BRAINWASHED AS A CHILD

When I was a child I was always curious as to family was watching because they purchased a VCR. There were films that were being played in the background while I was playing with my toys. Films such as Dressed to Kill, History of the World, Cannonball Run and Friday the 13th caught my attention. Especially when there were scenes of sexual content or nudity that my parents were not even aware of. This was the beginning of me being brainwashed.

Dressed to Kill

Angie Dickinson‘s nude shower scene in Brian DePalma‘s Dressed to Kill heightened my attention when I was a child. Not only the fact that she was nude but in a vulnerable position. These were the types of films that my parents were not able to hinder me from watching. Either because they were shown to entertain guests or they were not aware that these scenes were in the queue.

This was the sexual content from Hollywood that was forming that patriarchy within the film industry. This is sexual propaganda that was and is still being manifested by men in the film. Director Nina Menkes‘ film Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power digs deep into the subject. The visual language of cinema connects with gender discrimination as well as sexual abuse and violence against women.

The compelling documentary premiered at this year’s Sundance and even surprised Menkes herself that it was accepted. The director of The Bloody Child and Phantom Love got used to always being turned down in her pitches from her male counterparts over decades in the industry. The film’s acceptance now is an opportunity of a lifetime.

Her audience learns these masculine tactics of the industry that has contributed to a dangerous system where women are unsafe. It is simply not enough to imprison the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby. They have made women in the film industry their prey. There is much work to do as director Menkes has laid out in this film Brainwashed.

The Male Gaze

The “male gaze” is an uncomfortable stare from a man to a woman. The term was introduced by film theorist Laura Mulvey in her essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema“. Menkes uses the evidence of 175 film clips dating back to 1896. This is where we see women as “objects” rather than “subjects”. Furthermore, the way the industry films the male gaze justifies how men treat women oppressively and contributes to the “rape culture”.

Acclaimed directors like Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, and Spike Lee have all been praised for their cinematic excellence. Although, the way that they have portrayed women in their films has been ignored and quietly swept under the rug. Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood has Brad Pitt‘s character Cliff Booth driving the streets.

When he encounters the young Margaret Qualley who plays Pussycat sets up the objectification. This infamous sequence of Cliff Booth gazing and smiling at her in his car is evidence that Menkes not only has a point in case. Even her name Pussycat says it all. These are the “deliberate decisions” that these filmmakers make.

Margot Robbie

The type of shots filmed all goes back to the perverted eye of the man who seeks this pleasure. A most recent actress which Menkes uses as a point of reference is Margot Robbie. It’s surprising that Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street was not included in Brainwashed. But surprisingly a scene where she plays Harley Quinn and gets into her infamous outfit in Suicide Squad is sampled. The manner in which the camera pans from her legs to face is subtle yet impactful. It affects both genders in both positive and negative ways. But of course, she is surrounded by a horde of males gazing at her as she replies by asking, “What?”

Framing has always been questionable. In Robbie’s dress scene with John Lithgow in the film, Bombshell had many like Menkes in disarray. There could have been opportunities where this scene would have been not so gut-wrenching or disturbing. But yet scenes like this are still allowed to happen in the land of Hollywood. Where men are seeking that pleasure principle through a scene. Even if it’s trying to evoke a truthful emotion from the audience from an honest scenario.

Lights, Camera, Action

There are other subgenres of this sexual exploitation of women in films such as the narrative position and lighting. Menkes points out in the film Lady in Shanghai that there is gendered lighting used. She emphasizes that in most films when the man is shot there is 3D lighting. When the woman is shot there is 2D lighting. Hence, this makes the woman appear more vulnerable and disregarded just like Rita Hayworth in the film. Even her positioning laying down on a boat in the scene in a bikini changes the narrative a whole lot.

It is difficult to right this ship. Especially when the director, producer and the director of photography have a strong impact on this visual language and come from the same school of thought. The fact that most of these roles are landed by men does not help this steer in the right direction.

State of Emergency

When joining the press conference for this film during Sundance, much of the comments had to do with film schools. This is the source of the problem that needs to be addressed if changes are going to be made. The landscape of a film is still a dangerous and unsafe environment for women to be in. But kudos to directors like Nina Menkes who are pushing to change the narrative.

Transparent director Joey Soloway who is an interviewee in Brainwashed could not have said it any better. Soloway says that the objectification of women is in a “state of emergency”. During the press conference, they were gravely concerned about the future and safety of women in the industry because of the strength of the patriarchy. It seems as though the #MeToo movement has only put a dent in this well-oiled structure.

All Grown Up

Now that I am all grown up, I have been consuming all this content ever since I was a child. It has desensitized me to think in certain ways. I have grown up to think that it is normal for women to be objectified let alone naked on film. Films justified my excitement about looking at the female anatomy presented to me in different ways and mediums. The way it has been presented to me over a lifetime has caused this inorganic yet masculine emotion.

I did not realize that there was more to this visual language from what Menkes pointed out. It is downright sexual propaganda. But when it propels discriminatory behaviour and rape culture, there has to be a stoppage in play. There are too many people who have talent in this industry and unfortunately, we are not using it correctly. The industry has dug itself in too much of a holee that they don’t even realize that it is one. I admit to being brainwashed. I will man up and admit to that.

www.brainwashedmovie.com