Representation is defined as a procedure through which individuals make meaning of a given cultural artifact, and how it is exchanged between members of a culture (Hall, 2013). Media, specifically films, use several themes that not only alters the intended meaning conveyed, but also the way individuals are represented. This paper aims to analyse the film Rear Window, using psychoanalysis, whilst addressing the representation and differences of power relations and gender identities in mainstream media. Additionally, this paper examines the concepts of voyeurism, gaze and spectatorship applied from different perspectives relating to the above mentioned film and the use of other media artifacts.
Film theory in the 1970s identified the use of Freud’s concepts within the visual products, and provided scholars with the ability to analyze them using psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis has introduced scholars to a fresh take on understanding the influence systems of representations have upon real historical individuals (Nixon, 2013). Freud states that there are two kinds of relationships that individuals have with their surroundings – “object cathexis” & “identification” (Freud, 1977, p.135). These relationships indicate the desires and needs of individuals in relation to external objects. Object cathexis is an individual’s sexual desire to have someone, and identification is the desire to be another person (Freud, 1977).
Alfred Hitchcock’s famous film – Rear Window, is about gendered looking which uses concepts from psychoanalysis and portrays the male character in a peculiar relationship with the cinematic viewer. The film’s protagonist – Jeffries (played by James Stewart), is a photographer who is confined to a wheelchair after breaking his leg. Jeffries spends the most of his time seated at a window viewing several individuals and their activities. His window and seating arrangement gives him a perfect view to the building opposite his; specifically the windows of the people’s apartments in the building. Jefferies uses his camera & binoculars to view people, and his curiosity takes a turn for the worse when he believes that he discovers evidence for a murder, and attempts to solve the mystery (Refer to Appendix A).
The film enlightens concepts such as “scopophilia” – the pleasure in looking & “narcissism” – attraction to the human form (Nixon, 2013, p.313). These concepts are unconscious and exist beyond the control of the individual, and are witnessed repeatedly in the film. They have impacted the way gender is looked at and identified within media & addresses the difference in power relations for the visual consumers. Mulvey’s analysis on Rear Window centered around “the narcissistic aspects of the scopophilic instinct (ego libido) and its voyeuristic and fetishistic components (object cathexis)”, and primarily dealt with scopophilia (Nixon, 2013, p.314).
Mulvey (1989) argues that scopophilia is the pleasure in looking that has been divided between “active/male and passive/female”. She also states that there are three kinds of looks in media – “the look from the camera to the event, the look from the spectator to the screen action; and the looks between the characters in the film story” (Mulvey, 1989, p.19). The use and the organization of these looks have resulted in the above mentioned division in cinema. Hollywood, specifically Rear Window usually positions the male characters in alignment with the look of the spectator, thus giving them the active role in the film’s story. Whereas, the female characters are the objects upon which the gaze of the spectator would be positioned; i.e. having the passive role. Mainstream cinema has successfully combined the narrative of the film with the spectacle (Mulvey, 1999). A spectacle refers to something that is maginificent in its visual exhibity (Sturken & Cartwright, 2009).
The gaze is a term that is used to describe the relationship of looking, in which the subject succumbs to its desire through acts of looking and being looked at among objects and other individuals (Sturken & Cartwright, 2009) .The gaze can be motivated by the subject’s desire for control over the object it sees, and on object can likewise capture and hold the look. Traditional psychoanalytic theory linked the gaze to the spectator’s fantasy. Freud associated scopophilia with the spectators taking other individuals and objects, and “subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze” (Mulvey, 1999, p. 835). Lacan’s approach to the gaze, updated the traditional theory and indicated how individuals act out their desires. Late 20th Century scholars applied Lacan & Freud’s theories to film analysis, and found that the gaze of the spectator on the media artifact was a male one that objectified the women on the screen (Sturken & Cartwright, 2009). For example, in the film Jefferies uses his camera lens to look at individuals outside his window, and by doing so, he views two women undressing and subathing on the roof & a female dancer who dances in her undergarments.
The position of the spectator and it’s alignment with scopophilic urges towards the visual product introduced a new concept – spectatorship. Spectatorship is the practice of looking, and constitutes of both the spectator; i.e. who looks at other individuals, places, & entities in the world, and the object (Sturken & Cartwright, 2009).
