The most thought provoking thing out of our second class was the little touches in Rear Window that I barely noticed. They give the film little touches that make me appreciate it more. We all had a good laugh when looking back at the film and marveling at James Stewart's faces through the film. Rear Window seems to be one of those films that has lots of little hints and details that I love. "Easter Eggs" as they are called today. My favorite was what a student pointed out to us, where there's a foreshadowing of the murder next door via the dialogue. While
One of the more discussion provoking theme around Rear Window is the idea of the gaze. We are made aware of this via the reading assigned for this which I mentioned in my previous post about Rear Window. I've read Laura Mulvey's essay before about how Rear Window is, in her words, a literal example of the Male Gaze in film. The Male Gaze is something I am not new to. Throughout my studies here at Mount Allison, I've analyzed the sexist connotations within artwork throughout the centuries. The concept of the Gaze is something we are not conscious of and is definitely an underlying thing that must be pointed out to be addressed. I think this is because when we look at a painting, we are unaware that our viewing is a piece of the experience.
I feel that understand i understand the point Mulvey is saying, but I don't agree with it. I was more partial to her opinion without seeing the film. I won't deny that there are clear examples of sexism in this film. I mean, Detective Doyle is straight up belittling Lisa for her gender and "woman intuition". The part about a woman never leaving her favorite handbag or wedding ring seemed a little questionable as well. However, I do not see Jefferies as a preying character or an active misogynist. I don't believe he was thinking of the politics of society during the film, or Lisa for that matter. Lisa was a secondary character who happened to be his love interest. I don't think he wasn't interested in her because she wasn't in his "male gaze" but rather, because her concerns were on marriage, socializing and her fashion career. It had nothing to do with photography, his job, life or the murder. There was a boundary between them and it was interesting that he wasn't totally enthralled with her, given that she is a very conventionally attractive woman who wants his love. Most men would be glad to have a woman like Grace Kelly in their presence, let alone interested. It isn't fair to say that he wasn't concerned at all, because he was well aware of her as a person.
I think he was ignoring her because she wasn't relative to more pressing matters. Her concerns were not concerns to Jefferies and initially, she wasn't involved with his viewing. When she became involved, they had more in common and thus he took interest in her because he found something to relate to. In fact, his focus on her while she was in his gaze was fear for her safety, rather than a sexual curiosity. I think it was her bravery and belief in him that perked his attention. As I said, they had something in common. Reading into the camera looking like a phallic symbol is a bit much, since, there is nothing inherently sexual about Jefferies or his curiosity. He's not motivated to look out the window via that. Otherwise, he would be focusing on the more sexualized characters like Miss Torso. Even Stella wonders why he isn't focused on Miss Torso. That should be the indication. I feel that there's a danger to applying modern politics to older things. Social context changes with every year, and one of the most important things I've learned while studying history is not to apply modern problems to the past. Rear Window is arguably modern, but for film, it is ages away. Especially for feminism, which would only take off a few decades later. Mulvey's perspective is one that applies future ideas and context to the past. I feel that isn't fair. It's stretching the truth, but opens up an interesting discussion. Now that I think of older paintings of scantily clad women, who were painted for the purpose of the male gaze, the context of Rear Window is quite different. There's the aspect of horror and murder there. If Grace Kelly is eye-candy, it's to the cinematography and audience viewing the movie. Not the characters and not through the window.
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