The Representation of Rape in Cinema from the Male Gaze

Abstract

Rape discourses are not merely stories intended for entertainment consumption but, on the contrary, they are performative, strategic, formative and real in themselves (Projansky 2). The decision of including a reference to rape or the representation of sexual violence on screen leads to the responsibility of staging and filming the triggering event, as well as implies a decision-making process of defining the reasoning and purpose for implementing a representation into the movie. Unfortunately, the majority of rape portrayed on screen, especially before the MeToo movement, perpetuate traditional assumptions about rape that lead to victim blaming and the continuation of rape culture. Moreover, the dramatic focus on the moment of a woman's nakedness moments before the sexual abuse or rape emphasizes the sexual, voyeuristic and visually violating aspects of the theme. Such themes arguably provide an artistic justification for erotic female nudity on screen since it is present to represent the violence committed against women. Therefore, my research aims to find and identify the moments of sexual objectification of women within the rape discourse in cinema using two movies for in-depth analysis: Stanley Kubrick's The Clockwork Orange (1971) and Gaspar Noé's Irréversible (2001).