Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" and Psychoanalytic Theory

Film & Media Studies

2 Dec 202224:54

EducationalLearning

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TLDRThis video analyzes Laura Mulvey's essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' through the lens of psychoanalytic theory. It focuses on unpacking Mulvey's use of Freudian and Lacanian concepts like the castration complex, phallocentrism, and the symbolic order to argue that classic Hollywood films reflect and propagate a patriarchal order in which women are defined only by their lack while men are active bearers of meaning. The video explains these key terms and how Mulvey applies them to make sense of gender dynamics in film and broader society.

Takeaways

😀 Mulvey uses psychoanalytic theories like Freud's and Lacan's to analyze how patriarchy and gender oppression function
👩‍🏫 She sees film narratives as structured around phallocentric ideas and the 'male gaze'
🎥 Films symbolically castrate women by portraying them only in relation to lack and denying their capacity as meaning-makers
🧠 The paradox of phallocentrism depends on the symbolic 'castration' (lack) of the feminine to sustain the masculine 'phallus' (wholeness)
👶 The psychoanalytic concepts of castration anxiety and the imaginary/symbolic orders explain how patriarchal gender roles form
🔍 Feminist psychoanalysis tries to diagnose patriarchy's psychic effects instead of biologically justifying sexism
🤔 Lacan liberates Freud from anatomical determinism and sees gender difference as an ideological construction
👩 Mulvey argues visual and narrative film codes enforce women's symbolic 'castration' and inability to transcend lack
🎥 She wants feminist film theory to analyze female representation in cinema through a psychoanalytic lens
🕵️ Her goal is to reveal and challenge the ideological operations of 'phallocentrism' in film and culture

Q & A

What is the goal of the video?
-The goal of the video is to spend more time explaining the psychoanalytic foundations of Laura Mulvey's essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', especially the ideas of Jacques Lacan.
How does Juliet Mitchell defend psychoanalysis against feminist critiques?
-She says Freud's patriarchal views are descriptive rather than prescriptive. Also, Lacan liberates Freud from biological essentialism by showing gender is a social construction rather than anatomically determined.
What does Mulvey mean when she refers to the 'castrated woman'?
-She means that in the patriarchal symbolic order, women are defined by their anatomical 'lack' of a penis, which represents their symbolic castration and powerlessness.
What is the difference between Freud's 'phallus' and Lacan's 'phallus'?
-For Freud the phallus refers literally to the male anatomy, while for Lacan it has a more symbolic meaning as a general signifier of sexual difference and lack.
What are the three registers of experience in Lacan's theory?
-The imaginary - dealing with images and the ego; the symbolic - dealing with language, law and culture; and the real - that which escapes language and symbolization.
What does Lacan mean by 'the mirror stage'?
-The developmental stage where a child first recognizes itself in the mirror as a unified individual, separate from the mother. This forms the basis for the later emergence of the ego.
What options does patriarchy provide for women, according to Mulvey?
-Either to exist as 'castrated' and defined by lack, or temporarily mitigate this by having a child which can never fully satisfy.
How does Mulvey use the concept of 'signifier' from Lacan?
-She says that 'woman' functions as a signifier that only carries meaning by virtue of its difference and lack compared to 'man' in the patriarchal symbolic order.
Why can't women transcend castration?
-Because the patriarchal system defines femininity solely in terms of castration and anatomical lack. Women are 'bearers' not 'makers' of meaning.
What does it mean to be tied to a place as 'bearer of meaning'?
-It means that while women give birth to meaning and enable the masculine symbolic order, they cannot actively create or direct meaning themselves within patriarchy.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Psychoanalytic Feminism and Moby's Goals

This first paragraph introduces the video as an exploration of the psychoanalytic foundations of Laura Mulvey's essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.' It states that the goal is to provide more nuance on the Lacanian principles underpinning Mulvey's arguments. The paragraph briefly explains psychoanalytic feminism as using Freudian and Lacanian ideas to analyze patriarchy.

05:02

😯 Defining Key Terminology: Phallocentrism and Castration

This paragraph defines two key terms that are central to Mulvey's essay - phallocentrism and castration. Phallocentrism refers to the privileged role of the phallus (penis) in social organization. Castration refers to Freud's concept of castration anxiety - the male fear of losing the phallus (power), triggered by the discovery in childhood that women lack a penis.

10:03

😧 Explaining Lacan's Concept of the Phallus

This paragraph further elaborates on Lacan's interpretation of the phallus. Unlike Freud, Lacan uses the term more symbolically to refer to sexual difference and lack in general, not just the literal penis. The phallus represents the feeling of having something that others don't have.

15:06

🤓 Clarifying the Symbolic Order and Imaginary Stages

This paragraph explains Lacan's concepts of the symbolic order and the imaginary stage. The symbolic order refers to the adult world of language, law, and social codes that constrain desire. The imaginary is the earlier developmental stage where the child sees itself as unified with the mother.

20:06

😟 Summarizing Woman's Role in Patriarchal Psychoanalysis

The final paragraph reiterates Mulvey's view that in patriarchal psychoanalysis, woman is defined only by her lack of the phallus and her role in signifying castration anxiety. She has limited options and cannot transcend her secondary status as 'bearer of meaning' rather than 'maker of meaning'.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis refers to the theories and techniques developed by Sigmund Freud that deal with the unconscious mind. It seeks to understand human behavior and personality by analyzing dreams, slips of the tongue, neurotic symptoms, childhood memories and experiences. In the video, Laura Mulvey uses psychoanalytic concepts like castration anxiety and the symbolic order to analyze gender relations in cinema and patriarchal culture.

💡Castration Anxiety

Castration anxiety refers to the male fear of emasculation or loss of power. In Freudian theory, it arises from a boy's discovery that girls lack a penis, leading him to fear he may also be castrated. Mulvey argues male castration anxiety is triggered by images of women's bodies and drives the symbolic order.

💡Phallocentrism

Phallocentrism refers to the cultural prioritization and centrality of the phallus (penis) as a symbol of power. Mulvey argues cinema is phallocentric, with female characters only having meaning in relation to castration while male characters drive the narrative.

💡The Symbolic Order

The symbolic order refers to the social world of language, law, and cultural codes that organize society. Mulvey argues women have limited options in the symbolic order which is structured around male power and female lack.

💡The Imaginary

The imaginary is the realm of images, imagination and identification with visual representations. Mulvey argues women can temporarily escape their symbolic position of lack by retreating to the imaginary of maternal plenitude.

💡Signifier

A signifier refers to the physical form that represents an idea or meaning. Mulvey argues woman operates as a signifier of lack and castration anxiety for men in the symbolic order but is denied positions as maker of meaning.

💡Sexual Difference

Sexual difference refers to the anatomical and cultural distinctions between male and female. Mulvey argues cinema represents women in relation to sexual difference as bearers of lack and castration.

💡Patriarchy

Patriarchy refers to social systems and culture that privilege men and masculinity over women. Mulvey uses psychoanalysis to diagnose and explain the workings of patriarchy in cinema.

💡Feminism

Feminism refers to movements and theories aimed at defining, establishing and defending equal rights for women. Mulvey's essay is considered a seminal work of feminist film theory.

💡Spectatorship

Spectatorship refers to the relationship between films' audiences and what they see on screen. Mulvey analyzes gendered patterns of spectatorship, like the male gaze.

Highlights

First significant research finding

Introduction of new theoretical model

Description of innovative experimental method

Transcripts

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