Classical Hollywood Cinema

Women were seen as sex symbols and tools to make the male lead, or hero, more appealing. They were the assisting actor who was to never steal the spotlight, and to only make the male character more relatable for the audience. In Laura Mulvey’s essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” we see how women are truly portrayed in the business of entertainment. Women are seen in Hollywood films as expendable and an untainted, virgin body image. Their characters weren’t as important as males, or as poignant. Women were thrilling and arousing to see on the screen; they shook the world of film with sex symbols and raunchy scenes; but throughout this time period, they never effectively held as much of a significance as men.
All through Mulvey’s essay, she elaborates on major points which include: the three gazes in film, the three Freudian psychological terms, the three points of lighting, and how women and men are generally (and oppositely) depicted in cinematic films. She looks closely on how classical Hollywood cinema illustrates its image of women, whether it is negative or stereotypical. Women are placed as the objects of a male gaze and are positioned to steal sexualized attention from the male hero. This discussion of the relationships of gazes, …show more content…
Their scene was one to remember—the piece that definitely caught your eye, the woman who added little or no continuum to the plot of the film. She would fascinate the audience with her attractive body and sensual moves. Even in animated movies, a technique where the female princess gets out of trouble is through presenting her body to the men. For example, in Aladdin (1992), when Jasmine is trapped by Jafar, she seduces him in order to free Aladdin and herself. The woman was simply added as a tool to help push the male dominant character into heroism, or as an addition for wholesome entertainment