Representation of Women- Anna

To start my analysis of the character Anna, I have to stress firstly that Carter in the phone sex scene involving him and Anna, he isn't in the same room as her, and it's a question to ask, What is the point in the whole scene? There is literally, no other reason for this scene other than for the pleasure of the audience- which signifies women being objectified by the male gender as she is there, naked on the bed for sexual pleasure, where the film wouldn't be effected in anyway if this scene was not included as the result would still potentially be the exact same.

Jack Carter is a dominant character in the film, especially with the influence of being in front of women and living up to traditional beliefs of women being considered as second class citizens as in this scene, he tells Anna what to do and she follows his instructions without hesitation.
This also signifies that Anna is a passive character as just by the sound of his voice, he is ultimately able to control her own sexual pleasure, which is a signifier of how women were treated during this time period by men, and how they were still living up to traditional beliefs, which were in a sense becoming old fashioned, however women still obeyed as they were fearful of the men.

Next, is the part of the scene where fletcher walks in on Anna rolling around on the bed and she immediately stops showing fear in the presence of the more dominant male now in her life in that present moment. Jack and Fletcher do not see Anna as having sexual desires of her own which is an indication of sexual liberation failing and that it is not wide spread.

In this scene, there are a load of extreme close ups of Anna's body and the camera is positioned in between her legs which signifies intimacy and the audience being invasive. Here we see these shots from the audience's POV where she is reduced to an object for the audience's sexual pleasure as Anna's purpose in the film is served then thrown away which is were she exemplifies all of the women in the film. Anna is framed in a way that suggests that someone is watching her which is a voyeuristic experience for the audience and how she is fetishised. What is important about this particular character is that it is played by model and actress Britt Ekland- who was a very popular model during the 60's as her rise to stardom became apparent when she got a load of publicity after marrying Peter Sellers in 1964, and made her one of the most photographed celebrities in the world at this time.

If women are represented to appeal to 'The Male Gaze' we can say that Anna is shown this way to appeal to male audience members. If the scene does appeal to them, we can assume that they agree with the representation of women and hold these ideologies, or are sympathetic to them, in their personal lives. This scene reflects the view of women held by many men in post 'Swinging 60's' and early 70's Britain. An actual example of this point was expressed just recently in the 21st century of how children's presenter, Jimmy Saville, was able to carry out acts as touching young girls, and going even further which now is making him a pedophile however, back in society back then he was able to get away with it as the view of women weren't particularly good as if a young woman was going to go to the police about this matter then they'd be basically laughed at and ignored as men were able to get away with things like this as women were classed as second classed citizens and were more objectified, were they'd potentially be blamed themselves if anyone did believe them back then, which is why all these accusations of the incidents involving Saville and his victims have only just recently been exploited as there has now been a shift in society and equality between both genders.