The Gaze... Lecture Notes 5.

What makes us want to hurt others and what makes us want to watch others suffer through others seeing?

when playing a computer game it gives you a chance to do something that you cant do in real life without getting hurt or badly injured, thats a reason why people enjoy these games.

Richard focussed on institutional structures of power in the last lecture, this lecture will focus more on interpersonal, psychical and power sexual relations

some common misconceptions about physchical, power and sexual relations...

- It’s mish-mash of psychology (behaviour) and psychiatry (mental illness).

- Although it is linked to the two – it’s also a ‘way of thinking’ that can be applied to all aspects of society, including art and design.

- It’s all about sex.

- Whilst psychoanalysis does position the role of sexuality, especially in our infancy, as a foundation of our adult lives – it is also about how we treat and examine other objects.

scopophilia – sexual stimulation by sight….(objectifying the actors on screen) 

   ‘In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact  [. . .] they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.’

 

 There is also a view point on tv these days.. there is a modern tv show known as peep show

 

this allows you too look through the eyes of the character so that you are able to see what they see and how they want to act! and what they look like whilst they do, making you feel more apart of the show.

There are two ways of gazing...

1.the spectator’s gaze – gaze of a viewer at an image

2.intra-diegetic gaze – a gaze of one depicted person at another within the image

The use of the extra-diegetic gaze is more affecting than the intra-diegetic gaze in this instance.

Intra-diegetic gazes defer our guilt – someone else is hurting that person 

Extra-diegetic gazes enhances our guilt – we are complicit

Different forms of ‘gaze’ evoke different structures of power;