is a very sexualised way, emphasising the way she is moving her body and stroking her hair with her hands, and is also wearing make up which is unrealistic after she has been swimming, making her look more aesthetically pleasing. This however is a hyper reality. A fake representation of how women look. This makes women who watch it, see this as how women are seen by men, and makes them feel unworthy and not good enough, which then makes them want to change many things about themselves.
One other reason this clip shows objectification of women is through the camera angles. The close ups of Jinx's body when she appears from the water clearly objectifies her, devaluing her. The camera also looks down onto the female and looks up to Bond, as to show he controls her and has power, yet again showing signs of patriarchy. 



1 comment:

  1. Leah have used some good media terminology in this, you analyse technical conventions, such as the non diegetic sound, camera angles and post production to prove the female has been objectified. Well done. To improve, be careful with your writing, there are some silly grammatical errors, exam boards dark student down if they see this. Also you never actually mention the male gaze. Go back through and add these two points to improve.

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