VVC vid recs part 1
Aug. 11th, 2010 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hazelkSo Vividcon has happened. I haven’t watched ALL THE VIDS or even downloaded them but there is one I’d like to talk about.
On the Prowl by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sisabet and sweetestdrain
Peeping Tara or this vid has ALL THE PAIN
Specifically ALL THE MANPAIN. It begins with a guy taking off his shirt, flicks through all the shower scenes, rains on all the men, drops them naked from the sky, electrocutes them, sets them against each other, bloods, cuts and martyrs them, puts them to bed with a gun for a pacifier and then (but only then) kisses them tenderly goodnight.
The easy comparison is with Woman’s Work but although both blend violence, sexuality and objectification very effectively their effects on the viewers is quite different and I don’t think it’s simply because men are the objects in Prowl and women in the earlier vid. The abiding memory I have of Women’s Work is of the women looking at me. Afraid and then angry but overall accusing. I don’t get that impression at all in Prowl. When you can see the men’s faces they’re not looking at you but across at someone else or inwardly, suffering stoically. I thought at first this might be an illusion created by the lyrical point of view. In “Violet” Courtney Love is the voice of all the women, the “I” of the song is their “I”. The “I” of Lydia Lunch in Prowl is herself, she’s singing about what she’ll do to the men. But it’s not that or not soley that. Get Low tells almost the same story as Women’s Work (but with a happier ending) to a song the men sing and Milla Jovovich’s eyes facing out at you are almost the defining motif of that vid. Also being a complete nerd I went back and checked. Women’s Work is indeed full of face shots. It begins with the little girl looking at you across her bed and ends with Jo’s face being yanked round and away so she’ll never look at anyone ever again. Even the iconic ceiling woman faces down the camera while she burns. In Prowl that camera is more often focussed on the men’s chests or profiles.
The first reaction I had to Prowl was essentially “men are weird.” Or “Hollywood director men are weird.” or Hollywood directors believe all other men are weird. Because TV and movies are still made by men for men. Fandom may appropriate their images for its own purposes but they were originally shot for other men to enjoy. So where’s the buzz these men get in seeing themselves suffer? Shouldn’t they be the ones with faces not the women, not the others? On the other hand, if you’re looking at the camera you can’t be behind it and in any case for all the images look like they’re sexualising pain, with the women it’s not so much pain as fear. The woman on the screen may be screaming because of what’s happening to her right then but even more she screams for what’s to come. The men at least know what’s coming, they retain at least that much control. A man in pain is a hero, a martyr, someone other men look up to and women wish they could comfort. A woman in pain is a victim or a bitch who deserves it and in both male and female cases the one creating the pain is a man.
On the Prowl by
sisabet and sweetestdrainPeeping Tara or this vid has ALL THE PAIN
Specifically ALL THE MANPAIN. It begins with a guy taking off his shirt, flicks through all the shower scenes, rains on all the men, drops them naked from the sky, electrocutes them, sets them against each other, bloods, cuts and martyrs them, puts them to bed with a gun for a pacifier and then (but only then) kisses them tenderly goodnight.
The easy comparison is with Woman’s Work but although both blend violence, sexuality and objectification very effectively their effects on the viewers is quite different and I don’t think it’s simply because men are the objects in Prowl and women in the earlier vid. The abiding memory I have of Women’s Work is of the women looking at me. Afraid and then angry but overall accusing. I don’t get that impression at all in Prowl. When you can see the men’s faces they’re not looking at you but across at someone else or inwardly, suffering stoically. I thought at first this might be an illusion created by the lyrical point of view. In “Violet” Courtney Love is the voice of all the women, the “I” of the song is their “I”. The “I” of Lydia Lunch in Prowl is herself, she’s singing about what she’ll do to the men. But it’s not that or not soley that. Get Low tells almost the same story as Women’s Work (but with a happier ending) to a song the men sing and Milla Jovovich’s eyes facing out at you are almost the defining motif of that vid. Also being a complete nerd I went back and checked. Women’s Work is indeed full of face shots. It begins with the little girl looking at you across her bed and ends with Jo’s face being yanked round and away so she’ll never look at anyone ever again. Even the iconic ceiling woman faces down the camera while she burns. In Prowl that camera is more often focussed on the men’s chests or profiles.
The first reaction I had to Prowl was essentially “men are weird.” Or “Hollywood director men are weird.” or Hollywood directors believe all other men are weird. Because TV and movies are still made by men for men. Fandom may appropriate their images for its own purposes but they were originally shot for other men to enjoy. So where’s the buzz these men get in seeing themselves suffer? Shouldn’t they be the ones with faces not the women, not the others? On the other hand, if you’re looking at the camera you can’t be behind it and in any case for all the images look like they’re sexualising pain, with the women it’s not so much pain as fear. The woman on the screen may be screaming because of what’s happening to her right then but even more she screams for what’s to come. The men at least know what’s coming, they retain at least that much control. A man in pain is a hero, a martyr, someone other men look up to and women wish they could comfort. A woman in pain is a victim or a bitch who deserves it and in both male and female cases the one creating the pain is a man.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-11 11:00 pm (UTC)Your comments on the vid are very thinky and I have to think about it some more. Mm.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-12 05:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-12 07:46 pm (UTC)That's a very interesting observation. Some of that may simply be choice of clips, but my guess is that it speaks to who the intended audience is for all this entertainment -- namely men. I didn't get stoicism out of it, I got that it was homoerotic pain -- men inflicting injury on one another and getting off on it, the same way they do to women's pain. See, in the women facing the viewer, she's giving him the power of inflicting pain. In the men suffering the male viewers can project themselves on whoever they want.
Interesting vid in a meta way, but since I dislike blood and violence, not pleasant viewing at all. I love a good action scene but it's because a good fight is like dancing, it's easy to admire the movement and athleticism. Guys just bludgeoning one another is offputting.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-04 08:07 am (UTC)Homoeroticism definitely a part of it -one of the clips is Daniel Craig's Bond being beaten like he was in the books to satify Flemming's kinks.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-04 05:19 pm (UTC)women are in the source is that they're pleas (for the audience to jumpin
and save them?) or they're to communicate "I'm afraid." Stoicsm and the
strength to take the pain don't require to be communicated like fear
does.
I think it's interesting though that there's more possibility of communication for one sex but less for the other. Either way, whether for help or to communicate fear, the women are giving power to the viewer (who is presumed to be male). With the men, the lack of communication frees the male viewer to identify with someone else in those scenes. He doesn't have to directly confront a male (often the hero) in a position of vulnerability if he doesn't want to.