SSC Film Studies

During ‘Home Invasion’ how is spectator implicit in the attack?

During the home invasion we are forced to be implicit during the attack as we are aligned with Alex and instead of given a normal point of view that would see the attack as horrendous we are given the views of Alex, and we instead almost enjoy the scene instead of feeling disgusted by it. This is done by Kubrick to play on the emotional response of the spectator during the attack, so we will enjoy a scene that we normally wouldn’t.

A reason for this could be due to the male gaze theory. As it is believed that males have the active role and women are passive, it could be suggested that the reason for this scene being put in place is to help enforce this belief of the world being absolutely patriarchal and that the use of women in the scene is for our own enjoyment. Mulvey, the researcher who did research into the Male Gaze theory, believed that we must as the audience take the perspective of a heterosexual male in order to enjoy a film and in order to see women as an erotic object for both the characters in a film and the spectator. This could be applied to Alex as he is using the woman in the scene during the attack as an erotic object, and she is also an erotic object to the spectator as they are getting to witness the attack happening, giving a fetishized view that appeals to men and the male unconscious.