Beyond the Frame: Unraveling Sexual Representation in Cinema through Critical Analysis and Queer Theory

Question 1

The issues concerning sexuality depiction in cinema have roped in most film features to deconstruct and subvert the traditional way of representing sexuality. Typically the dramatization of the male domination over sexual fantasies has also been supported by the social and political practices and institutions associated with patriarchy (Prick et al., 277). Most film studies have explored the impact of sexual representation in classic cinemas by using various analyses. The paper will elaborate more on sexual expression in cinemas. The paper will also use the live-action movies directed by men and women to understand better women's depiction in popular films and how the representations have affected the portrayals.

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According to Stepic (147), many filmmakers have destroyed the pleasures of watching objectified cinemas because of sexual representations through disturbing and explicit images that deflate the viewer's expectations by shifting their sexual domination. The same author also added that the appropriation of pornography and melodrama from horror movies creates critiques that undermine the cinematic and patriarchal representations of sexuality.

Most filmmakers explored the connections between social practices and political institutions by using oppressed women's patriarchal society and social techniques. In the 1960s Yoshidhige and Shohei Imamura, the new wave directors used the Japanese home bedroom to victimize women in the Donato Totaro and Japan's rigid society to replace the horror movies' sexuality by anticipating women in scenes like the sociopathic female killers (Stepic 151). One example is the "Chinese Characters" produced by Richard Fung.

In response to the sexual representation, the film comprised gay people under white people's impression. Sexual orientation in this film was on homosexual identity. Women and men from various Asian backgrounds spoke humorously, poignantly, and frankly concerning members' lives from the minority (Stepic 154). Most of them talked about racism, sex, cultural identity, and ways of being gay in Asia.

The movie involved fourteen gays and lesbians with diverse lifestyle experiences, outlooks, and backgrounds being interviewed on their experiences because they come from the lesbian/ gay community. The film segment also shows the relationship of their ethnic workplaces, solidarity groups, and communities to depict how experienced they were living as gays and lesbians (Stepic 156). As seen, the movie discussed contributes to sexual domination and rape issues about both their depiction and legacy.

Since the 21st century, the media landscape has changed drastically because of an integral part of America's culture. Even though the consumption methods have changed, most Americans still go to the theaters annually to watch movies produced by the silver screen box office. As known, the Academy Award is the most prestigious organization in cinematic awards that draws many viewers annually. While the film's popular culture has not been sustained, American society's popular culture has changed drastically.

Since then, most horror movies have incorporated homosexual scenes embedded with the horror genre's initial production. While the success of the incorporation was made possible by James Whale (a gay filmmaker), he also attracted majoritarian filmmakers to produce sexual movies. Whale's narratives were derived from the basic categories that feature the sadomasochistic or domestic queer couplings. At first, Whale introduced the servant and vampire by making him a normal man and then monstrous.

Such negative depictions had implications that went beyond the entertainment industry. Even though film production's infamous society and culture changed, motion pictures also reflected the cultural attitudes concerning attitudes, expectations, norms, and gender roles. Simultaneously, the depictions concerning the minority groups in the media and film were influenced by disseminating the stereotypes.

Such matters usually lead to a vicious cycle of stereotypes, making the filmmakers create art that is sexual. While sexual misinterpretation in the media has always been there, it is vital to evaluate how minorities are portrayed in movies. Even though women's representation has improved in the last few years, increasing female employment has been facilitated.

Orientalism

Orientalism is also a situation that has emerged in the new age commodification from eastern spirituality to glom the separate cultures into the freedom and blurry whole to open up declarations on how Asian women are sexually dismissed compared to Asian men (Graf 123). When orientalism shows are on music video, television, and films, the regularity of faith presentation is also embraced to fight against Asian American activism's drumbeats.

The interchange between the imaginative meanings and the academy of Orientalism has been constant since the 18th century. As known Orientalism is more material and historical because it is analyzed and discussed as corporate institutions that deal with statement-making by using Michel Foucault's notion (Graf 123). Concerning the academic tradition, the transmigrations, transitions, and specializations broadly define the meaning and term Orientalism.

Most writers, perioral administrators, novelists, and poets all elaborated more on the social descriptions, epics, theories, and political concerns of the Orient, the customs, people, destiny, and destiny to describe how it was restructured and dominated by the Western lifestyle (Graf 126). Also, the authoritative position of Orientalism was not a free subject of action or thought but an interest that occasioned a particular question of sexuality.

