Just kidding. I liked Ott and Mack's dissection of the movie theater-going experience. The amount of money people shell out to sit and watch a movie (not to mention purchase snacks) in a theater has always fascinated me; I do it too (although rarely), and when I do I am aware that the price of two tickets is usually a good deal more than I would even spend on a DVD copy of that same movie (thanks to used copies on Amazon). So what is it that keeps box offices in the black? Is it the experience--the act of going out to a movie, the comfortable seating, giant screen, and (if you're lucky enough to be at the Alamo Drafthouse) the food and drinks? Is it the social nature of watching a movie with a crowd of other people? I think this is all a part of it, but I have to disagree with Baudry's theory that we as movie-goers are largely unconcerned with content and are more in it for the viewing experience (160). If I'm watching a movie that's poorly written or doesn't have a very good plot, it's not like I look around and think "Oh well, at least there's popcorn"; I'm more apt to get frustrated and regret having spent my money. I more strongly identified with Metz's assertion that our movie-going pleasure is derived from the act of viewing in the sense of being on the observer side of a one-sided mirror. The strongest example of this for me would be scary movies in that it is exciting to watch scary things happen to characters in a fictional setting, as long as we're safely on the other side of the screen; I wonder if that's why it is so scary for me when a character in a scary movie looks directly at the screen?
Hey there, cutie.
The male gaze and fantasy sections reminded me of the scene in American Beauty where Lester (Kevin Spacey) lustfully watches his daughter's friend Angela (Mena Suvari) performing a dance number in a high school gym with the school dance team. The scene begins with an innocent/awkward-enough dance routine that evolves into the male gaze as Angela takes center stage. The camera alternates between Angela and slack-jawed Lester until the music changes, the crowd and other dancers disappear, and we find ourselves in Lester's fantasy world. While it is Lester's gaze and fantasy, the audience is also supposed to be titillated as Angela flashes seductive looks toward the camera and touches herself inappropriately. It's super creepy. Here, look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a90BAwsvlA
The sections on female spectatorship, male objectification, and the female gaze reminded me of none other than Magic Mike.
Which I haven't seen, and so I can't say too much about it. But from my understanding, it's supposed to provide women with all the titillation and eye-candy typically reserved for male viewers.
Magic Mike did, however, make me think about the current sexual "revolution" (which seems too strong a word for the lukewarm reality of the movement) that seems to be happening especially among middle-aged, white, suburban women. Yes, I'm thinking 50 Shades of Gray (which I haven't read). It's an interesting postfeminist trend that, while it encourages these women to sort of "treat themselves" to a naughty film or book experience, is also sort of essentialist in that in makes assumptions about what all women will find attractive or arousing. Like I said, I haven't seen or read either work, but I have heard that 50 Shades of Gray spotlights dominant-submissive sexual relationships, with the suggestion that women should always be submissive (http://thestir.cafemom.com/love_sex/135088/50_shades_of_grey_could). The media buzz around Magic Mike has made it seem like all women secretly really really want to see this movie because male strippers! While I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the movie or book individually, and I know that one book or one movie will not cater to all preferences, I still feel like they've become somewhat definitive icons of what it means to be a sexual woman in today's society.
Unless you're the old man sitting next to me on the flight back from San Diego reading 50SoG. Eww.
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