Jesus' Son

It was interesting to see how Alison McLean depicted different variations of taboo topics in American society through her film Jesus; Son. The film gave the viewer a sense of delision that enticed one into the very same delisional formatted plot of the film. Portraying characters who suffered from drug addiction (being a internal self inflicted oppresion) and dealing with external pressures like that of having an abortion, all of the characters in the film had one basic need, the need to find their own personal ideology.
The audience gets caught up in the halucinations that the protagonisthas throughout the film making it hard to follow. The plot is all over the place making it difficult to pin point what the major or key problem is, until the evolving of the story makes it clear. Drug addiction. Drug addiction makes all of the characters suffer from their self inflicted exploitation and it is very interesting to see that being portrayed from a woman director's point of view.

Brilliantly, Anything But Clueless!

It is apparent to me that Clueless was quite obviously far beyond its cinematic years. It was advanced for its time in relaying messages to its target demographics. Moral issues were cleverly disguised in this movie through unexpected catalysts. A good example of this phenomenon is Alicia Silverstone’s character "Cher"; she plays the role of a stereotypical superficial Beverly Hills blonde with daddy's plastic. However, it is my observation that her character contained significantly more depth and ethical behaviors than a typical Beverly Hills girl stereotype. She cared, but did not seem to know exactly how to manifest her desired good deeds for society.

There are several scenes where Cher presents her ethical side. One such scene is when Ty was not having a fun time at the dance club, and she is by herself and very down. Cher’s inner dialogue said that she could not have a good time because Ty was having such a bad time. Another scene where she exhibited moral behaviors was when Elton said that he would never date Ty because of his upscale social status and Cher called him a "snob and a half." Additionally, she felt bad when she realizes that people do not take her seriously and that she may have messed up her dad's case by highlighting the wrong phone conversations. She did not want her father’s case to suffer at the behest of her mistake. She also consistently cares for her father's health, and is continuously bringing him healthy food and looking out for his well-being.

It is evident that Cher is much more than a typical blonde who resides at the mall. She is a character of sincere feelings, and one who wants to make a difference in society. I believe that Clueless was far ahead of its time. I have yet to see a movie since the release of Clueless, that is targeted to the same demographics and displays such a bright sense of humorous dialogue with as much creativity as Clueless. They also equipped the cast with an advanced vocabulary, indicating a superior academic environment, and making sophisticated words a "trendy" commodity for youth to utilize. In summation, Clueless does not serve its title justice. This movie is the complete opposite. In actuality, this movie and the characters within it are brilliant and set a positive moral example to young society in an age when good examples are scarce in movies produced and created for this demographic.

Eve's Bayou

This film was both increddibly shocking and disturbing at the same time. It is almost wierd to think of this film as being directed by a woman because of the touchy subjects it addresses, especially in dealing with abuse towards young woman, and in our case the character's daughter. It was strange to see the story unfold and see how in a way the gaze in point, is switched from being towards the young girl, to how she looked at her father. It made me uncomfortable as the viewer to see the youngest sister discover the truth about what really happened the night her older sister was slapped by her father. Could it be that this film being directed by a woman on some level does make the viewer feel more at ease than if it were directed by a male? The dircetor, being a woman made a huge impact on the film possibly because the subject matter was so intense and touchy giving her an advantage over being male in making this type of film.

The Chauvinistic Male Gaze of Dance Girl Dance

In the movie Dance Girl Dance, Judy plays a kind-hearted ballerina who is consistently overshadowed by the overly burlesque character Bubbles. I felt it cruel that Bubble decided to add Judy to her act simply as a pawn for the male audience to mock and disrespect. Judy is portrayed as a respectful and ambitious young woman. I believe this is why she decided not to leave this part in the play. She had been mocked and in the shadow of Bubbles for far too long, and she was not going to settle for making little or no money any longer. She decided that even if she was made shame of, at least she was able to make a living from what she desired to do, to dance.

I felt compelled to be sympathetic towards Judy’s predicament, however Judy proved to be a stronger character than I had originally imagined. She inherently turned the male audiences own misogynistic ignorance on them. She had spent many shows being laughed at and mocked because she was unwilling to show her skin like bubbles was so popular for doing during the show. She subverted the male gaze by shouting out to the audience how ignorant and pathetic they were for viewing women in this manner.

This resulted in a shockingly positive response from the predominantly male audience. They ended up cheering her for it because they realized the follies of their ways, and that she as correct. Their behavior was inappropriate, petty, and disheveling to say the least. This once frail and shy girl had now blossomed into a strong, independent woman who was not afraid to stand against the wind and face adversity with bravery.

VERTIGO

According to the properties linked to scophophilia, a unidentified viewer gets sexual pleasure from a sole form of visual stimuli. This could in tern account for the number of rolls in cinema throughout history and today that objectify women. Women throughout history have held these submissive, passive rolls that leave the viewer to percieve them as creatures of beauty, not of intellect. The film Vertigo is a classic example of how women are objectified and used as sexual objects.
A consequence of such objectification can be the expectancy of schema's in romantic relationships. By watching films like Vertigo, young viewers or those who are inexperienced in such relationships relate what is being perceived on film to their own life, therefore creating a unrealistic expectation of such.
As a overview of this film, I feel that Vertigo entices a unrealistic expectation of women, their rolls in society and their rolls within a relationship. Beauty is portrayed as a major factor connecting it with love and it basically being the major component of Scotty's obsession with Judy, which is very repulsive in my opinion. The submissiveness of Judy's character is also a huge part of the film and how Hitchcock controls his female characters, both Judy and the woman who was Scotty's "friend". All together Alfred Hitchcock's portrayal of his female characters produces a false sense of reality and expectations in women, beauty and romantic relationships as a whole.