Pleasure in looking in hollywood cinema has been split between active male and passive female

She believes that all these members have actively worked to achieve the new version of presenting pleasure in the film. With the new concept, Mulvey takes the opportunity to prove to the world the relative change in the Hollywood where equal roles of promoting pleasure have been developed. As a result, this paper will take the opportunity to critically analyze the above statement while taking a special interest in the movie “Gilda's Gowns Fashioning the Femme Fatale in Film Noir. ” In Gilda, costume provides the male’s ideal female construction in two ways. The first construction is the sexy, spectacular and glamorous female fatale and Second, the construction of women through the fantasy of the male brain. The dressing code of the woman does not only portray her as lovable and adorable object but also as a sign of wealth, power and a wife of the male counterpart.

Gilda costumes make her prominent figure of erotic spectacle while at the same time making her an adorable object for Johnny the male protagonist of the film. Therefore, according Mulvey, the attainment of pleasure is a shared role of both the active man and the passive woman in the play. As a fantasy of the active male brain, Hayworth presents the perfect envelop of the dress that active/male wishes their female counterparts to wear. The constructed image from the phantasy is majorly drawn by the clothes that she wears. Hayworth continues to prove that the pleasure in the active male and passive female is a shared concept based on the dress and the assets that one possesses. Gilda in that context is presented to help in displaying the power and the wealth through her silky and fur clothes.

The most important reason for using these costumes is to promote pleasure for both the male and the female character with the view of reflecting their new found fame in Hollywood (both on screen and off the screen). In Mulvey analysis she narrates that, “She is isolated, glamorous, on display, sexualized. But as the narrative progresses she falls in love with the main male protagonist and becomes his property, losing her outward glamorous characteristics, her generalized sexuality, her show-girl connotations; her eroticism is subjected to the male star alone (Mulvey 1999, 840). That is Gilda is made to act as an erotic symbol while their male counterpart, Johnny is made to be the active provider of the gaze. On the other hand, Mulvey believes that some of the presented code of dressing that was made by these women was important landmarks in fashion.

She believes that what Gilda was wearing on and off the screen has a powerful effect in influencing her fans and inspired the trends. As a result, in her narrations, she admits that the clothes that were worn by the long forgotten starlets and immortal stars served as a patter for our dreams and nightmares. According to Stacey (2013), one of the photos that were taken soon after the film, Hayworth showed the world that her dresses during the film made her feel glamorous and as a star. How these women aimed to be the queens of beauty stardom and glamor. As a result of the feminine qualities, Heyworth manages to project her beauty, alluring sexuality and grace thus linking her to the Mulvey thesis of passivity and vulnerability to the rather male and active member of the society.

According to the film, it is evidently clear that women are weak and can only take charge and control of the context by the manner in which they look and charms. That means these passive female could only be able to convince the active male counterparts through their code of dressing. With relatively increased level of feminist of light fabrics, soft skin and female body, she manages to frame them as stereotypes of weaknesses. While women remain majorly to be more presentable, sexy and glamorous, their male counterpart continues to control the plot of the play fantasizing about the passive females. In conclusion, in her opinion, Mulvey believes that the dressing code, setting and the actions of the characters are perfect representation of power that has made the male to eroticize her with the aim of making her a passive object of pleasure.