Jersey Shore: Female Sexuality and the Female Spectator

This essay is the exploration of the position and effects of the female spectator to the representation of the female in a post-feminist era, through the focus on female heterosexual sexuality. Using the case study of MTV’s biggest rating Reality TV show Jersey Shore (2009 – present)[1], I will apply audience theories as well as the method of psychoanalysis. Reality TV can give an insight of a particular  gender roles and attitudes towards sexuality etc., in that time and place. For example MTV’s Jersey Shore has become one of USA most watched shows with its success spreading across the pond to theU.K. This is not the first reality TV hit for MTV, The Hills(2006 – 2010) beforehand was its most highest ranking show, however the audience ratings dipped when MTV had brought out its successor Jersey Shore. The Hills was about glamour, fashion, and beauty with high level of product placement. Whereas Jersey Shore is about sex, partying, and fighting with a lower budget in production presenting it in a more realistic light. This shows how the audience progressed from the desire for inspirational television to raw, gritty and realistic.

Reality TV shows, than most genres of media, give a deeper insight into the socio cultural problems and attitudes of today in the West such as gender and female sexuality, which I will explore throughout the course of this essay. First I will deliberate on audience theory and the framework of theoretical analysis which will be applied to the case study.

Audience Theory

There have been numerous influential theorists who deliberate audience theory, with the theory itself starting as a pessimistic relationship with its audience such as the Frankfurt School, Theodor Adorno in particular, claiming the audience as passive and easily manipulated, alongside the hypodermic needle theory [2}. Spectatorship theory progressed through theorists such as Katz & Lazerfield(1955) With thetwo step flow model [3], where the audience receives the text through “Opinion leaders”, to the Uses and gratification theory (Katz and Bulmer )which saw a more developed and active audience. In the1970’s Stuart Halls encoding/decoding framework influenced Reception theory in which David Morley in his seminar text “The Nationwide Audience” (1980)used to show how media texts are received or decoded are dependent on different attributes of the individual, such as Gender, race, Location, Class. Spectatorship theory started as categorising the audience as a mass whereas later spectatorship theory focuses on the individual. This particular formula is familiar to the progression of feminism, with the first two waves being the considered as the woman as a category with the third wave of feminism considers the individual rather than categorization. In fact the notion of the female spectator or a female audience was disregarded by earlier audience theorists. Even feminist Laura Mulvey’s influential essay “Visual Pleasure and other Narrative cinema”[4}(1989) was criticized for the lack of consideration of the female spectator. When the female spectator was considered in spectatorship theory such as Linda Williams essay “When the Woman looks” (1996) [5], suggested that the female audience can only identify towards a representation of themselves as either the victim or the monster.

“When the woman does look she sees something like monster or the victim”(Williams:1996)  However despite William’s postfeminist extension of Mulvey’s work, feminists in the latter part of the second wave did start to consider the female on and off the screen.

“But by the mid-1970s, feminist historians and literacy analysts has turned away from a preoccupation
with explaining women’s victimization and towards a ‘recuperative’ project which soon found evidence
of significant female power evident in records of daily life and in literacy texts by both male and female
writers” (Byars:1988:111)

Psychoanalysis and Feminist Audience Theory

Feminist female spectatorship has adopted a psychoanalysis framework , particularly feminists belonging to the second wave such as Mulvey & Williams. However it seems third wave feminists and other recent theoretical academics feel the use of psychoanalysis is too rigid and irrelevant to todays texts and culture. Delezian [5] theorists especially, suggest that academic writing with the application of psychoanalysis has become worn-out leading to no progression and interpreting a sexual biased reading. Donald Torato’s essay ‘ The Final Girl : A Few Thoughts on Feminism and Horror’ (2002)

“The deeper problem resides in the built-in patriarchy of depending on a Freudian psychoanalytical
model, where an active or powerful woman is nothing but a ‘masculinized’ woman (or a closet lesbian).”
(Torato:2002a)

However there is vital attribute to psychoanalysis especially of the work of Freud and Lacan that critiques of their framework of their analysis, seem to either dismiss or ignore. Freud and Lacan are example of the influence and a conformity to Patriarchy, not only through the fact they a male scholars but mostly because of their othering of the female or feminine. As long as the culture we exist within is patriarchal then psychoanalysis is still essential as the roots of Freudian work highlights the deep rooted ideological fears of the heterosexual male of anything that is not “normal”. Feminist theorists such as Mulvey are not unaware of this aspect of Freudian framework, as it may seem to some of her critics, but it is the main reason she uses psychoanalysis;

“The terms he [Freud] uses to conceive of femininity are the same as those he has mapped out for the
male expression. These problems reflect, very accurately, the actual position of women in patriarchal
society (suppressed, for instance, under the generalized male third person singular” (Mulvey:1989:30)

An example of this how gender biased psychoanalysis truly is Lacan’s consideration of female sexuality or Feminine Jouissance [6], which at first jouissance itself was considered as sexual therefore phallic which is masculine therefore Lacan stated that the female (the other) could not relate to jouissance. Later Lacanian feminine jouissance progressed to be known as mystical experience to the female being the receiver of the ultimate jouissance.

“It is women who enjoy [jouissents]. Their jouissance is greater” (Lacan: 1963 quoted in Evans:
1998:19)

However despite feminine jouissance being considered as greater than jouissance of the male, feminine jouissance is still masculine as it begins as phallic jouissance. Lacan suggests that the female through castration of the male gains phallic jouissance, which transcends into feminine jouissance.

“…In Lacan’s account castration bears primarily on the man, and rather than provoking frigidity, it
precisely (the woman’s acceptance of) his castration that allows her to enjoy sexual intercourse.”
(Evans: 1998)

Lacan is of course deliberating on female sexuality in heterosexual relations, therefore the suggestion of heterosexual being considered as the norm, as well as the heterosexual relationship is predominately masculine is the undertone of Lacan as well as psychoanalysis. This highlights not only the academic issues but more importantly the cultural problematic ideologies of heteronormativity and masculinity.

“Heteronormativity- the view that institutionalized heterosexuality constitutes the standard for
legitimate and prescriptive sociosexual arrangements – represents one of the main premises not only of
feminist sociology but of the discipline in general” (Chris Ingraham: 1994:203)

Heteronormativity is a direct result of patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity, which is deeply rooted in society and representations of (hetero) sexuality in the media. Jersey Shore is an example of the process of heteronormativity, through the fact that MTV chose 8 individuals to live in a house together who were all heterosexual.

“Heterosexuality is lived in distinctive lifestyles (especially those tied to marriage/household
arrangements) and in discourses of masculinity/femininity, normality/ abnormality…We are arguing that
heterosexuality is not balanced (or even unbalanced) institutionalized of masculinity- and -femininity, it
is masculinity” (Holland et al: 1996:327)

Heterosexuality as a masculine notion alongside the consideration of Lacanian Feminine Jouissance being phallic/masculine dependent, therefore what is the state of the post-feminist females relationship with her sexuality?

