The Truman Show vs Rear Window Essay - 1695 Words

What are the issues of watching and voyeurism in film? The intention of this essay is to discuss both films (The Truman Show, 1998 and Rear Window, 1954) alongside established theoretical criticism (Laura Mulvey and Norman K. Denzin) in an attempt to demonstrate how the issues of watching and voyeurism, as seen in todays mainstream Hollywood cinema, both engages and entices the spectator and to look at how the definition of the voyeur has changed. Before entering into a discussion about voyeurism in Rear Window and The Truman Show, an understanding of what is meant by ‘the dynamics of voyeurism’ in film must be attempted. The dictionary definition of a voyeur is: (1) a person who gains sexual pleasure from watching others when they are†¦show more content†¦The cinema offers pleasure of scopophilia where ‘it can be fixated into perversion, producing obsessive voyeurs and Peeping Toms whose only sexual satisfaction can come from watching, in an active contro lling sense, an objectified other.’ (Mulvey: 1988, p. 31) Whereas, narcissism is the pleasure of being looked at and the pleasure ‘comes from identification with the image seen,’ (Nichols: 1985, p.18). For example, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) we see Robert Fords idolises Jesse intensely, as if he wants to pull on his boots in the morning. This movie describes Ford’s time in Jesse’s orbit as a series of abject disappointments and humiliations, mostly of his own accord. And as the film unwinds slowly, Roberts pinched and wretched narcissism is revealed, showing that the assassination was Ford’s tragedy as well as Jesse’s. An infamous folly he would regret and replay over for the rest of his life. Narcissism is the fascination with likeness and recognition (identification with ‘ego ideal’ subjectivity). Therefore, as seen in The Assassination of Jesse James ‘The sense of forgetting the world of the ego has subsequently come to perceive it [I forgo t who I am and where I was] is nostalgically reminiscent of the pre-subjective moment of image recognition,’ (Mulvey: 1988, p. 32). We can see that voyeurism is not onlyShow MoreRelatedMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 PagesJuggernaut Starbucks: A Paragon of Growth and Employee Benefits Finds Storms Boston Beer: Is Greater Growth Possible? 29 46 PART II MARKETING WARS 61 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Cola Wars: Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi PC Wars: Hewlett-Packard vs. Dell Airliner Wars: Boeing vs. Airbus; and Recent Outsourcing Woes 63 86 PART III COMEBACKS Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 McDonald’s: Rebirth Through Moderation Harley-Davidson: Creating An Enduring Mystique Continental Airlines:Read MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagescan have a surprisingly up-todate feel about them: There is a strong tendency today to state numerically as many as possible of the variables with which management must deal. . . . Quantitative measures as tools are undoubtedly useful. But research shows that indiscriminate use and undue conWdence and reliance in them result from insuYcient knowledge of the full eVects and consequences. . . . The cure is sometimes worse than the disease. (Ridgway 1956: 240) Despite such long-standing and clear delineationsRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesUniversity James Gelatt, University of Maryland University College Joe Gerard, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Matthew Giblin, Southern Illinois University Donald Gibson, Fairfield University Cindi Gilliland, The University of Arizona Mary Giovannini, Truman State University David Glew, University of North Carolina at Wilmington Leonard Glick, Northeastern University Reginald Goodfellow, California State University Jeffrey Goldstein, Adelphi University Jodi Goodman, University of Connecticut Claude GraeffRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesrecognize, albeit more gradually, a second threat to global survival in the last years of the century—accelerated climate change brought on by the release of ever-increasing, polluting emissions into the earth’s atmosphere. But, as Richard Tucker shows, this ultimate peril comprises only one of the many strands of environmental degradation that have, in their intensity and cumulative repercussions, set the world history of the twentieth century off from all previous phases of the human experience