' The Male Gaze In Robert Altman's The Player

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An innumerable amount of movies involves forcing the audience to participate in the male gaze upon a feminine body. In Robert Altman’s The Player (1992), the audience experiences the hard realities that are associated with the Hollywood/film industry. However, during this story of betrayal and murder, the audience becomes exposed to the male gaze, an act that men perpetrated against women. Early on in the movie, the protagonist, Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), has a friendly conversation with June Gudmundsdottir (Greta Scacchi) while watching her from outside of her house. Examining the staging, sound, and acting displayed in this sequence contributes to the understanding how The Player normalizes the male gaze and reinforces the power imbalance between men and women. …show more content…

Throughout the entire scene, Griffin stands outside, watching June as she moves around inside of her house. This placement grants Griffin with an unfair advantage over June because he possesses the ability to look at her without her knowledge or consent. With this advantage, he says, “You’re a painter,” a statement that’s only possible due to Griffin’s position in this scene. As a result, this aspect reinforces the power imbalance that men hold over women. Several scenes in this movie convey this imbalance, especially at the end when Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher) fires Bonnie Sherow (Cynthia Stevenson) for not agreeing with those in the room. Overall, the staging works as the set up to the normalization of the male gaze, it provides a location for Griffin and the audience that allows them to look at

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