Identification and Desire

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sufficiently indicated by the use, in analytic theory, of the ancient term imago" (1164). Lacan's concept of the mirror stage establishes a person's first sense of self and identity and allows for
In Laura Mulvey's, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Mulvey proposes the idea of the "male gaze." According to Mulvey, mainstream media and cinema is put into the perspective of heterosexual males and simply uses women for the pleasure and attention of men. Women are portrayed as subservient to men and as sex symbols rather than as multi-faceted human beings. Mulvey states that the cinematic gaze is produced with masculinity in mind, be that with a male hero as the core subject or by the means of production. Mulvey establishes two ways in which Hollywood cinema creates pleasure. The first way is comprised of the objectification of the image (women), and the second is the identification with the image. Both writers take cues from Freud and his concepts. Mulvey's concepts are ...

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