Critical Analysis

I am writing my critical analysis on the movie "Pretty Women" staring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and I m critiquing it using some of Laura Mulveys theories about the "male gaze" fetishistic scopophilia, and narcissistic identification. Narcissistic identification is when we identify with a character in order to have a pleasurable movie experience. Identification, Mulvey will state, is similar to Lacan's idea of the mirror stage. When we watch the film we tend to miss-identify with the main hero as ourselves in order to be fully engaged in the movie. Also present in many films is what Mulvey calls Fetishistic scopophilia. This is different then narcissistic identification, it has to do with how the camera frames the woman's body as an object. The woman is no longer a character but a sex symbol. The use of the camera, according to Mulvey, occurs to have control over the image of woman. To see her in parts to sexualize her then is a way in which to control her. This is not a conscious decision made by Hollywood; rather Mulvey states that it has to do with the stages explained by Freud and Lacan. The film director's are not Ð''plotting' against women, but subconsciously there is a male need to have power over the image of the woman due to Ð''his' fear of castration. This theory of Mulvey's is very direct in the film "Pretty Women". The "male gaze" aspect of Mulvey's theory is the production of sexuality fantasy from the male's point of view in film. Movies are made to be watched by males.

From the beginning of the film "Pretty Women" men are the significant sex and females are their subordinates. One of the scenes in the beginning of the movie there is a party going on and all the audience sees are the men in circles looking to have important conversations, while the women were just standing next to their men tagging a long. I felt that this showed that the men were totally capable of handling themselves while the women were unable to support themselves without a mans company. I felt that this was shown continuously through out the movie.

When "Vivian" Julia Roberts character is introduced her face is not shown but her sexual body parts her legs with black laced stockings, her breast covered with a tight white shirt. By not showing Vivian's face in this shot shows or portrays to the audience that the women is body is more important then the women herself. This is what Mulvey is talking about when it comes to "male gaze". When "Edwards" Richard Gere's character is introduced it introduces him as a very important, well known, successful business man. While Vivian is introduced as a weak, person who needs a strong wealth man in her life.

One of the things I felt that this film was trying to say is that women need men to survive and that men have all of the power in life. I felt this way because in this movie all of the women roles were females that were being supported by there men. These women had no jobs and just lived off of there husbands. The only job title that the women had in this movie were the secretary's, waitresses, prostitutes, or the sales women in the store. In general the main reason for women in this movie seemed to be for sexual purposes or to escort the man