Research Paper on:
Puig's 'Kiss Of The Spider Woman' and Laura Mulvey's 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of how a film was shot from the camera angle and perspective to the most subtle nuances pertaining to blocking, dialogue and story line speaks volumes regarding the intended masculine  viewpoint manifested in these productions. Such films as Kiss of the Spider Woman clearly portray the overtly masculine perspective, while at the same time only appear to project to  the female spectator. This clever masquerade is what has motivated such precedence-setting authors as Laura Mulvey to take issue with the manner by which the issue of female spectatorship  has been addressed. Mulveys astute observations acknowledge how visual techniques and narrative alike serve to elicit a voyeuristic response from film audiences without their knowing that this reaction is based  within a solely male prerogative. "The spectator in the theatre is made to identify with the male look, because the camera films from the optical, as well as libidinal, point  of view of the male character" (Mulvey 158-166). This cinematic strategy of cinematic gaze can be classified on three distinct levels: camera, character and spectator. These elements serve  to "objectify the female character and make her into a spectacle" (Mulvey 158-166). Male ego is a powerful entity within the film industry, a point that is not lost on  the notion of female spectatorship. Psycho is a good example of this, inasmuch as Norman Bates only appears to exist secondarily to his all-powerful mother; however, when one closely  analyzes the female spectatorship of this particular film, it becomes quite clear that the entire movie is viewed through Normans eyes. The audience does not see Norman with any  great detail, because there is not a character throughout the film that is given the perspective to do so. Interestingly, Normans inability to function normally within society is addressed