When actors portray sexuality in film, they are serving as surrogates for the viewer. Sexuality in film engenders a “libidinal effect” which allows the audience to replace reality with a dream experience (Monaco, p. 310). One pleasure in viewing film is derived from scopophilia. Scopophilia, the pleasure in looking, is manipulated by space, scale, and stories (Mulvey, 2185). Mise-en-scene, the modification of space, is a component of this manipulation. The presentation of the human body, the face, and its relation to its surroundings all have an affect on how visually pleasing or stimulating a scene is. Laura Mulvey, author of “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” states that the pleasure given from scopophilia is “ […] from pleasure in using another person as an object of sexual stimulation through sight” (Mulvey, p. 2185).
Codes also play a significant role in the pleasure of viewing. Consider the cultural, theatrical, and unique codes of the first sex scene shown in Neil Burger’s 2011 movie, “Limitless”. Prior to the scene, Bradley Cooper’s character, Eddie Morra is shown talking to an unnamed woman in a nightclub. There are subtle cultural implications shown in the way that they interact, verbally and nonverbally. Their words, expressions, eye contact, and body language are consistent with Western customs. They appear to be attracted to one another and engaging in flirtatious conversation. However, there is a larger cultural code in reference to sex. The scene cuts to Eddie and the woman having sex in the bathroom of the nightclub. Sex, alcohol, and youth are intertwined in Western, mainstream culture. Although, it is interesting how sex is so prevalent in American media, yet it contradicts with its puritanical perception of sexuality. The theatrical codes of music and movement are also present. The lighthearted music conveys a fun and carefree feeling. The angles allude to sex, although their bodies are not fully shown, but their movement leads the viewer to conclude that they are definitely having sex. The unique code of montage is interesting in this scene because there is an abrupt cut between Eddie and the woman conversing to them having sex in the bathroom. It symbolizes the woman’s willingness to have sex with Eddie. His masculinity and representation of dominance places the woman in a passive role. Therefore, the woman is placed in her quintessential role in Hollywood cinema as the leitmotif, “erotic spectacle” (Mulvey, p. 2186). She is indispensable and not relevant to the story’s plot; this is evident in the fact that she is not even given a name. All of the coding combines to give way to a larger picture of patriarchal dominance in cinema and how it influences the manner in which men and women are portrayed sexually.
This has made me wonder how the audience is affected by sexuality in film. Although film and other forms of media are based on real-life human interactions and perceptions, society is also influenced by them. What may be some ways in which people have been negatively affected by the way that men and women are portrayed sexually in cinema?