Female Sexuality and Post Feminism “I am like a praying mantis. After I’ve had sex with a guy, I will rip his head off” –J –WOW

Post Feminism – even the word and the movement seems to suggest that the female is liberated and feminism is no longer necessary. Supposedly the female can express herself as she wishes and especially  sexually. As the above quote from Jersey Shore housemate Jenny/J-WOW shows females in the post-feminist era seem to explore their sexuality in a more aggressive or masculine manner. As “Sexual modesty is considered a specifically feminine virtue…” (Jackson:1982:98), the female who actively explores her sexuality is gendered masculine, or the post-feminist term of the phallic girl. However the sense of liberation is just an illusion, an illusion of choice and an illusion of our sexual liberation. Ariel Levy’s book “Female  Chauvinist Pigs” (2005) looks at how the effects of sexualisation and the rise of raunch culture has affected the female and her relationship with her sexuality. Levy suggests that “Raunch Culture, then isn’t an entertainment option, it’s a litmus test of female uptightness”(40) and that today’s female is conforming and condemning herself to the patriarchal ideology of the past. It seems that today’s female has to battle with her sexual identity through her self-insecurities, male ideologies and other female criticisms. It seems the female has similar problems that her mother experience yet it is without the sense of sisterhood that women of the 1st and 2nd waves of feminism experienced. Post feminism does not mean feminism achieved its purpose, but it’s more an example of how patriarchy is a strong hegemonic power. Through commodification, imaginary liberation and the abolishment of sisterhood , post feminism seems more of a hindrance to the female and a supporter of patriarchy itself.

Representation of Female sexuality -“ My number 1 mission is to find the hottest guidio and take him home. The smaller the shorts the better because all the little guido boys love them.” Sammi Sweetheart

Jersey shore reflects the social acceptance and equality of the male and female partaking in the same social rituals (partying) in a somewhat harmonious manner. Yet this is before the consideration of the most influential and paramount aspect of the entire show itself which is youth heterosexuality. Sexuality is most certainly not equal and the representation of female sexuality on Jersey Shore highlights the the socio-cultural attitudes and problems towards sex and sexuality of the female.

“…the young woman is under pressure first to consent to the constitution of adult heterosexuality as the
construction of masculinity, and then to fit herself to this construction. Within this construction of
masculinity, young women must find ways of existing and making sense of themselves and their
‘otherness’.” ((Holland et al: 1996:327)

This is a common theme within the Jersey Shore, as the females of the house explore their sexuality within their own construction of their identities as feminine but in a predominate masculine framework of the household. The females actively perform what is considerable masculine, via their aggressive behavior in fighting and their sexual activity, but their appearance is an emphasized femininity through their big hair, fake breasts and short dresses. The Jersey Shore females’ performativity of masculinity whilst dressed as hyper-femininity as Judith Butler would describe as creating their own identities as the postmodern female,

“The view that gender is performative sought to show that what we take to be an internal essence of
gender is manufactured through sustained sets of acts, positioned through the gendered stylization of
the body” (Butler: 1990: XVI)

This notion of the female process of gender through her sexuality is similar to Lacanian reference of feminine jouissance, of how the female has to become masculinized in order to receive her pleasure/ jouissance. However this process is extremely problematic for the female as she is verbally punished by males if she becomes too over masculinized, sexually. This could be applied to Freudian castration theory (8) as the males feel threaten by the female’s masculinity, therefore castration anxiety is heightened in the male, resulting in the male’s punishment of the female. For example, one of the female housemates Angelina, received not only peer pressure from her male housemates to have sexual intercourse with Jose,( the male she was currently was dating) as he was buying her gifts, but was verbal abused when she had sex with her housemate Vinny instead. However it is the females of the house who were the most judgmental towards Angelina expression of her sexuality. The star of the show Snookie/Nicole stated:

“Angelina is being a whore right now. She is dating this guy called Jose right now who buys her
everything she has ever wanted. She has sex with Vinny and not the nice guy and that makes her look
like a fucking whore”

 As Table 1 shows the main phrases or words used in Season 1 episode 1 of the Jersey Shore, the females language towards other females especially about their sexuality, is highly aggressive and abusive, more so than the males. This highlights that one of the main problems of post feminism and of the postmodern female is the lack of sisterhood. The females on screen seem to their own worst enemy when it comes to sisterhood and sexuality, so how does this affect the female spectator?

Female spectatorship and Female sexuality -“When a girl is that much of a whore it pisses me off” Angelina

Early theories surrounding the female spectator as I discussed earlier was dominated by the notion of the male audience and the masculinization of the audience such as Mulvey’s theories. The female owning her independent gaze has been somewhat non- existent unless the theories are surrounded by female dominated media texts such as the genre of Soap Operas or Romantic Comedies (Chick flicks). Female spectatorship is known as a complex subject, especially with the application of Lacanian theory such as the gaze. Willemen, a strong critic of Mulvey’s work, suggests that there is a fourth look (9) in cinema, which can reverse the scopophilia , resulting in the spectator being subjected to being looked at.

“The scopic drive has been turned back upon the subject (girl-viewer) and has been reversed into its opposite (looking at – being looked at). This can, quite understandably, be accompanied by a charge from voyeuristic pleasure to unpleasure, combined with a refusalto acknowledge one’s unstable position in the viewing process” (Willemen: 1994:107)

This reflection on the audience can be seen in Reality TV as the audience is the star of the genre, therefore the construction of character and sexuality is more real than constructed, therefore the spectator sees the mirror like state in the television programme of how females and female sexuality is  treated. The female audience of Jersey Shore sees the confusion of the female’s on screen as they battle to explore their sexuality in the sexist paradigms of patriarchy but also condemn each other with the same ideologies they themselves are trying to avoid. This reflects the socio cultural issues the female faces in everyday life, from men, themselves and each other. Upon watching Jersey Shore with a group of females, it was very noticeable how the females reacted to the females on screen was in a mannerthat is reflected in the television programme itself. The female audience were quite hostile and judgmental towards their on screen sisters through the use of words that appear in table 1. The fourth look seems to be present as the females on screen seem to reflect the attitudes of females off screen, which in this case is a very unfortunate state as this reinstates the aggressive attitudes and lack of sisterhood in females.

Conclusion

The female spectator’s exposure to representation of the female in mainstream media such as the Jersey Shore is an example of the  hegemony that is still deeply rooted within western culture, which is normalized by the media and therefore maintaining the otherness of the female through her sexuality. Sexuality is dominated by the hetero male ideologies, which is reinforced not only by males but also females. It seems the post-feminist era is one of the most problematic, as the sense of sisterhood is non-existent. Without sisterhood and the continuation of the damnation of each other’s sex lives and expression of sexuality is proving damaging to the progression of freedom, independence and power of the female. Western women need to be sexually liberated without conforming to male gaze and without the distaste of each other. Even Ariel Levy’s book which highlights how women have become their own worst enemy still falls into the category of judgmental towards her sisters. The female spectator in media or in life needs to read her fellow females without the patriarchal ideologies that are existent today. Only together, can women unite to solve gender issues such as female sexuality,heteronormativity and transform heterosexuality and sexuality into a feminine trait.

