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Exotica

Mulvey on Exotica

The basic position of Laura Mulvey in her article, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, is one of protest to the portrayal of women in cinema. I believe that many of her points were valid, while others are not. Perhaps in 1975 - when the article was published - it was safe to assume that the main “gaze” of the public was that of a heterosexual, white male, but today it is not politically correct to assume such things. I believe that she had some great observations, but I will also acknowledge that their foundation is perhaps out of date. By my use of examples from Atom Egoyan’s Exotica I will affirm the validity of some ideas, and also negate the ones that I deem as being incorrect when applied to the movie.
An issue that Mulvey brings to the table early on in her article is one that women are oppressed creatures. She makes it a point to show that women do not control the general direction that most films take when portraying the female ...

Posted by: Jack Drewes

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