The looks in the film are vital to the plot and fluctuate between voyeurism and fetishistic fascination (Mulvey, 1989). Voyeurism looking is marked by the extent to which there is a distance between the spectator and the spectacle (Neale, 1983). This structure provides the spectator with power over the object. The male protagonist of the film depicts the emotions experienced by the spectator, and lands into a mysterious situation due to their erotic desires. He works to maintain law and order, while the woman is in the wrong. Hitchcock’s use of identification procedures, followed by practice of implementing a subjective camera from the point of view of the male character attracts the spectator into his position, thus sharing the protagonist’s gaze (Mulvey, 1999).
Multiple film theorists read Rear Window as a metaphor – that the film is actually viewing itself. Jefferies is standing in for the audience and the events in the windows opposite signifies the screen (Mulvey, 1999). He is confined to a fixed position (like the film’s audience), and his gaze is voyeuristic such that he is able to freely gaze upon his objects, while they are unaware of his activity. Jefferies’ immobility causes him to rely on his girlfriend – Lisa, who acts like his “mobile surrogate” and looks for clues relating to the murder in an off-screen space (Sturken & Cartwright, 2009). The windows of the apartments frame events the same way the camera lens frames the narrative of a film. Jefferies situation re-enforces the audience’s limitations and boundaries, in regards to the amount of information that can be obtained by the events, and the desire to know and want more (Sturken & Cartwright, 2009).
Mulvey (1999) claims that the female figure in the media poses as a threat to the male protagonist. She argues that with the application of psychoanalysis, the female character gives a feeling of uneasiness to the male audience due to her lack of penis. She is seen as a symbol of castration. Voyeurism has a relation with sadism. It causes the male audience to pleasure themselves, immediately followed by establishing the object with guilt – associated with castration, gaining control over the object, and ultimately either punishing or saving the object (Mulvey, 1999).
In Rear Window, Lisa is of little sexual interest to Jefferies; however, this only exists when she is on the spectator’s side. The segment in the film when she crosses the barrier dividing the spectator and the events transpired, their relationship is re-ignited with a sense of eroticism. Lisa is seen as a “guilty intruder exposed by a dangerous man threatening her with punishment”, and is saved by Jefferies (Mulvey, 1999, p. 840).
Like many of Hitchcock’s films, scholars have observed the use of the Freudian concept – Oedipus complex in its narrative. The ‘Oedipus Complex’ outlines the development of an individual in regards to their identification with gender (Nixon, 2013, p. 313). The individual forms an identity and rejects the other. However, Freud states that the individual not only rejects a certain identity but represses the said identification. This repression continues to haunt the individual, and thus does not form a resolute sexual identity, leaving the individual; i.e. the subject’s sexual difference unsteady (Nixon, 2013).
Instances in Hitchcock’s early life, such as his father taking him to the police & his mother making him stand for hours, as forms of punishment. Interactions with his father & mother led him to integrate the Oedipal complex within the narrative of the film, and representing particular female characters as an authoritarian figure (Grey, 2010). In the film, Jefferies is immobile, while his girlfriend isn’t, giving him a sense of castration. He is in a state of regression, as he is pampered by his nurse, who has a domineering quality, continuously scolds Jefferies for his voyeurism, and advises him to marry Lisa. Jefferies’ use of voyeurism is an alternate solution to his Oedipal complex; he uses his camera lens to feed his sexual and aggressive drives (Ekins & Freeman, 1994). Ultimately, Jefferies’ voyeuristic activities allow him to overcome his difficulties, and give the spectators a sense of progression towards maturity (Grey, 2010).
Although Rear Window is an ideal example of a media artifact that depicts the male gaze upon the female bodies, and interprets them as an object of pleasure, Modleski (1988) explains the weakness of male gaze, and its lack of control over its objects. She claims that Hitchcock films include a theme of femininity, in which women who possess too much knowledge tend to disrupt the male-controlled structure of the narrative. The gaze and the distribution of power can be analyzed in a different way; i.e. Lisa’s point of view, which is validated in the end of the film (Modleski, 1988). While Jefferies gains power by looking over at objects, he is in fact emasculated by his inability to walk, and heavily relies on Lisa to obtain information about the alleged murder. The spectators – Jefferies and the viewers of the film, are limited to fixed position and a line of sight offered by his camera. Jefferies is punished for his curiosity, and his voyeurism when the murderer comes looking for him. He is both defenseless and imprisoned, which demonstrates the restrictions and the consequences of the male gaze (Modleski, 1988).
