Suture
Suture (which means "stitch" or "position") in film happens when a film's narrative, editing, sound and mise-en-scene is cleverly created and put together in a way that makes the audience see the film in only one preferred reading (Reception Theory), mostly unconsciously.
This theory stems from the theories of Roland Barthes, Stephen Heath, Laura Mulvey and Kaja Silverman, but was formulated by Daniel Day in "The Tutor Code of Classical Cinema" (1974).
According to these theorists, Suture "stitches" the audience into the film by relating to the characters or the views of the world expressed in the film. The audience then fills in the temporal and spatial gaps between scenes with their imaginations.
Suture is made much easier when the means, techniques, codes and conventions of a film are made "invisible" by the filmmakers.
Laura Mulvey' Feminist Film Theory
Laura Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (1975) theory argues that:-
- Cinema reflects society.
- Therefore, cinema reflects a patriarchal society.
- How does a patriarchal society manifest itself in cinema?
The Gaze
Laura Mulvey claims the gaze of the camera in films is the "male gaze". This gaze is generally passive, while the female gaze is otherwise passive. In most films, the male characters' gaze is directed towards the female characters. Therefore, the viewer is forced to identify with the male gaze, as the camera films from the optical (and libidinal) perspective of the male character.
There are three levels of this cinematic gaze that objectify the female character - the viewer > the camera > the male character > the female character. This is known as the Triple Gaze.
Examples of The Gaze include Dr. No, Die Another Day, Nowhere to Run, Transformers, etc.
Erotic Desire
Mulvey argues that women in films have two roles:-
Agency
In most films (mostly Hollywood films), the male protagonist has agency, which means the ability to move the plot forward. This makes him active and powerful. It is around him that the plot and the action continues to unfold.
On the other hand, the female characters are passive and powerless and act as the object of desire for the male protagonist and the viewer. However, there have been examples of female characters in films that have agency, though they are few and far between, e.g. Ellen Ripley from "Alien", Hanna from "Hanna", Sarah Connor from "Terminator", Katniss Everdeen from "The Hunger Games", Tris Prior from "Divergent", etc.
There are three levels of this cinematic gaze that objectify the female character - the viewer > the camera > the male character > the female character. This is known as the Triple Gaze.
Examples of The Gaze include Dr. No, Die Another Day, Nowhere to Run, Transformers, etc.
Erotic Desire
Mulvey argues that women in films have two roles:-
- As an object of erotic desire for the characters.
- As an object of erotic desire for the audience.
In most films (mostly Hollywood films), the male protagonist has agency, which means the ability to move the plot forward. This makes him active and powerful. It is around him that the plot and the action continues to unfold.
On the other hand, the female characters are passive and powerless and act as the object of desire for the male protagonist and the viewer. However, there have been examples of female characters in films that have agency, though they are few and far between, e.g. Ellen Ripley from "Alien", Hanna from "Hanna", Sarah Connor from "Terminator", Katniss Everdeen from "The Hunger Games", Tris Prior from "Divergent", etc.
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