Appendix

Table 1
Male -> Female Chick
Girls
Stalker
Crazy
Sloppy
“Don’t hate the player hate the game”
“Wifey material”
DTF – Down to fuck

Female -> Female

Girl
Bitch/es
Trashy Skanks
Hoe bags
“How do you do that? Meet a guy and take off your underwear and your bra!”
“Don’t bring dirty girls back!”
Stupid
Not Classy
“When a girl is that much of a whore it pisses me off”

Uni-sex

Bitch
Hot Girls
Grenades
Whore

Notes
1. MTV’s Jersey Shore follows eight American Italians, as they live, work and party together for the summer. It has been the subject to controversy through its sexual content and broadcasting violence towards women.
2. Hypodermic needle theory also known as the magic bullet theory is an earlier communications model of how the mass audience receives mass media. It’s the suggestion that the audience passively receives the media text and can be easily influenced and manipulated.
3. Two step flow –Lazerfield and Berelson, , & Gaudet 1944 study of the election, “The People’s Choice” (1955) first saw the two step flow hypothesis appear, however it is not until Katz and Lazerfield in “Personal influence”(1955) that the model was completed.
4. Laura Mulvey’s essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative cinema (1989): Highly debated and a seminal text on spectatorship theory. Mulvey claims that the audience is always rendered masculine matter their gender. Her essay was first published in 1975 in the journal Screen
5. Linda Williams’ essay When the Woman Looks (1991) uses Mulvey’s work as a basis but argues that the female gaze exists and warns female spectators not to become accustomed to closing their eyes to the female representation in cinema.
6. Deleuzian is a new academic framework which cannot be categorised or pigeonholed. Giles Deleuze’s new ideological consideration of film theory, breaks down the older more rigid way of thinking.
7. There is no word in the English dictionary that can truly describe/translate the meaning of Jouissance . Pleasure and sexual connotations are the only translation that is close to the true meaning. Feminine Jouissance like most of Lacan theory was progressive.
8. Freud’s Castration Anxiety is the idea that the female’s lack or appearance of lack of the penis suggests that she has been castrated and insights the fear of castration in the male, therefore dominate or masculine females are seen as a threat of castration of the male
9. The Fourth Look is Willemen’s extension and criticism on Mulvey’s cinematic looks which are;
1. when the camera looks
2. when the audience looks
3. When the characters exchange looks.

Bibliography.
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The Hills (2006- 2010) MTV, USA
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Evans (1998) in Nobus. D (1998): Key concepts of Lacanian Psychoanalysis, Rebus Press, London
Holland.J , Ramanogia. C and Thomson .R. (1996) “In The Same Boat?” in Richardson.D (ed.) Theorizing Heterosexuality, Open University; Buckingham
Ingraham. C. (1994) “Heterosexual Imaginary” in Jackson.S & Scott.S (2002) Gender: a sociological reader, Routledge; London
Jackson: 1982 quoted in Davies.B (1989) “Becoming Male or Female” in Jackson.S & Scott.S (2002) Gender: A sociological reader” Routledge , UK
Katz, E., & Lazarsfeld, P. F. (1955). Personal influence: The part played by people in the flow of mass communication. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.r: a sociological reader, Routledge; London
Levy.A(2005)”Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture” Free Press; USA
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Williams, L. (1996). “When the Woman Looks” The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film. Grant, B.K. (ed.). Austin, University of Texas Press: 15-34.
Webography
Torato.D (2002a)”The Final Girl: A Few Thoughts on Feminism and Horror” http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/final_girl.html Published 31/01/2002 Found 02/03/10

Issues of Gender in Pinku Eiga

The manner in which issues of gender are articulated and contested in the media.

The first question to consider is what are the issues of gender? The definition of gender itself is an issue. Its attributes are rigid and it works on a basis of binary opposition which represents one as normality and one as the other which gives an problematic and false interpretation of individuals according to their gender identity. Also gender is sometimes misinterpreted as sex or even sexuality, even theorists have different opinion of gender and its attributes. Gerda Siann’s book ‘Gender, Sex and Sexuality’ gives a good definition of between sex and gender:

“Sex is defined as the biological differences between males and females and gender is the manner in which culture defines and constrains theses differences…but also differences in the manner in which individuals view both themselves and others, in terms of the female/male dichotomy.” (Siann:1994:3)

Siann also suggests that this collective culturally consideration of gender is not measured as problematic as it should be. We employ the roles and aspects of gender regularly, freely and easily sub consciously conforming to the patriarchal framework that gender exists within. Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble (1990) is influenced by Jacque Derrides theory of performativity, which in her deliberation of the issues of gender suggests that gender is a process of acting either masculine and feminine, and through the individual’s choice they construct there own gender.

“The view that gender is performative sought to show that what we take to be an internal essence of gender is manufactured through sustained sets of acts, positioned through the gendered stylization of the body” (Butler: 1990: XVI)

For Butler sex does not define gender but the performance of gender by an individual who make their own choice of their identity, whereas Catherine Mac Kinnon’s suggests that gender is the construction of sexism:

“Stopped as an attribute of a person, sex inequality takes the form of gender, moving as a relation between people, it takes the form of sexuality. Gender emerges as the congealed form of sexualisation of nequality between men and women.” (Mac Kinnon (1987) qt in Butler: 1990: XV)

MacKinnon implies that gender is merely the form of an ideological categorisation of inequality, which defines one sex superior to the other. As gender is culturally constructed within a patriarchal society, then it is considered biased, unrealistic and misogynistic. It seems that feminist theories all have a different determinate of gender. The main issue of gender is that its attributes are transgressive, questionable and complex. Post modern Femininity and masculinity are not the solid, strong structurally framework as the past consideration of gender. The Gender attributes of one category was defined by the other, this use of binary opposites is extremely problematic, as it uses masculinity as the norm and femininity is its opposite. As gender is considered a cultural construct then if the culture that constructed it is progressive and transgressing itself then gender itself begins to change with it. The borders of what determines femininity from masculinity have blurred with certain movements such as post feminism, the Gay Liberation Front and the progressive acceptance of transgender have all played a part in the transgression of gender. Androgynous portrayals of gender have become increasingly more visible within mainstream media. The horror genre reflects on this concept and continuously plays with gender roles. The new sub genre of horror which has become known as Torture porn deals with the issues of gender with a hard hitting approach which its audience will not forget.

“…a new subgenre of horror films which are so dehumanising, nasty and misogynist that they are collectively known either as “gorno” (a conflation of “gory” and “porno”), or, more commonly, as “torture porn”.” (Cochrane:2007)

The conventions of the Torture porn originate from the Japanese film genre Pinku Eiga or Pink Cinema. Pinku eiga which started as soft pornography in the 1960’s which transcended into a more extreme political cinema from the 1980’s onwards with its sadomasochistic imagery used metaphorically of the
socio-cultural problematic tendencies of its culture. Andrew Crossman in his article “The Japanese Pink Cinema” (2002) talks about how for decades the West’s knowledge of this particular cinema was non existent.

“Donald Richie once remarked that the “West knows nothing of these pictures, nor should it” (Crossman: 2002)

The West awareness of these particular films is from Western Directors adapting the extreme visual conventions of pinku eiga. It seems Richie’s warning of the West’s acknowledgement of pink cinema was coherent, as evidence of western horror film series such as Saw and Hostel suggests the main and originally point of pinku eiga is misinterpreted by the West. The political aspect of pink cinema seems to have become lost in translation for western directors and audiences. Considering the general consensus of western societies is that the western female is more liberated then her eastern sisters, it
seems quite ironic that western production companies can not deal with the issues of gender that Pinku Eiga does. It seems to be a dismissal of the problems with patriarchy. The main issues western spectators/critics and directors have with Pinku Eiga is that its message is too real for them.
.
“Sexual violence became a convention of the genre, so much so that a sub-genre, the torture film emerged” (Colette Balmain: 2010: 250)

However the western torture porn film does not deal with the same themes of eastern torture films. Maybe the western directors feel that the issues of woman subordination and rape can only be addressed in cinema if it has only been sanitized, and made more comfortable for the audience to watch. Pink and Torture Porn films should purpose should be for endurance not entertainment. Pinku Eiga, progressed in to more explicit and controversial cinema.