Concepts of the gaze have drastically changed over the years, with masculinity being viewed as a spectacle. Neale (1983)’s argument focuses on the male characters becoming the objects of attraction, especially in western cinema. Moreover, he argues that the “narrative structure and shot organization of these films work to undercut the potential of an erotic look at the male figures” (Nixon, 2013, p. 315). Hollywood films do this by representing sadism or violence, and evade the erotic element by hurting the male body. Masculinity is reinstated by having traits of being tough and in command. This form of representation of masculinity allows the male spectator to fantasize of power and control (Nixon, 2013). Neale validates Mulvey’s claims, and reinforces the differences in gender identities and power relations, along with the use of psychoanalysis in film theory.
Fight Club is a contemporary film, which shifts the gaze towards the male body, and how it’s represented in a ritualized manner. The underlining theme of the film is masculinity. The film informs the spectators of the importance of being masculine (Gymnich et.al, 2010). The protagonist of the film – Tyler (played by Brad Pitt), overtly displays masculinity and his attempts to reclaim power when said masculinity is threatened. For instance, in the film, when Tyler’s authority is questioned by the chief of police, he regains his masculinity by threatening to take his through castration. As mentioned earlier, violence is viewed as ritual that forms a bond with the characters within the film, and its spectators. When the male body is placed as the object of the male gaze, the erotic factor is repressed, and the body is cancelled as a desire. However, in a field of violence, that same body can be presented for spectatorial pleasure (Baker, 2006). The fighting arena in the film is filled with acts of violence and fetishized male bodies. Tyler is the ultimate male spectacle; his body is fetishized and his lean physique along with his exposed torso is gazed upon by both the male and female spectators (Baker, 2006) (Refer to Appedix B).
Brad Pitt also holds the position of the object in another film – Thelma and Louise, where he plays a hitchhiker and requires the support of the female protagonist. This, yet again, indicates a difference in power relations and alters the established spectatorship. Furthermore, Thelma and Louise also challenged the norm established towards the acts of looking in films, when they gain control of the camera and become the subjects, as opposed to being the objects (Struken & Cartwright, 2009). As seen in Rear Window, the person who holds the camera; i.e. the spectator is the one in control. Thelma & Louise, is a film that breaks the norm of the way female gender is represented in main stream media, by giving the protagonists control over the way they are represented, which affects the way individuals consumes media. (Refer to Appendix C).
In conclusion, the use of psychoanalysis and the concepts involving spectatorship and the gaze provide a concrete explanation about sexual differences. It also establishes the way objects are represented to pleasure the spectators. However, in today’s day and age, the idea of the gaze and spectatorship has transformed, and has produced new kinds of possibilities of identifications. There is an advancement towards the way power is distributed with the objects and its spectators. Nevertheless, the use of psychoanalysis provides a clear account of the articulation of individuals with fields of representation.
References
Baker, B. (2006). Masculinity in Fiction and Film Representing Men in Popular Genres, 1945-2000. London: Continuum.
Ekins, R. & Freeman, R. (1994). Centres and Peripheries of Psychoanalysis: An Introduction to Psychoanalytic Studies. London: Karnac Books.
Freud, S. (1977). Group psychology and the analysis of the ego. In Civilization, Society and Religion. Pelican Freud Library.
Gray, G. (2010). Cinema a Visual Anthropology (English ed.). Oxford: Berg.
Gymnich, M. et al. (2010). Gendered Re(Visions): Constructions of Gender in Audiovisual Media. Germany: Bonn University Press.
Hall, S. (2013). The Work of Representation. In J. Evans & S. Nixon (Eds.), Representation. London: Sage.
Hitchcock, A. & Stewart, J (Producer). & Hitchcock, A (Director). (1954). Rear Window [Motion Picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Modleski, T. (1988). The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory. New York: Routledge.
Mulvey, L. (1989). The Visual and Other Pleasures, Basingstoke, Macmillan.
Mulvey, L. (1999). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. In L.Braudy & M.Cohen (Eds), Film Theory and Critcism: Introductory Readings (p. 833-844). New York: Oxford University Press.
Neale, S. (1983). Masculinity as spectacle. Oxford Journals, 24(6), 5-6 & 11-16.
Nixon, S. (2013). Exhibiting Masculinity. In J.Evans, S.Nixon, & S.Halls (Eds), Representation (2nd ed.). London: Sage
Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2009). Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Appendix A
Image obtained from (http://gah.mobi/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Rear-Window-2.jpg )
Appendix B
Image obtained from (http://stronglifts.com/wp-content/uploads/brad-pitt-fight-club.jpg)
Appendix C
Image obtained from : (http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/2014-06/20/5/enhanced/webdr06/enhanced-7784-1403256807-1.jpg)
The Silver Screen Reality & other things. 
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