![]() Although the camera isn’t aligned with Cypher’s perspective, this moment encapsulates a power dynamic that is central to the male gaze: the fiction that the actress on screen is unaware of being watched by the character within the film or the audience outside the film. As she closes the door, a shot framed from behind Trinity reveals that she is being watched by Cypher. Trinity leaves Neo’s room, deep in thought. Initially, the sequence uses formal techniques to reveal how the male gaze is structured and to convey its disquieting sadism. Instead, it begins when Trinity drops off some food beside the sleeping Neo. But this seductive character, reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe, isn’t where the sequence begins. This sequence introduces the protagonist Neo to the infamous “woman in a red dress,” a computer simulation designed to be maximally appealing to heterosexual male desire. ![]() The Matrix accomplishes this through a sequence toward the middle of the film that takes audiences from the reality of the rebel ship to a training simulation built to resemble the oppressive artificial world that is the film’s namesake: the matrix. It also reveals the crucial importance of form in structuring-and deconstructing-the male gaze.įigure 2: Something catches Neo’s attention, and the film cuts so we see what he sees As a result, the film offers a feminist cinematic experience produced through, rather than against, the formal strategies of dominant, popular cinema. Moreover, it does so through exploiting the very techniques that produce the male gaze in cinema: shot reverse-shot editing patterns that can be used to align the camera and the audience’s perspective with the diegetic look of the male character. Through close reading a sequence from The Matrix, I show how the film examines, mocks, and punishes the male gaze. This claim is only potentially counter-intuitive, for although The Matrix may appear at first glance to be addressed primarily to teenage boys, it is part of a filmography that Cael Keegan has shown is powerfully and compellingly trans, queer, and feminist. This time, I’ll be arguing that the male gaze is interrogated and policed in the Wachowski sisters’ sci-fi blockbuster The Matrix (1999). Now, I want to look at another potentially counter-intuitive iteration of the gaze. In my first column for Flow, I discussed how the Magic Mike franchise-which might appear to cater to heterosexual female desire-serves as a powerful demonstration of the persistence of the male gaze in popular cinema. While the source of this quote is uncertain, it is thought that Rossetti, steeped in Arthurian legend, wrote the poem himself.Figure 1: A classic screen siren distracts the protagonist in The Matrix (1999) The frame of this work is inscribed with “Douce nuit et joyeux jour/ A chevalier de bel amour.” (Sweet night and pleasant day/to the beautifully loved knight.) This inscription shows that the image probably represents a toast to the woman’s knight, who is leaving or has already left for war. Here the cup is suitably embellished with heart-shaped designs. She holds a type of cup from which traditionally close friends and especially lovers would drink. The model for this painting is Alexa Wilding who frequently appears in Rossetti’s works from the spring of 1865 onwards. He used his female friends and lovers as models to represent his own image in relation to the heroines of his stories. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Loving Cup Red dresses in art: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Loving Cup, 1867, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan.ĭante Gabriel Rossetti was known for his lively relationships with women. There are so many associations that contradict each other!ĥ. This might be why red was also associated with prostitution. In the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist appears as a red monster, ridden by a woman dressed in scarlet, known as the Whore of Babylon. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the Book of Isaiah says: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow”. ![]() Red was associated with sexual passion, anger, sin, and the devil. It was long seen as having a dark side, particularly in Christian theology. Red was also a symbol of martyrs and sacrifice, particularly because of its association with blood.Īnother association of red is love and seduction, sexuality, eroticism, and immorality. In medieval paintings, red was used to attract attention to the most important figures both Christ and Virgin Mary were commonly painted wearing red robes. Kings, princes, and Roman Catholic cardinals wore red-colored outfits. To begin, red is a color of power, status, and wealth. Red symbolizes many things in art history, read about all its meanings! Choose your favorite model from our selection of ladies wearing red dresses in art. You will find Madonnas, prostitutes, symbolic figures, and even a journalist. Here we present for you 9 ladies wearing red dresses painted by famous artists.
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