The notorious Guinea Pig films are a series of films from 1985 – 1989. There are 7 films in the series with the finale one acting as a best of Guinea Pig known as “Guinea Pig: Slaughter Special “(1988). The production of a film under the title of ‘Guinea Pig’ was banned in Japan after the series of films were found in an infamous serial killer house, who carried out crimes similar to the content of the films. The plot of this particular film series is the imprisonment and torture of a female by male aggressors, nothing more. The films visuals are extremely realistic and it is hard not to believe that the torture is not actually being inflicted on the female. There is an urban myth that Charlie Sheen watched Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985), mistaking it as a real snuff film and reported the film makers to the FBI. The production team of Guinea Pig started to produce ‘making of’ videos to show evidence that the film series were not snuff films, but even “Flower of Flesh and Blood: The Making of Guinea Pig” caused controversy over its authenticity. In the first Guinea Pig: The Devil’s Experiment, the abusers are unidentifiable young males dressed in black with their young female victim dressed in white. There is no explanation of how/who/why or when, just the graphic exploitation of the female. As the title of the films suggests the female victim is
treated as a piece of meat that is experimented on, for the enjoyment and curiosity of the young men. The films violence is progressive, becoming more extreme as the film climaxes. The films appearance of pseudo documentary gives an unsettling voyeuristic notion to the film and leaves its audience questioning the reality of what they just watched. The realness of these films gives an emphasised mirror image of the real life problems faced by the issues of gender in a patriarchal society.

Torture porn’s victim is usually female, films such as Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs (2009) which uses this as main basis of his plot, whereas other torture porn films such as Danish film Antichrist (2009) and Japanese film Gurotesuku (2009) have started to use the male victim. This emergence of the male victim
could be considered as a reflection of post modern masculinity and the threat it has on the hegemonic masculinity displayed on the cinema screen. Koji Shiraishi’s Gurotesuku is an interesting text in reference to the gender roles of the male and female victim. The plot of the film is about the entrapment, sexual violence and physical torture of a young couple, by a sadistic sadomasochist surgeon. So does a film that deals with a male and female victim which renders them weak, inferior and passive, still incorporate the stereotypical gender roles?

The film has two flashbacks which are the couple’s collective memory of their first date, the first flashback gives a sense of the characters traits. The male victim, Kazuo, is quite a feminine character in his looks and mannerisms, he does not conform to the appearance or personality of a stereotypical male
protagonist. He is a gentlemen, nice natured and shy. The female, Aki is very feminine in appearance she seems to more calm and collected than her partner, there is also suggestions that she is successful and dominant force in the workplace. In the second flashback. this takes place moments after the first one, shows the couple walking down the street seconds before they are captured. Aki asks Kazuo if he would die for her, Kazuo is shocked and worried by this question, Aki reassures him she is only joking. On contemplation, Kazuo says that if the time comes he will do his best, which is the point where they are brutally hit on the head with a sledge hammer. This piece of dialogue is key to the film especially in the analysis of gender roles, as the surgeon asks the male if he would die for the female. The surgeon also gives Kazuo the opportunity to save Aki from his abuse if he endures the torture without resistance. Kazuo choice to endure extreme pain from his eye being gouged out to his penis being castrated is a masculine choice, as he chose to save the damsel in distress. Kazuo does not fit the stereotypical criteria of either the role of hero or victim. His appearance and personality are quite feminized, his actions are masculinzed yet the role of victim is a feminine concept. I think this may reflect the transgression of masculinity itself, and how the deep rooted attributes of masculinity which defines a man has become transformed and questionable. Transgression could also be considered to be predominately feminine, This suggests that post modern masculinity has transgressed to incorporate feminine connotations, which is reflected within cinema as the male takes the role of the woman, the feminized role of the victim. James Mudge’s film review of Grotesque (English title) describes the victim’s role as equal:

“Still, the film is nihilistic rather than misogynistic, as the maniac is as equal opportunities type guy, dividing his attention fairly between his male and female captive” (Mudge: 2009)

The only thing that is equal within this film is that it has both male and female in the same position as victims, but this is where equality in the film begins and ends. Through the torturer asking Kazuo to die for Aki, implies old power structures of gender, not equal opportunities as he is putting one gender before the other. The male seems to be punished for his masculinity and sexuality rather than the usual horror formula of the female being punished for her femininity and female sexuality. Another aspect of the film which is certainly not equal is how the film focuses on either the female or male considering the type of torture. The first part of the torture is sexual, during this the camera, thus the audience focuses on the
female. The scene of sexual abuse is one of the longest scenes in the film and both the female and male are put through this ordeal, yet the female is watched more, whereas the scenes of physical torture seem to be executed on to the male more. This seems to punish the two characters for the attributes of gender: the female being a sexualized object for the male, and the male being the figure of physical strength. The
male is watched considerable more than the female through most of the film, as the torture is mostly of the physical sense, the camera looks at the female in a sexualized manner or as the damsel in distress. This could be linked to Mulvey’s spectatorship theory in ‘Visual Pleasures and narrative cinema”(1989)
with the identification with the male, the masculinzation of the audience and the male gaze of the female.

“Each is associated with a look: that of the spectator in direct scopophilic contact with the female form displayed for his enjoyment (connoting male fantasy) and that of the spectator fascinated with the image of his like set in an illusion of natural space, and through him gaining control and possession of the woman within the diegesis.” (Mulvey: 1989:21)

A basic application of Mulvey’s theory could be plausible to an extend, with links to female body being sexualized and the identification with the male, yet Mulvey’s framework does not fit comfortably with this particular text. As Mulvey text focuses on classic Hollywood cinema, and it was first published in the
journal Screen in 1975 the application of Mulvey’s theory to an East Asian film which is over 30 years after Mulvey’s essay is awkward.

“…rigid theoretical paradigms of old, where texts would come out bearing the inevitable stretch marks of well-worn interpretative patterns (Oedipal trajectories, machinations of the “Other,” class struggles, etc.),” (Toraro: 2002)

One of the reason‘s Mulvey is problematic is when she specifically focuses on the position taken by the female spectator in ‘Duel in the sun’ (1989) she still considers male dominance and female’s lack of sexual liberation. Therefore the male is considered by Mulvey’s as the normal spectator and the female
spectator is judged as subordinate to them. This binary opposition is frequently used and still as problematic as ever. It seems old spectatorship theories, like the consideration of gender itself has become outdated yet it is still frequently used.

Another theme of Gurotesku is the voice of the victim. The torturer gags them at first but soon removes them as long as they do not speak out against his actions; he makes them silence themselves through fear and submission. Aki attempts to speak to her torturer in which she is punished for, he deters her
from speaking by cutting her arm off with a chainsaw. This notion of silence, especially of the female is similar to the work of post structuralist feminist Helene Cixous around female speech.

