Male Gaze fails its annual appraisal again
The Male Gaze has received another difficult performance review after fifty years of film theory made it harder to claim that a tracking shot automatically counts as insight.
The BFI has announced a Fellowship for filmmaker, theorist and educator Laura Mulvey, its highest honour. A season, Player collection and events will mark fifty years since Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.
Mulvey’s writing gave film criticism an enduring way to examine looking, gender and mainstream cinema. This is major intellectual work. The joke is reserved for lazy visual habits that still act surprised when someone notices the camera has opinions.
The lens receives awareness training
“Performance remains strong in objectification but weak in self awareness,” said Jocasta Reverse Shot, Director of Spectatorial Conduct. “It keeps describing the camera as neutral despite owning all its shares.”
The BFI programme includes Mulvey’s work, discussions and education. It also features films made with Peter Wollen and later Mark Lewis. Audiences can explore the ideas without pretending the streaming algorithm chose the collection by instinct.
Mulvey’s influence has shaped filmmakers, students and criticism. Her Fellowship recognises that work. The Male Gaze, meanwhile, has submitted a statement saying it was simply looking at the mise en scène near a woman’s blouse.
One producer promised a strong female character. She could kick a door, reload silently and exit early enough to motivate a man with excellent cheekbones. The feedback form was returned with several notes and one very firm question mark.
The cinema checks who holds the camera
The camera appealed its appraisal. It argued that audiences enjoy looking. The panel agreed, then asked why enjoyment so often required the same person to remove a cardigan in soft focus.
The Male Gaze has not actually left. It is outside the cinema explaining that its replacement must be chosen on merit, preferably by people who look remarkably like it.
Read the real story: The BFI announcement of Laura Mulvey’s Fellowship.
