Between Gazes Camelia Elias

identifications  self and other  self and an imaginary self which merges with the fictionalized feminine subject  the recognition of a potential self in the fictionalized situation  the desire to maintain the difference between self and ideal

identification/recognition  “Identification can only be made through recognition, and all recognition is itself an implicit confirmation of an existing form. The institutional sanction of stars as ego ideals also operates to establish normative figures. Identification enforces a collapse of the subject onto the normative demand for sameness, which under patriarchy is always male” (Anne Friedberg: “Identification and the star – a refusal of difference”, 1982)

identification/reproduction  Identification reproduces:  Sameness  Fixity  The confirmation of existing identities  “Identification has been seen as the feminine counterpoint to masculine desire” (Stacey)

cinematic identificatory fantasies  devotion  adoration  worship  transcendence  aspiration and inspiration

normative functions  stars serve as  role models  someone to emulate  the epitome of what a woman should be  ideals of feminine appearance

spectatorship  distinct relations between self and ideal  denial of self in favor of praising screen goddesses  the desire to transform the self

extra-cinematic practices  pretending  resembling  imitating  copying  “desire involves wanting to ‘have’ and identification involves wanting to ‘be’ (Stacey, 158)

The Color Purple

characters  Nettie  Celie  Pa  Mr___/ Albert  Harpo/Sofia  Shug Avery  Samuel  Corinne  Olivia  Adam; Tashi

namelessness  No surnames  Walker draws attention to her examination of male dominance  by withholding men’s surnames she diminishes their patriarchal authority

statements to discuss  Celie is proving herself to be a pathetic character: she should stand up to Mister and fight back.  Sophia’s experiences show that fighting back doesn’t work  Shug Avery appears to be a source of strength and goodness in the film/novel  there are no good relationships between men and women in The Color Purple  they are all based on violence, abuse, mistrust, and contempt  the women are the strong ones and the men are the weak ones

figures of authority  “You better not never tell nobody but God” (Pa)  “You can’t curse nobody. Look at you. You black, you pore, you ugly, you a woman. Goddamn, you nothing at all…” (Albert)

identifications  Celie with Shug  Celie with Nettie  Albert with Shug  Harpo with Sofia  Albert with Celie

reconciliations  affirmation and rejection of the Christian doctrine  “it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it” (Shug)  (re-entering the symbolic law of the father, mainly in Spielberg, less in Walker)

Banning The Color Purple (1983)  “I learned that a certain Mrs. Green had objected to her daughter, Donna, reading The Color Purple.” (Coming in from the Cold, Alice Walker, 1984)  a controversial book since its publication.  grounds for objections:  the language is offensive  black people don’t speak like that  black men are presented negatively as brutal, sexist, selfish  the book is too sexually explicit: it sets a bad example to young people  there is very poor use of English, which also sets a bad example

unconstrained relationships  “If you are not free to express your love, you are a slave; and anyone who would demand that you enslave yourself by not expressing your love, is a person with a slaveholder’s mentality” “In the Closet of the Soul,” Alice Walker, 1986)