“tear her away by means of this research, this job of analysis and illumination, this emancipation of a marvelous text of her self that she must urgently learn to speak” (Cixous: 1971)

Where Aki struggles to have a voice throughout her torture at the end of the film she finally speaks and the torturer finally listens. She laughs at him, ridicules the way he smells and even pity’s him because no- one in his life loved him enough to tell him of his body odour. This bizarre yet much needed flip of power is essential, Aki seems to say to her torturer that he is the victim of society not her. She does not submit to his wishes for her to beg for her life or as her role as victim towards the end of the film. Like Cixious suggests:

“The future must no longer be determined by the past. I do not deny that the effects of the past are still with us. But I refuse to strengthen them by repeating them, to confer upon them an irremovability the equivalent of destiny, to confuse the biological and the cultural.” (1971: 875)

Aki seem to no longer accept her past for her future, she decides to speak out against it, changing the power structures of the film. The torturer decapitates her for this, but the suggestion is that Aki actually willed for this to happen. The tone of the film turns more comically in this particular scene as Aki’s decapitated head attacks the torturer, biting into his neck, gaining her revenge… It could be argued that Aki’s words at the end of the film were in vain, as she was punished for them through decapitation and the film ends with the Torturer in his van waiting to pounce on his latest female victim. However before he makes his move he sprays himself with deodorant, suggesting that Aki’s words have left an impression on her attacker signifies that he has finally listened to the voice of his victim, the feminine voice.

Guinea Pig and Gurotesuku both emphasis the issues of gender through their extreme visual violence and disturbing realistic imagery. Guinea Pig is reflective on femininity and the woman in a patriarchal society, whereas Gurotesuku is reflective of masculinity in its state of crisis, as well as femininity.
Gender’s main issue is that it can not be fixed or rigid but it must be flexible and adaptable to the culture it exists within. If it does not change with its culture it becomes problematic, old, stereotypical and incorrect, which is why post modern gender is in crisis. If the culture is patriarchal, which globally it is, then the culturally construction of gender will always be biased and subordinate towards woman. Cixous’ suggestion of new frameworks of language, gender and culture, seems to be the key to a new and realistic representation of gender. This will enable women to freely define their own identity through their own words and language. Also like Cixous suggests we need to as a global culture to break free from old paradigms of the patriarchal be it in the mass media, literature, language and cinema. Hollywood cinema usually conforms to patriarchy, whereas Japanese Pink cinema seems to confront patriarchy. The
portrayals of gender on the silver screen in the West especially, need to break free of their stereotypes. More importantly the way scholars and film critics write and apply old spectatorship models need to re considered. The notion of the female spectator which is not based on the binary opposition to the male
spectator is essential. If we are in a phase of gender crisis, it is due to the framework that gender exists in his old and unrepresentative of post modern gender.

Filmography

James Wan (2004) “Saw” Evolution Entertainment, USA
Eli Roth (2005) “Hostel” Hostel LLC, USA
Pascal Laugier (2009) “Martyrs” Canal Horizons, France
Lars Von Trier (2009) “Antichrist” Zentropa Entertainments, Denmark.
Koji Shiraishi (2009)“Gurotesuku” Ace Deuce Entertainment, Japan.
Satoru Ogura (1985) “Guinea Pig:The Devil’s Experiment” Sai Enterprise, Japan
Hideshi Hino (1985) Guinea Pig 2:Flower of Flesh and Blood” Sai Enterprise, Japan
Hideshi Hino (1986) “The Making of Guniea Pig” Sai Enterprise, USA
(1988) “The Best of Guinea Pig: Slaughter Special” V & R Planning Co Ltd, Japan and International.

Bibliography

Balmian. C (2010) “Pinku Eiga/ Pink Cinema” in Berra. J (2010) “Directory of World Cinema: Japan” pp.250, Intellect Books Ltd , UK
Butler. J(1990) ‘Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity ’ pp XV Routledge, New York and U.K
Cixous. H (1971) ‘The Laugh Of Medusa’ Translated by Paula Cohen and Keith Cohen (1976) ‘Signs’ pp. 875 – 893, The University of Chicago Press.
Mac Kinnon.C.(1987) “Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law” qt in Butler. J(1999) ‘Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity ’ ppXV Routledge, New York and U.K
Mulvey. L. (1989) “Visual and Other Pleasures” The Macmillian Press Ltd, London. “Visual Pleasure and other Narrative Cinema
Siann .G. (1994) “Gender, Sex and Sexuality: Contemporary Psychologies Perspectives”, Taylor and Francis Ltd, USA and UK

GIVE IT TO ME!

                                                

Cult maverick director and writer Sion Sono’s, Love Exposure (2008 Japan), is a indulgent, obsessive, and sexual film with its mix match of perversion, violence, and religion surrounding a coming of age story which takes it audience on an emotional journey.

 Supposedly based on true life story of his friend, Sono explores the transition of Yu (Takahiro Nishijima), an innocent and puerile son of a catholic priest whose main goal in life is to fulfil the last request of his Mother, to find his “Maria”, as she presents him with the statue of the Virgin Mary. However when his Father forces him to confession daily, Yu decides he has to regularly sin in enable to keep his Father happy. With hilarious attempts at bad behaviour, Yu finds his sinful destiny by discovering a mentor in the art of kung fu up the skirt, panty photography, soon becoming the king of sin, not forgetting his alter ego as cross dressing Miss Scorpion, he has to deal with the percussions of his new perverse lifestyle.

The film explores the sexuality and fetishistic nature of individuals, specifically Yu as he attempts to gain his first erection, he is advised by his mentor to “Become a erect with your heart”. It is only on the appearance of man hating school girl Yoko(Hikari Mitsushima, the actress stars  in “Kakera – a piece of our life”), whilst she takes on a gang of men in the name of Jesus Christ, that he experiences his first love and sexual stimulation. I would like to add this is whilst Yu is dressed as a woman, which he describes as liberating, resulting in Yoko falling in love with Miss Scorpion unaware that it is cross dressing Yu. The exploration of Yoko’s homosexuality in the framework of Catholism is representative not only of the paradigms of thinking of an older generation but also the socio cultural restraints on individuals particularly the young female. The brilliant Sakura Ando (Momoko Ando’s sister) plays Koike, a beautiful, evil and manipulative teenager who plots to recruit Yu and his Catholic family into the cult of church zero. Both female characters are both representative of how females are not victims, but survivors as they both have endured abusive relationships with their fathers with a lack of a Mother’s guidance. Yoko and Koike are parallel to each other, as their ordeals are identical it shows how individuals deals differently with the past , whereas Koike castrates her father, becomes a powerful member of a Cult and spends most of her time stalking Yu and plotting to entice, Yoko leaves her abusive household and spends most of her time beating up grown men. 

The film does has the essence of Sono-esq gore within it, however it is not as dark or as extreme as his past work such as “Suicide circle” (2001) (The film that made the western world take notice of the contrerseval director), its violence is more manga style with  its exaggerated blood spurts and colour. Even the violence could be considered as sexual, especially with the character of Koike, who is literally the walking, talking Freudian castration anxiety complex. 

