Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power, A History of Objectification and Discrimination of Women in Film

Frames, Over a Century of the Male Gaze

Male protagonists can be seen casting shocked, lustful, and surprised gazes upon the seductive bodies of female characters in "Blade Runner 2049" (2017), "Lost Highway" (1997), and "Do the Right Thing" (1989). Among them, the character portrayed by Ana de Armas in "Blade Runner 2049" is depicted as a holographic image named JOI. In internet pornography culture, this abbreviation stands for "Jerk Off Instruction."

In the documentary "Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power," which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, a series of provocative scenes from classic films unfold at the beginning, forming an intense and inescapable visual vortex. Its director, Nina Menkes, systematically and progressively presents how the history of cinema has violated and exploited female characters through its standardized audiovisual language in a TED-style lecture. This, in turn, has led to current issues of workplace discrimination and harassment within the industry.

Beyond the lecture, the film includes interviews with around ten knowledgeable women, media professionals, and film industry practitioners as supporting evidence for its viewpoints. In a rare lyrical moment, Menkes walks on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, and the beloved James Baldwin quote, often used in contemporary documentaries, appears on the screen— ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’

From Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927) with its sensual dance scenes to the grand performance in "Apocalypse Now" (1979) where young women cheer the troops up, Menkes believes that the way men look at women is akin to a cat chasing a mouse and male gaze has become an unwritten rule in cinema. In addition, it has taken on increasingly strong sexual connotations. Furthermore, the documentary dedicates a considerable portion to explain how the male gaze has been constructed through visual and auditory language throughout the long history of cinema. It is broken down into five components: 1) actors and patients of the male gaze ; 2) framing; 3) camera movement; 4) lighting; and 5) narrative perspective.

The transition from a subjective male perspective of the female body to an objective one is not only exemplified in the montages at the beginning of the documentary, but also prominently featured in "Phantom Thread" (2017), where its voyeuristic undertones are emphasized through a sequence of shots that zoom in from a distance. Framing often focuses on specific female body parts under the male gaze, such as the featuring of buttocks in Chan-wook Park's "The Handmaiden" (2016), and direct presentations from the audience's perspective, like Nicole Kidman’s dressing scene in "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999), and the car model scene in the Palme d'Or-winning film "Titane" (2021).

The camera typically moves vertically upward slowly to present the body from feet to head. This brings to mind iconic moments where Salma Hayek in "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996) and Margot Robbie in "Suicide Squad" (2016) showcase their figures. There is also an instance in "007: Die Another Day" (2007) where the slow-motion appearance of the female lead, Halle Berry, in a bikini is meticulously choreographed.

Menkes highlights a pattern through a comparison of combat scenes: in slow-motion, men fight shirtless, while women are in charge of exuding sensuality. The contrast in lighting is even more pronounced, with men receiving three-dimensional lighting that showcases contours and layered shadows, while women are given two-dimensional lighting to preserve their youthful appearance. At the end of an extended dialogue in "Paris, Texas" (1984), Harry Dean Stanton finds his ex-wife in a strip club. He stands on one side of a one-way glass in front of the table lamp, casting a world-weary silhouette, while on the other side, Nastassja Kinski resembles a stunning oil painting.

An exemplary illustration that encapsulates the four aspects mentioned above can be found in Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film "Contempt", starring Brigitte Bardot. In the tracking shot scene, the French sex bomb walks under the gaze of the cameraman, while a voice-over discusses André Bazin's theory, stating that "films show the world we desire." Menkes dissects this scene into different shots, and creates a shot sequence that reflects the points of view of the audience, director, cinematographer, and male and female leads. This leads to the fifth aspect of the cinematic gaze, which is the narrative perspective. Over time, constant objectification of women through the male gaze has not only left female actresses feeling hollow, but also female viewers feeling sad after losing self-esteem upon realizing that they do not possess the looks and figures of on-screen female characters.

Industry shutting the doors on female filmmakers

With a hint of skepticism, one can certainly consider this documentary a meticulously crafted cinematic manifesto by a feminist director that has rich evidence and meticulous logic. However, could it have concealed facts that are unfavorable to its argument? Could it be that what Menkes says did indeed occur, but is merely limited by its historical context? Furthermore, most heterosexual male film enthusiasts may argue that the reason there are no longer cinematic masters today is, to some extent, due to the delay caused by the equality movement, which left male creators feeling constrained.

