Week 8: The Gaze, Hegemony and Music Videos

The GazeScopophilia – the desire to see
“The Gaze” refers to the exchange of looks that takes place in cinema.
Three looks:
• that of the camera
• that of the character
• that of the spectator
“Closer” (2004)
Who is the object of our gaze?
-Jude Law was the object of our gaze, quite literally as Julia Roberts was a photographer taking his picture.  Law was positioned on a chair behind a back drop as Roberts kept adjusting her camera and the way he should look for his portrait. 

Hegemony – dominance of one group over another
-Is an underlying consensus of ideology that serves the dominant groups in society
“Ruling Group” maintains power in two basic ways:
1. By force
2. By consent
Sut Jhally’s “Dreamworlds 3” (2006)Music Video Analysis:
• "Tonight I'm Loving You"- Enrique Iglesias
-This video by Enrique Iglesias is a perfect example of the pornographic gaze and objectification of women that Jhally talks about in Dreamworlds. Women are portrayed as ravenous sex fiends whose sole purpose is to fulfill man's (in this case Enrique's) fantasy of a submissive, pleasing woman, who only wants to have sex, anytime, anyplace. 
• "Baby"-Justin Bieber
-This particular music video is more traditional in the sense that the girl plays hard to get while Justin is extremely persistent and chasing her around.  Both sexes are completely clothed and innocently battling (dancing against one another) as flirtatious fun.  This video is very obviously directed toward a younger more innocent (Disney type) crowd.
• "Halifax"- Our Revolution
-This music video completely personifies Jhally's pornographic gaze and the fulfillment of the male fantasy of having threesomes, women flocking over them and the singers conveniently being the only males there. Also, the girls seemed to be having a ton of fun kissing other girls, sharing the men, and taking baths together.  Since their only desire was to have sex and party, the video completely objectifies the women as all the rest do in the documentary.
• "Soldier Boy"- Destiny's Child
-Soldier Boy appears as if it is empowering the ladies at first, but then they are basically saying that they need a man and are going to pick their choice of who they are going to take home that night. By doing this, they are sending out the message that the only way to be happy is to have a man by your side, but you need to choose/objectify him like men do to women.
  • "Blow"- Ke$ha
-Surprisingly this music video not only objectified men (having males wearing goat heads around the bar), but also made fun of Hollywood music videos objectifying women and the roles they play in most music and film. Ke$ha throughout the video dances with this unidentifiable men, disposing of them as she chooses and is  portrayed as pardon my French, a bad ass female lead who can hold her own. It was great to see how aware she was of the issue and how to turn the tables in a fun and entertaining way.