With its anime aesthetic, repetitive sound track( which is a variation of classical music such as Ravel’s Bolero to Japanese punk, with the signature song being YuraYura Teikoku’s Kudo Deso) and its unique characterisation, Sono delivers a film that will first make you laugh, then cry and  leave you begging for more. The film’s duration is four hours long, which used to be six, however don’t let that deter you as you will be wishing it still was the original cut. During an CUEAFS interview with Third Window Films MD Adam Torel, who owes the distribution rights of the film , I asked him about he about film’s duration and the potential impact on its audience.

“Its one of them films that people are put off initially when you tell them, but when they see, they realise as critics in the UK have done, that it actually a very good film…I think with the help of it winning in Berlin and it gaining cult status at film festivals…Four hours is a long time to sit in a cinema although it is a fantastic cinema experience, but with the dvd sells you can take toilet breaks.”

 No longer live in sin and repent by doing 10 Hail Mary’s and four hours of one of the most amazing films to come out of any film industry

“The Story of my solitude, if my solitude was a fish”

Third Window Films brings to the U.K  Japanese screenwriter and director Nakamura’s screen adaptation of Kotaro Isaka’s novel, Fish Story, which explores how music can save the world, in particularly one of the most progressive and influential sub genre of Punk rock.  Set within 2012, a comet is to impact the world in five hours, leaving Japan’s streets isolated except for three men in a music shop. Looking retrospectively into the impact of the punk band Gekirin’s song “Fish story” for individuals over a 37 year period and how it saves the world from destruction.

Fish Story’s exploration of the power of punk, prophecies and philosophy of causality, using nonlinear narrative with it multi layered plot and genre results in an entertaining and captivating film. Using the ever increasing fad of the apocalyptic film, Nakamura takes the genre and combines it with conventions of comedy and youth films, giving a refreshing take on Nostradomus’ prophecy, equating to a satire on cinema’s take on the end of the world specifically using the cause and effect theory. With its themes of consequences of youth ,1970’s era retrospect, fighting the forces of evil and not forgetting the end of time its easy to compare the film to Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s “20th Century Boys”(2008) adaption of Naoki Urasawa’s  manga. Fish Story also a purosely inversed of Hollywood Michael Bay’s “Armageddon”(1998) with the day not being saved by the powers of the West but of the East. The Film also gives a comical reference to the popular western film that Bruce Willis might be on the comet waiting to denote the unexploded USA bombs.

As T-Rex did for “20th Century boys” the signature song of the film gives an extra layer of brilliance. Fish Story by the fictious band Gerkirin is actually composed by Kazuoshi Saito, which is an extremely good punk song in its own right and leaves an air of disappointment of the band’s actual non existence in the real world of punk. The mystery surrounding the mute part of the song as well as the band themselves drives the main plot.

Starting in 2012, following what seems to be a disabled man through the litter ridden and abandon streets of Japan is an unnerving and haunting image to undertake. The man stops where he sees an open sign for a music shop, with an over the shoulder shot of the blazing asteroid in the sky which is heading to earth. The man is amazed at the shop’s owner and his one customer who seem to be either in denial or oblivious to the soon to be end of the world. The shop’s customer has just been introduced to the world of punk like the majority of people through the sex pistols, where the shop keeper unveils the vinyl of Fish story to the customer and the audience for the first time.

1982 –  Teenagers travelling in a car are listening to songs which have the usual infamous urban myth’s surrounding the genre of rock such as playing song’s backwards and the one that curses its listeners. Fish Story is within the collection of the renegade teens, with the muted part being the subject to legend of the sound of a woman screaming that only people with the rare sixth sense can only hear.

1973-1975  is more a bio/docu of the band itself, showing the issues of playing their music to society that has no understanding of what punk is yet. Pre pistol era but full of influence of Iggy and the stooges and MC5 (rightly so) the band is epitome of punk, with their non conformist attitude, fighting, smoking and drinking.

2009 – Where would a Japanese film be without the schoolgirl? So of course this era focuses on how a gifted girl gets left behind on a passenger boat on her school trip and how the chef of the ship tries to console her in his bizarre story of how he was raised to be Champion of justice by his father.  This section of the film gives a more action attribute to the film with its display martial arts.

The film intertwines its four plotlines which all seems to have no relevance with each other except for the link of the song itself, at times that is not even applicable, however the film ends by tying up all the different storylines and period of time, with an explanation of how the song saved the world. You could just watch the last 5 minutes of the film to understand the entire concept of the film but then you would be missing out on outstanding directing techniques and characterisation of Nakamura as well as the true grittiness and punkiness of the band themselves and the brilliant song that is Fish story. Proof that Punk is definitely not dead…“Don’t assume I’m dead”

This review is definitely no fish story, this film is a must see.

Jasper Sharp Interview

This weeks screening from CUEAFS “Annyong Kimchee” was in collaboration with Zipangu Fest, and personally picked by Zipangu curator Jasper Sharp. Jasper gave an interesting lecture on the history of Jishu eiga (the genre of “Annoyang Kimchee”) independent or as Jasper likes to call them; ‘I-movie’.

I was also lucky enough to interview Jasper on behalf on CUEAFS about Zipangu Fest, Pinku Eiga and other aspects of Japanese cinema and film festivals.

CUEAFS

 

                                                               

About Us

The Coventry University East Asian Film Society/ CUEAFS aims to promote and to celebrate cultural diversity by raising cultural awareness of South East Asian cinema for all students in the department of Media and Communication.

主体概括：

考文垂东亚及东南亚电影协会向所有媒体传播学学生开放。本电影协会通过介绍东亚及东南亚电影文化意识，同时提升和发扬文化多样性的理论与实践。

The Society will screen movies from throughout the South East Asian region which includes China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia etc under the banner ‘Coventry Close Encounters’.  

 在 “考文垂近距离邂逅”的旗帜下，电影协会将致力于放映来自于东亚及东南亚不同地区的电影，包括 中国，中国香港，中国台湾，朝鲜半岛，日本，泰国，马来西亚，等等。

Films will be screened on a weekly basis in the Ellen Terry Building on Wednesdays at 2pm. The screenings will also provide a forum for critical discussion and debate on East Asian Film.

所有电影都将会在每周三，下午2点，Ellen Terry教学楼里放映供大家观赏。此放映活动还将会建立相应的讨论平台，以供批判性，理论性的辩论和探讨。

Screenings are free and everyone is welcome. The screenings have been linked into PDP (101MC) modules across all degree programmes, students must attend at least 3 screening and write critical reviews and reflections.

本放映活动是完全免费，且欢迎所有人的加入。此外，本活动的其另一个重要性是：电影放映直接联系到所有学年的课程PDP （Personal Development Portfolio），关于PDP，每个学生必须至少参加3次放映活动，并且做一定的电影影评和凡响。

 Whilst the appreciation of East Asian film is paramount, the goal is to facilitate and encourage international students to have a better experience at Coventry University and to offer a space to promote social interactions and relations among all our students.

