The Cinematic Society: The Voyeur′s Gaze

by Norman K. Denzin

Ranging over a rich variety of material from film and film literature, and encompassing a critical interrogation of traditional realist ethnographic and cinematic texts, this book highlights the extent to which the cinema has contributed to the rise of voyeurism throughout society. The cinema not only turns its audience into voyeurs, eagerly following the lives of its screen characters, but casts its key players as onlookers, spying on other′s lives. The nature of the cinematic voyeur is examined in depth, as are its implications for contemporary society. Norman K Denzin analyzes Hollywood′s manipulations of gender, race and class, and, drawing on the work of Foucault, argues that the cinematic gaze must be understood as pa

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[Nasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

In general Denzin is criticizing hollywood's gaze on society. Pictures have worked as an apparatus at the service of Capitalism. The morality of vouyering the life of the other is at the stake because cinema justifies the end- capitalist agendas. The author eventually stands with a feminist ethical view that sees cinema as a way of creating solidarity between the vouyer and the seen.