Lezing
The Male and Female Gaze
Do women and men perceive sexuality in movies differently? Do movies direct themselves at the way men - or women - like sexuality to be shown? In reality, or according to directors and producers. And, if so, how? Things seems to be changing here, but in which direction?
In the seventies, feminist film theorists like Laura Mulvey focused on the specifically male perspective that dominated (Hollywood) cinema. Movies tended to identify themselves with the male protagonist, who directs his gaze at the heroin and thereby turns her into his lust object. And the target audience was primarily male. By critically investigating this ‘male gaze’, feminist film theory stimulated a more diverse film climate. Is this male gaze still dominant? And is there something like a ‘female’ or ‘queer’ gaze in contemporary cinema?
Kevin Toma (film critic De Volkskrant) and Mylaine Roelofs (film scientist) address those questions by showing and discussing scenes from movies like Coming Home, The Piano and La Vie d'Adèle
About the lecture series ‘Film and Sexuality’
What does the representation of sex tell us about the filmmakers, the medium itself, and about the (historical) context in which a film was made? And, in turn what influence has cinema on its audience, and thereby on societal norms and values? Kevin Toma (film critic De Volkskrant) and Mylaine Roelofs (film scientist) address those questions by showing and discussing movie-scenes, ranging from innocent kisses to those taking it ‘all the way’.
Free screenings ‘Film and Sexuality’ at Movie W
Art cinema Movie W screens Shame (English spoken, 11 November) and La vie d’Adèle (French spoken, Dutch subs, 22 November). Free entrance with your WUR-card.
Kevin Toma
Kevin Toma is a film journalist associated with, amongst others, De Volkskrant. He studied Film Studies at the Radboud University in Nijmegen.
Mylaine Roelofs
Mylaine Roelofs studied English Film and Literature at the University of Portsmouth and continued her studies with the master Film and Photographic Studies at Leiden University.