当然，对于东亚及东南亚电影欣赏和支持是最重要的。同时与其同样重要的是电影协会的目标，其宗旨在于促进和鼓励国际学生能更好的体验考文垂大学的学习生活，在此基础上也为所有的学生提供了一个去提升社会交流的机会以及体验社会关系的空间。

Activities

Alongside our weekly screenings  the society also recieves invitations to film premieres, East Asian film festivals and other special events. Recently CUEAFS attended the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy and the Terracotta Far East Film Festival in London where the CUEAFS team interviewed directors, producers and actors from the East Asian Film industry such as Teddy Chen and Derek Kwok. CUEAFS have also attended the world premiere of debut director Momoko Ando’s “Kakera – a piece of our life” (japan 2010) in London where the CUEAFS prodction team filmed DVD extras for the release of the film on DVD, as well as having the opportunity to interview the director.

Teams

Active members of the society can join our specfic teams to help maintain and improve the society and its activities such as:

Teams

Production Team	To document the societies activites and to produce videos to promote CUEAFS and special events of surronding East Asian Film in the U.K. The team is made up of Camera, Sound, Producers, Directors, Editors and Researchers.
Promotion Team	To promote the societies activites inside and outside of the university as well as fundraising for special events
Writers Team	Team of collaborators who write film reviews, articles and report on news in the East Asian Film industry for the CUEAFS online newsletter and collaborate with external world cinema review website: www.cine-vue.com

:

Our website is www.cueafs.com

or you can follow us on twitter at: http://twitter.com/CUEAFS

and on facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=83791809981&ref=ts

CUEAFS also has a channel on youtube with our interviews with directors, producers, actors and academics from the East Asian Film industry such as Teddy Chen and Momoko Ando

http://www.youtube.com/user/CUEAFS

If you have any questions about CUEAFS please feel free to contact the president at:

michellegbailey@hotmail.co.uk

Udine Far East Film Festival: ‘Nudes! Guns! Ghosts!’ The sensational films of Shintoho

This years 12th instalment of the Udine Far East Film Festival screened a retrospective set of films produced by Japanese film studio Shintoho from the late 1950’s to the early 1960’s, including Shimura Toshio’s Revenge of the Pearl Queen (1956) and The Horizon Glitters (1961) by Doi Michiyoshi.

Shintoho was started in 1947 by employees of the Tokyo-based Toho Company during strike action; its name means “New Toho”. Shintoho quickly established itself as one of the major studios of the second ‘golden age’ of Japanese cinema and produced over 500 features during a 14 year period, including a variety of low budget efforts from musicals to the youth film. However, Shintoho became best-known for its exploitation films, categorized as ‘ero-guro’ (erotic grotesque). Sadly, Shintoho was announced bankrupt back in 1961, its last film being Nobouo Nakagawa’s Jigoku (1960). Udine is to screen two further examples of Nakagawa’s work made in the same year as Jigoku; Death Row Woman (1960) and Ghost of Yotsuya (1959).

One director who made their debut at Shintoho and quickly became one of the studio’s most influential and most productive directors is Ishii Teruo. Teruo has been described as the ‘king of cult’ by a number of critics and is credited with influencing the future direction of the crime genre in Japanese cinema. Teruo’s work on the ‘Line’ film series brought together film noir with ‘ero guro’, an approach that is considered ‘uniquely Ishii’. Udine screened Teruo’s second and third films in the crime-thriller series, Black Line (1960) and Yellow Line (1960).

Teruo also went on to remake the aforementioned Jigoku in 1999, which he developed to reflect the socio-cultural problems within Japan at the time. After Shintoho’s closure in 1961, Teruo freelanced at the Toei studio until 1979. During his time at Toei, the king of ‘ero guro’ shaped Toei’s own take on the ‘Pink film’ (a style of Japanese soft-core pornographic theatrical film) known as ‘Pinky Violence’; this previously new genre is now well established thanks to Teruo’s pioneering portrayal of powerful, sexual, female characters.

“Should I lose control or keep order”

Japanese Director and Writer Satoshi Miki follows up from “Adrift in Tokyo”(2007) with a film about losing your father ,your job , your rabbit and your mother (momentarily in a coma). But wait, as pessimistic as that all sounds, leave the tissue box where it stands, “Instant Swamp” (2009) is hilarious, up beat and inspiring.
Third Window Films have yet made another excellent choice, bringing to the U.K a film that should not be missed. Instant Swamp’s World premiere took place at the wonderful Udine Far East Film Festival last year, leaving audiences up lifted and leaving taps on wherever they went.

The film starts with an extremely fast paced montage of the stresses, highs and mostly lows of the rat race that is everyday working life of the brilliant leading lady Kumiko Aso who plays Haname, a failing journalist who feels she has a lack of control and in her own words her life, is a “gradual erosion” . “Another monotone day in her monochrome life” , she is desperately in the need for a more colourful existence. Haname ‘s Father left the family home on her eight birthday, in which she reacted to by throwing all of her possessions that her Father had brought into a nearby swamp, including her birthday cake and a cat talisman which she is convinced cursed her as it sunk in bog. Haname believes that the cat’s curse is the reason for her lifetime of bad luck despite this she always tries to maintain an optimistic attitude, but when she discovers that her Father is not the man she originally thought, through her mother being hospitalised whilst water sprite fishing, she decided to take matters into her own hands and discovers not only her Father but a new way of living and looking at life.

Haname’s Father Noburo or Light Bulb, is the exact opposite to his daughter, who has been swallowed up by the rat race of life, he is a hippy with his own antique shop (which has no real antiques in it), who loves to play practical jokes, especially on Haname. He is also friends with a young punk known as Gas. It is no concidence that Satoshi chose both a punk and a hippy as characters in his film, as figures of renegardes against mainstream culture, who help Haname leave behind the life that disappointed her, to start a new improved alternative life of her own, where her eyes are open to the crazy yet beautiful world.
Satoshi use of humor is recurrent throughout the film, with layers of slapstick, which us brits just adore. Also another recurring theme of teh film and humor is the random people passing by, who looks on at the events in Haname and Noburo’s life, giving an secondary layer to the connection that human being’shave, be it a distant one or a closer one , resulting in a hilarious over view of the film.

The film is extremely quirky, with its characters over active and vivid imagination but also in the deliverance in its message, which is enjoy life and the people that surround you, but most of open your eyes to life and don’t get caught up in the rat race.
So watch the film, turn the tap to life on and enjoy!

The Japanese Gender Issue

The celebration of the female director has become paramount to film festivals globally. This years, The Japan Foundation dedicated their annual touring film program to the rise of involvement for women in the film industry, entitled ‘Girls on Film: Females in Japanese Film industry’. Whilst there is no denying that the global film industry is still considerably male dominated, the rise of the female director has always been one of endurance and perseverance, constantly fighting off the stigma of labels such as feminist film-makers or the more begrudging and derogatory categorization of their work as merely ‘women’s films’.

Although the consideration and appreciation of the Japanese female director is becoming ever more widely recognized, this has not always been the case. There have been countless examples of female directors in Japan since the late 1930s, with Tazuko Sakane accredited as the first with her 1936 film Hatsu Sugata. However, a sense of acceptance for the female film maker in Japan would only truly begin in the 1980s.

Female directors are often critically compared to fellow women in film, such as Momoko Ando herself being considered as Japan’s answer to Sofia Coppola. In this case, the comparison was not made because of correlating methods or recurring themes but due to both directors having extremely influential fathers in the film industry (Ando is the daughter of actor and director Eiji Okuda). However it is problematic to compare Ando to a Hollywood female director, as this marginalizes any consideration of the Japanese socio-cultural context (the imperial gaze strikes again!) The pertinent question this raises is why can’t female directors be compared and considered in relation to other directors with shared thematic concerns, regardless of biology or gender?