The trend is seen from the past, especially the early American movie studios such as "Sally's Beauty Spot." The vastly intimate movie consists of an Asian woman whose breast is used as a metaphor for sexual and cultural differences. The 1960 Hollywood screens also integrated women's scenes and voices to miscegenate melodrama (Graf 128).

The film is also a playful and stylish account of racial expectations to critique Western stereotypes and Asian femininity. While the challenges of colonialism and fetishism were represented, the actors' characters remained stereotypical due to the sexual subject (Graf 130). The film's theme was to show the struggle people go through with radicalized and identity notions of beauty through the juxtaposed narrative to attract the spectators.

On the other level, the distorted image's regular production shows how the creators are unaware of their doing. However, the movies also show how they never cared what people thought as long as they made money. It is not new why Orientalism still exists in today's films because too many there is nothing wrong and no difference between objectifying legitimate and homage cultural exchange.

Even though racism is in many minds, the movies portray open hatred to give the idea that was couched from the fandom guise or fondness of the reality viewers don't want to embrace (Graf 123). Ultimately Orientalism also talks about power taken from the emerging international markets, especially from China, to force Hollywood to see the world through the scrims derived from the Western assumptions.

Even though sexual representation has been reduced, the lack of adequate procedures is still seen in the Academy Awards winners and nominees. Only one woman is awarded as the best director. Even though women use the same resources as men, they partially play the superhero gene's emergency roles, especially in the grossing movies produced in Hollywood. A suitable example that elaborates more is "Erotic Exotic, Atif Siddiqi, 1998" (Graf 138)

The works of Atif Siddiqi have evolved around the world due to gender notions and politics and the issue of personal metamorphosis and transformation by incorporating iconography and symbolism elements. Siddiqi's artistic body works include winning awards in films such as "Erotic Exotic" because of the art he portrayed in women. Since the 2000s, the films became popular because the male directors dominated the gene (Graf 141). Even though this trend changed after the release of other classical movies such as "Black Widow, "the high and lucrative budget benefited men and left women to struggle with less box office influence and small budgets.

Despite the poignant critiques of analyzing sexual presentation in cinemas, there is a discrepancy between criticizing the movie and understanding the process of filmmaking. Even though the film industry produces sensationalized films, most of them consist of aspects that make the film instead of processing sex trafficking and works due to lack of nuance. One example of a film of such a character is Deanna Bowen's "Sadomasochism."

The film consists of brutal white and black North American urban texts and imagery woven into a web of serene repeated color shots from the unshod feet of imprints at the sandy area of the island beach. The film is also a cultural and childhood memory of a woman who wanted to sustain herself by negotiating with people with harsh feelings and voices at work. The other footprints used include the metaphorical sand, such as when she became indebted to prevent her from moving forward.

Deanna Bowen hypnotized the crowd with the pattern of footsteps seen at the beach to strike the civil rights footage match. Bowen intended to make the audience follow the bouncing ball that changes to a dialogue between the slave and the master. However, the dialogue becomes disturbing when Bowen makes the audience follow the daring, brave, and bold piece when he never pulls any punches (Graf 145). According to Bowen, when talent is not spotted, someone must realize that they can do nothing.

Most filmmakers like producing movies that people can watch by offering a coherent that comprehends the excellent story. However, their perspectives are misunderstood when they use writing conditions but produce a different movie. Most filmmakers go through challenges, so their experiences go against the written analysis of movie-making. For instance, the movies on transnational migrant female sex workers consist of contents that mislead the sensationalized rescue/capture plot device (Graf 151). The analysis of making such films on women migrant sex workers has now become practical and theoretical.

Question 2

"Reading queerness as an altered relation to time and place also takes us out of the ambit of stable social identity and provides a non-identitarian language for social, sexual, and political eccentricity." (Halberstam, 86).

The term queer is a theory used in this connotation to align the ideas of homosexuality. The Queer theory is a new branch of theoretical speculation named since 1991 emerging from the lesbian/gay studies to elaborate more on the social constructions of the sexual and normative behavior categories (Prick et al., 279). Even though the studies fell into such categories, they focused more on homosexuality by using the queer theory to expand more on the realm of investigations.

The queer theory and studies focus more on the political critique of anything that falls into the deviant and normative categories such as sexual identities and activities. When analyzed in the dictionary, the term queer means "out of the ordinary" or "odd peculiar (Prick et al., 281)." The query theory elaborates more on the forms of sexuality by extending the normative identities and behaviors to define the binary opposites. The theory also expands more on the scope that analyses the types of behavior such as gender-bending to involve the queer forms of sexuality.