Friday, 11 July 2014

Laura Mulvey's Triple Gaze Theory

Triple Gaze Theory

 Laura Mulvey's theory is that there is a triple gaze that takes place in the media. This is where a woman of erotic desire is on screen, there is a man looking at her, the camera is looking at the man, and the audience is looking through the camera. This is showing that all eyes are on the object of erotic desire, on this occasion, it's the woman who is more often than not wearing very little. This is done to gain more of an audience and this will mostly apply to males who buy or download the song or film. For example, in the film "Dr No", there is a famous scene where Ursula Andress comes from the sea and we see Sean Connery staring at her. This is a classic example of the triple gaze theory as it is Ursula Andress being looked at by Sean Connery, being looked at by the camera, being looked though by the audience.


 In music videos, there is practically always the object of erotic desire flaunting themselves around and more often than not, it is a woman. In the Rihanna video "Shut up and drive", there is the obvious reference to sex throughout and there is Rihanna, along with other scantily clad women, laying all over cars and bending over while the men in the cars look at them. Again, this is an example of the triple gaze theory as it is Rihanna, men, camera, and audience. 



An artist that I would use as an example of the triple gaze theory is Christina Aguilera. In her videos, she is always the centre of attention and is viewed as a sexual object. There is always at least one man looking at her while she's dancing around or not wearing much. In her video for the song "Candyman" she is either wearing an extremely short little pink dress, a navy outfit, or other old-fashioned clothes, all of which draw attention to herself.

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