December 2, 2022
FILM: BRAINWASHED: SEX-CAMERA-POWER
DIRECTED BY NINA MENKES
RATING: 3 ½ OUT OF 4 STARS
By Dan Pal
Back in the olden times last century when I first started taking graduate film courses, one of the most repeated names continually brought up in classes was Laura Mulvey. The film theorist had written an article back in the 1970s which coined the term the “male gaze.” Her basic idea was that as long as men were the producers, writers, directors, and primary audience members of films, we’d forever see females objectified and sexualized on screen. Now, almost fifty years later, the concept is examined once again by filmmaker Nina Menkes. Her new documentary Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power provides some history of the male gaze and an update on what, if any, improvements have been made surrounding this issue within the industry.
The framing for the film is a seminar taught by Menkes as she lays out her thesis that the shot design of films has been highly developed through the male point of view. In a format that feels like a bit of a Ted Talk along with a graduate film class, Menkes stands on stage and suggests that men have traditionally provided their own male perspective through subject, frame, camera movement, lighting, and narrative position. She provides over 175 scene examples from films to support her ideas. From Fritz Lang’s Metropolis to the Marvel movies, Menkes illustrates how the male gazes through his camera to put the female body on display. He pans over her body and uses slow motion to depict her sensuality. Male characters, on the other hand, are usually in a position of power and action when similarly composed camera movements focus on them.
Essentially, Menkes suggests that these highly sexualized approaches to camera framing, moving, and lighting choices (often soft and fuzz) contribute to female self-hatred and image issues when the viewer’s own perception of themselves doesn’t match up to what they’re seeing on screen. She also suggests that this highly gendered approach to shot design leads to employment discrimination, sexual abuse, and assault.
All of these ideas are convincingly expressed. Several of the women interviewed are directors, actors, film educators, and scholars (including Mulvey herself.) A few come across as a bit stiff in their discussions but the ideas presented are pretty intriguing. As such, there are plenty of statistics offered including the fact that less than 10% of films made today are directed by women. Once women do get a chance to direct a Hollywood film the results are mixed. Kathryn Bigelow won the first female directing Oscar for the film The Hurt Locker. Menkes notes that even that film featured men as heads of all departments under her from cinematography to editing. Patty Jenkins’s well-received first Wonder Woman film portrayed the powerful character as also highly sexualized. Basically, Menkes suggests that even women use the tools of the male gaze when creating major films.
The majority of this film is spent proving Menkes’s ideas. It is not until the latter portions of the documentary when Menkes starts to address recent movements such as Me Too and the use of intimacy coordinators on sets. While these are only briefly touched upon, the big questions now seem to: What can we still do? Is there any hope for the industry? While I’m not sure that Menkes truly addresses these open-ended questions, she does see part of the solution being to show male and female bodies more equally and when a male director is staring at a female subject, that person should, well, stare back.
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power is highly educational. Sadly, so many of the observations made are the same that were expressed by Mulvey and others over half a century ago. Given the recent calls for changes to the power dynamics in Hollywood, it would be interesting to see a follow-up on Menkes’s ideas in ten years. It would also be great to see how similarly we can look at the films of minority and LGBTQ+ directors. (There’s a WHOLE LOT to discuss on the latter end subject! What is the gays’ gaze??) For now, this is a documentary well-worth seeing. It might change how you view your favorite movies.
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power is being screened December 3-11 at Facets Multimedia in Chicago. Tickets purchased for screenings on December 4th will also receive admission to a panel discussion which includes Nina Menkes. The film also will be available on VOD beginning December 6th.
FILM: BRAINWASHED: SEX-CAMERA-POWER
DIRECTED BY NINA MENKES
RATING: 3 ½ OUT OF 4 STARS
By Dan Pal
Back in the olden times last century when I first started taking graduate film courses, one of the most repeated names continually brought up in classes was Laura Mulvey. The film theorist had written an article back in the 1970s which coined the term the “male gaze.” Her basic idea was that as long as men were the producers, writers, directors, and primary audience members of films, we’d forever see females objectified and sexualized on screen. Now, almost fifty years later, the concept is examined once again by filmmaker Nina Menkes. Her new documentary Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power provides some history of the male gaze and an update on what, if any, improvements have been made surrounding this issue within the industry.
The framing for the film is a seminar taught by Menkes as she lays out her thesis that the shot design of films has been highly developed through the male point of view. In a format that feels like a bit of a Ted Talk along with a graduate film class, Menkes stands on stage and suggests that men have traditionally provided their own male perspective through subject, frame, camera movement, lighting, and narrative position. She provides over 175 scene examples from films to support her ideas. From Fritz Lang’s Metropolis to the Marvel movies, Menkes illustrates how the male gazes through his camera to put the female body on display. He pans over her body and uses slow motion to depict her sensuality. Male characters, on the other hand, are usually in a position of power and action when similarly composed camera movements focus on them.
Essentially, Menkes suggests that these highly sexualized approaches to camera framing, moving, and lighting choices (often soft and fuzz) contribute to female self-hatred and image issues when the viewer’s own perception of themselves doesn’t match up to what they’re seeing on screen. She also suggests that this highly gendered approach to shot design leads to employment discrimination, sexual abuse, and assault.
All of these ideas are convincingly expressed. Several of the women interviewed are directors, actors, film educators, and scholars (including Mulvey herself.) A few come across as a bit stiff in their discussions but the ideas presented are pretty intriguing. As such, there are plenty of statistics offered including the fact that less than 10% of films made today are directed by women. Once women do get a chance to direct a Hollywood film the results are mixed. Kathryn Bigelow won the first female directing Oscar for the film The Hurt Locker. Menkes notes that even that film featured men as heads of all departments under her from cinematography to editing. Patty Jenkins’s well-received first Wonder Woman film portrayed the powerful character as also highly sexualized. Basically, Menkes suggests that even women use the tools of the male gaze when creating major films.
The majority of this film is spent proving Menkes’s ideas. It is not until the latter portions of the documentary when Menkes starts to address recent movements such as Me Too and the use of intimacy coordinators on sets. While these are only briefly touched upon, the big questions now seem to: What can we still do? Is there any hope for the industry? While I’m not sure that Menkes truly addresses these open-ended questions, she does see part of the solution being to show male and female bodies more equally and when a male director is staring at a female subject, that person should, well, stare back.
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power is highly educational. Sadly, so many of the observations made are the same that were expressed by Mulvey and others over half a century ago. Given the recent calls for changes to the power dynamics in Hollywood, it would be interesting to see a follow-up on Menkes’s ideas in ten years. It would also be great to see how similarly we can look at the films of minority and LGBTQ+ directors. (There’s a WHOLE LOT to discuss on the latter end subject! What is the gays’ gaze??) For now, this is a documentary well-worth seeing. It might change how you view your favorite movies.
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power is being screened December 3-11 at Facets Multimedia in Chicago. Tickets purchased for screenings on December 4th will also receive admission to a panel discussion which includes Nina Menkes. The film also will be available on VOD beginning December 6th.