SSC Film Studies

Comparing Madeline and Midge

Madeline and Midge are represented in completely different ways and this is because the male gaze apply's to Madeline and not midge.

First we can start with how Madeline and midge are dressed and this is because Madeline is dressed with a very provocative dress for the the 1950's with a green sache this connotes the lust and the back is open this means she has been sexualised by the camera as the camera focus's on her back. When we compare this to Midge it is a polar opposite and this is because Midge is covered up with clothes that are yellow this connotes that she is neutral. This also does not leave any part of midge's body to be sexualised. We can even go as far to talk about the background colours of each location and this is because in Ernie's the background is red and this connotes lust, danger and love while the background of midge's apartment is a dull grey showing her as normal and also that there is nothing sexual between midge and Scottie. 

The camera is a big player in connoting the male gaze and this is because in Ernie's the camera is very smooth and tracks Madeline focusing on her showing she is something to be gazed at. While in Midge's apartment the camera is very static and there is mostly wide shots with Scottie in most of the wide shots this shows that she is nothing to be gazed at so she has be shown to be masculine in this scene as the male gaze has not been applied to her while in in Ernie's the male gaze has been applied and this means Madeline has been feminised. one of the biggest examples in the scene in Ernie's is when Madeline walks through the door frame the lighting is its brightest he on Madeline and this to show Madeline as a perfect picture something to be gazed at it is all of these little things that are able to change how we see someone in a film. Another shot that is probably the most important in showing the male gaze within Ernie's when we have the close-up of madeline from Scottie's point of view and this is because the music hits it's climax and is truly overwhelming this shows that she is basically an angle from heaven.

But because she has been put across this was she has been made to look 2 dimensional and this is because just before the the special p.o.v. close-up we got one a few seconds earlier of her which made her look two dimensional like she was just something to be looked at on the wall. This has also made her look like she cannot make decisions for herself and that she might have to be controlled by a man so she has been feminised to the point where she cannot even make her own decisions.

In the apartment with midge apart from when she is being masculine and helping scottie we only get two close-ups of her when she is drawing and this are high angle shots looking down at her and this is important because Madeline is never shot like this because this happens when Scottie says they were engaged this shows that Midge is not at Scottie's standard. But also any sexual features here have been blocked out and this is because of her glasses obscuring her eyes and these make her look bookish meaning she would rather work than go and party.

Apart from Midge's appearance covering up her body it is also boring and dour this means that she is not to Scottie's taste and not the audiences either and this is because we never get a p.o.v of Scottie looking at Midge or even any attempt to actually sexualise her in anyway shape or form the whole point of this scene is to do the complete opposite even calling her motherly at one point just expressing the point even further.

One big difference in the camerawork is that it is stylised in Ernie's and not in Midge's apartment.