Menkes lets data do the talking. When she was in film school, the student gender ratio was equal . However, the proportion of female directors in IMDb's Top 250 movies dropped from 9% in 1998 to 8% in 2018. Evidently, although everyone enjoys equal rights to education, investments in films by female directors are not keeping pace with development. Furthermore, the film industry seems to be shutting its doors on female filmmakers. Menkes believes that the first human-made narrative film is "La Fée aux Choux" (The Cabbage Fairy) in 1896, directed by a French female director, Alice Guy-Blaché. During the Silent Film Era, there were many female creators. However, when the Sound Era arrived in 1927, films required more substantial funding and after the more male-dominated Wall Street entered the scene, the number of female creators dwindled. Although the next 40 years were the golden era of Hollywood, only two female directors left their mark.

"The Hurt Locker" (2008) made Kathryn Bigelow the first female director to win an Oscar, but the rest of the key roles were occupied by men. Menkes once pointed out, ‘When 95% of cinematographers are men, how can you escape the male gaze?’ Taking a closer look at modern film history, you will find numerous instances of the male gaze in movies like "Lolita" (1962), "Leon: The Professional" (1994), and "American Beauty" (1999), which focus on the portrayal of young girls. So, how does the camera present male sensuality? Recall Brad Pitt who is shirtless while fixing the roof in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019) and the naked guy twirling nunchucks in Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma" (2018). The focus is on their entire body and movements.

Similarly, only about 5% of film score composers in Hollywood are women. In "Blade Runner" (1982), when Harrison Ford pins Sean Young down and kisses her, the background music instantly shifts from intense to gentle. After all, males assume a woman's refusal is her auditory expression of "I want it." The documentary presents a real-life scenario where male students at Yale University chant "No Means Yes, Yes Means Anal" loudly at the female dormitories. Indeed, this slogan not only highlights male dominance over women, but also carries a certain level of ambiguity. It is well-known that Yale University has a reputation for producing prominent figures in the LGBTQ+ community as well as its association with LGBTQ+ literature and culture.

Power, in the name of art

The male gaze in cinematography has indeed contributed to gender discrimination in the film industry, from the front lines to behind the scenes. This has aggravated the imbalance in power dynamics, fostered a pervasive environment of sexual harassment within the industry, and given rise to greater female exploitation through films "in the name of art." Menkes is clearly criticizing "Blue Is the Warmest Color" (2013) where Léa Seydoux felt like a prostitute after shooting explicit sex scenes. Ironically, the film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which encouraged its director Abdellatif Kechiche to push the boundaries in his subsequent work, "Mektoub, My Love" (2017), with unnecessarily explicit sexual scenes which were shot after getting its actors into a relaxed state by consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.

The sense of satisfaction of male power is not just sought through control (directing) – gender reversal can also play a role. An example Menkes provides is the relatively inconsequential film "Mandingo" in 1975, where a white female plantation owner threatens to sue a black slave for rape if he refuses to have sex with her. The audiovisual language in this scenario aligns perfectly with the five characteristics of male gaze mentioned earlier.

In this documentary that delves into film history, Menkes does not shy away from self-promotion. She mentions that her own sister plays the female lead in several of her experimental narrative films. From time to time, she breaks the fourth wall and stares directly at the camera and audience, effectively challenging the very gaze directed toward her.

Fortunately, from Chantal Akerman's "Jeanne Dielman" (1975), Emerald Fennell's "Promising Young Woman" (2020) to the award-winning "Nomadland" (2020), the spirit of resistance of female creators has never waned in films. Aside from the breaking of the fourth wall in Menkes' experimental narrative films, especially with the main lead gazing back at the audience time and again, a better rebellion against the male gaze may be found in "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" (2019). In this film, the two female protagonists, a wealthy young woman and a female artist, both gaze at and are being gazed at by each other. The former beckons to the latter and says, ‘From my perspective, what else is there for me to look at if not you?’ As such, a dynamic equilibrium of power is established.