Scopophilia is literally defined as "the love of looking" but the term also refers to "the predominantly male gaze of Hollywood cinema" ("Scopophilia," 1). It basically refers to the tendency in many Hollywood films to objectify women making them into objects that are looked at and denying them their own voice. Filmmakers in Hollywood and elsewhere use exotic spectacles in presenting women as objects of the male gaze. At the same time, it is common to find that a sexually active woman in a film is set against a female character who is modest and chaste. This allows filmmakers to suggest that chastity in women is preferred while still providing objects for the male gaze.
The Bollywood film Shri 420 was released in 1955 and features a male character named Raju. A 420 is a cheat or a person who is dishonest. In this film, a female character named Vidya is the object of the male gaze. She is compared to a motherly character named Gangamai who saves Raju from a life on the streets. This is an example of how film can objectify women on the one hand and then give them desirable qualities such as motherliness on the other. The film presents scopophilia as a sort of unavoidable duality with respect to the nature and character of women. It is a good example of how the technique is used.
Anonymous. "Scopophilia." 2008. Available at www.cla.purdue
.edu/academic/engl/theory/narratology/terms/scopophilia.
Accessed online, December 3, 2008.
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