One possible answer rests upon a seemingly positivist common consensus that female film makers offer an alternative depiction of the portrayal of the woman in cinema, especially compared to the traditional and classical Hollywood studio analysis of Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’, and the inherent negative connotations this has for the representation of women on film. For example, Momoko Ando used particular scenes in Kakera to advocate a naturalistic and realistic representation of the female, such as the scene of Haru getting ready to go out, rejecting a mode of presentation which fragments and sexualizes the female body. Ando purposely includes scenes that depict her protagonist Haru getting ready in the morning, sitting awkwardly on the toilet and more notably openly dealing with her menstrual cycle. This scene in particular represents an attempt at a more natural and realistic representation of the femininity, an overt challenge to the the male biased myths of the sexualized women so prevalent in Japanese cinema.

During the London premiere of Kakera I was lucky enough to interview Momoko Ando on the behalf of CUEAFS, in which I asked her about these particular scenes and their purpose. She replied, “I just wanted to say fuck off to all of this. Boys have some kind of stupid fantasy towards girls and we are actually human.” Ando also revealed that she cast Hikari Mitsushima (she can also be found in the excellent Love Exposure [2008], also on release from Third Window Films) in the timid, self conscious role of Haru because the actress has a huge male following in Japan. Ando wished to subvert not only the representation of women in her film but also challenge the consensus of the female as a sex object.

It seems that female directors have always attempted to deconstruct the female as an object for decades. Rather than Coppola, Ando is more accurately following the footsteps of her Japanese female predecessors such as Sachi Hamano, who has made over 300 films in her life time. One of her most well-known, mainstream releases Lily Festival (2001) features elderly women who learn to re-explore their own sexuality when a male newcomer joins there retirement home. The film depicts how love, passion and sex are not confined to the young, but can also belong to an older generation of women. Both Ando and Hamano explore female sexuality, but also purposely chose to portray their female characters in a light that breaks male constructed images of the female, resulting in a more realistic representation.

Ando states that Kakera is “ about identity, it doesn’t matter if its boy or girl. It’s the person you should concentrate on”. Her debut is not explicitly about gender; it is about individualism and being free to express yourself as physically, emotionally or sexually as you may wish.

Michael Winterbottom’s “Code 46″(2003)

 

“[T]he need to understand the effects of the extensions o f man becomes more urgent by the hour”(McLuhan:1964:11)

 Michael Winterbottom’s “Code 46” (2003) deals with many themes that are the headlines and debates of today‘s contemporary society, by its use of the genre sci-fi to give an outlook on the resulting factors of a global culture and its extensive obsession with a technological society.

 The global social dominance of technology is increasingly strengthened daily by the evolution of the average person’s lifestyle. For example Britain’s Identity cards would have created a database of the biographical and biometric fingerprint data of all U.K residents. Due to expense and the intrusive nature of the I.D card it was cancelled, however the same culture who found the I.D cards as a symbol of  invasion into their privacy and becoming heavily monitored by the government has an obsession with social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Taking Facebook as an example, the social networking site is a catalogue of people from over the world, with details of their date of birth, hometown, gender  and work and education (Not forgetting holiday, family and friends pictures).  Twitter and Facebook, both now have a” places”  or  a location monitor ,so the site publishes the whereabouts of individuals from their  input of information such as status updates.  Surveillance is also an issue of technology that the film deals with, as the camera angles would alternate to and from the footage of the surveillance camera. This is a common debate within today’s culture as British government claims the over active and over numbered amount of CCTV coverage  is for our own protection. It seems that where ever technology is concerned, so is the issue of individuals freedom, but also our dependence of technology. “Code 46” displays people of two classes; The city dwellers/ The Connected/Conformists and The outsiders/ Disconnected/Non-Conformists. It seems the Connected had a easier way of life, but their freedom was questionable, whereas the Outsiders seem to have a harder life but had true freedom.

 The more connected or reliant humans become towards technology , the less connected we become with the roots of our evolution and nature itself. It could be considered that evolution is no longer a natural or biological determinate, but  it has become culturally adapted and technologically  determined. “Code 46” embodies this concept, portraying a global cultural in an era of transhumanism. It seems the more technical we become, the less religion or spirituality has an impact or a hold of us. However when religion has shaped the code and morals of that particular society for centuries, the society has to find a new post religion code of living for a technological society.  Pro choice is a subject of strong debate due to religious frameworks that have been sustained in that culture.”Code 46” through the mandatory abortion under the act of Code 46, offers an outlook at how once controversial topics would become acceptable/normal.  If “Code 46”  offers any answer on the nature vs. Nurture, it could be presumed that nurture could win the battle as the global socio cultural aspects especially reproduction becomes more technical.  “Code 46” presents ‘Nurture parents’ as the familiar and natural parents as nothing more than a scientific process.

In “Code 46” the designer babies or human clones become nothing more than a product sold as an ideology of the perfect child, therefore not to mention the ethical and controversial issues surrounding this subject, the notion that under a consumerist culture, nothing is left sacred, everything has a price, even a human being.  A warning or a forecast of how the progression of our global culture can become nothing more than a materialistic world, where everything is a brand?  Some might argue that it already is and that “Code 46” is an extreme reflection of the current state of the consumer culture, with its establishing shots of the city being bombarded with brands and logos.

The question of what is the main undertone theme of “Code 64” is a difficult one and dependable on the individual viewing the text. My position as a researcher is within a feminist epistemology, therefore I usually analyse the medium of cinema and its relationship towards the female representation alongside gender roles or gender issues within the film. “Code 46” as I have deliberated, deals with many debates and themes however I felt more connected( or biased) with the issues of the female, Maria. The recurring dream on her birthday of her trying to find someone (or her fate as she interprets) before the train stops, and how every year the stops become less and less.  The constant reminder for the female to fulfil her biological job of motherhood, the body clock is working against her because she is a female.  Pregnancy/ reproduction and abortion concern the woman’s body. Love story’s are considered as feminine and is the dominate plot with the film .Even the idea of nature vs. Nurture, could be considered as Mother Nature v.s. Man made culture.  For myself, I interpret the film’s main theme as the gender issue concerning the woman and her placement with a patriarchal society.  McLuhan’s name of his book “Understanding Media: the extensions of man” (1964) is an example of how the consideration of the female is a technological context is considerable undermined.  Hence cyborg theory specifically looking at the gender issues of a post humanist society.

With Freudian subjects such as dreams and the Oedipus complex in “Code 46”, it is hard not to apply psychoanalysis as a method of interpretation or analysis, like the majority of feminist film theorists. However If one was to consider this exploration of the Oedipal theory, as the undertone of patriarchal existence,  considering that Freudian psychoanalysis itself is often criticised as outdated and prejudice. If evolution is in the form of a culturally global space that exists and culture is patriarchal then is the placement of the female to be forever subordinate still? “Code 46” leaves Maria in the Outside, disconnected, left only with memories of her love and loss, where as  William’s wife is in the inside, conforming. Is this suggesting the female will be outside of the technological global space , unless she accepts her place as the subordinate? It seems no matter how technical our global society progresses the same gender issues remain.