Psychoanalysis And Analytical Psychology In Film The Use Of Voyeurism In American Beauty
Submitted by sjparkin on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
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Psychoanalysis And Analytical Psychology In Film The Use Of Voyeurism In American Beauty
the very act of looking at cinema depends on the scopophilic instinct: that is , the eroticized love of looking which spectacle plays upon and satisfies, very often through the display of the human body.' 1
In the following essay I will investigate the use of psychoanalysis in film. The film I will be using to illustrate this is the 1999 Best Picture Oscar winning American Beauty (Sam Mendes). I will be looking at the use of voyeurism and the male gaze in the film.
Theory in this area is mainly associated with Laura Mulvey who says that the pleasure gained from looking is a male pleasure and that the look' in cinema is directed at the male
(the male gaze)'. 2
Despite the main protagonist in the film being Kevin Spacey's character, Lester Burnham, there are many scenes in the film where we, the audience, see through the eyes and also the video camera of Ricky Fitts, the boy next door played by Wes Bentley.
As a main subplot to the main plot which follows the life of Lester Burnham, wee see how Ricky's obsession with objects of beauty leads to his visual infatuation with Lester's daughter Jane (Thora Birch).
We are shown this through the link of seeing Ricky, constantly carrying a video camera and then cutting to a shot from his point of view (P.O.V.) through the camera, first of Jane arguing with her father and then also of Jane and her best friend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari) in their nightwear in Jane's room.
The obsession with Jane and beauty is emphasised here when we see the exhibitionist Angela parading provocatively for the camera, whilst Ricky simply moves his focus to another window where we see the reflection of a quieter, shy, passive Jane in her nightstand mirror.
The process of gaining pleasure from the act of viewing is echoed in the main plot where we see Lester becoming fascinated by Jane's friend Angela.
The first time...
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