The Gaze

To understand the notion of the gaze, one must be aware of the multiple discourses that the gaze circulates throughout media, technology, and culture. Visual culture is representative of the way in which ideological codes have transformed the public’s perceptions of obscene images. The actuarial gaze, thus, is powerfully enacted and best illustrated through political discourses. Allen Feldman tackles the notion of the actuarial gaze in his article, “On the Actuarial Gaze: From 9/11 To Abu Ghraib.” He suggests that, “The political character of the actuarial gaze is explicit in its hierarchical distance from everyday life structures, and in its devaluation of everyday experience and immediacy in favour of the prognostics of expert knowledge and Enlightenment metaphors of achievable social transparency” (Feldman, 165). This idea suggests that the actuarial gaze, especially in relation to the United States representations of war, moves past reality to become metaphorically distant. The image provided is representative of the gaze, specifically as it relates to ISIS representation in the U.S. Political technology has assessed the risk of ISIS in relation to biometrics to unify “a vulnerable yet soverign body” (166). By seeing ISIS as the “other,” or the prisoners of war in Abu Ghraib, the actuarial gaze commands and controls the representations and reactions in the media. The gaze is not only actuarial, however, for the male gaze and the panoptic are elements of the discourse as well. Friedberg comments on gender and visual culture, noting that women have internalized the voyeuristic gaze and are always subjectively ‘objects of the look.’” (Friedberg, 254). Images of power, like the one provided, often depict men in the political realm and women are often objectified if present in the visual realm. The gaze is a complex discourse due to the hegemonic nature of visuality.

Feldman, Allen. “On the Actuarial Gaze: From 9/11 to Abu Ghraib.” The Visual Culture Reader. 2013.

Friedberg, Anne. “The Mobilized and Virtual Gaze in Modernity.” The Visual Culture Reader. 3rd edition, ed. Nicholas Mirzoeff (Routledge 2013)

Surveillance

From national security worries to televisions shows, surveillance is a term widely analyzed and utilized in visual culture. As both Anne Friedberg and Nicholas Mirzoeff discuss in their articles, the panopticon represents a unique kind of surveillance, for the structure is dependent on the look and is based on power. Surveillance, thus, reflects mastery over the constructed world – Mirzoeff explains: “In order to be exercised, this power had to be given the instrument of permanent, exhaustive, omnipresent surveillance, capable of making all visible as long as it could itself remain invisible” (Mirzoeff, 97). Hegemonic discourses circulate within surveillance domains, for one has the power to see and the other is subjugated. This idea relates to the clip below from the drama Pretty Little Liars. The scene shows Spencer helping Ezra pack up surveillance equipment he had used to watch the town in which a mysterious figure names “A” threatened his closest friends.

Spencer says, “I forgot how enthusiastic you were about watching things.” The great deal of equipment is reflective of amount of power given to the one who is watching others. Although a scripted show, the scene is only a small chunk of the massive focus on surveillance in the show, for there is an overwhelming feeling of being watched when the girls are alone in scenes.

Nick Couldry tackles another side of surveillance in the entertainment world and analyzes the role of the camera in reality shows like Big Brother. He suggests that because individuals in reality TV are aware of the fact that they are being filmed, the notion of reality falls short of just that: “We can expect any everyday activity legitimately to be put under surveillance and monitored for a huge unknown audience” (Couldry, 91). Although few enjoy the idea of being watched, Couldry believes that the repeated use of surveillance within the television discourse “risks rigidifying into a myth that is fully integrated into our everyday expectations of the social” (90). The panoptic approach to surveillance, then, is not far from our representation of it in the media and, therefore, has the potential to situate itself in our daily lives.

Couldry, Nick. “Teaching Us to Fake It: The Ritualized Norms of Television’s ‘Reality’ Games.” Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. 2009.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. “Panoptic Modernity.” An Introduction to Visual Culture. 2009.

Modernity

The clip above illustrates the concept of modernity well for multiple reasons. It seems difficult to define modernity with just a simple sentence, seeing as multiple theorists have approached the term with unique perspectives. Before delving into the clip from the film Hugo, it is important to understand the concept of modernity as best as possible. Justin Lewis discusses modernity and postmodernity in his article “The Meaning of Real Life,” suggesting that “Television has become postmodern in form while remaining steadfastly modernist in its assumptions” (Lewis, 288). From Lewis’s perspective, modernity continues to circulate within the television discourse due to its dynamic and ever-changing structure. Television, however, also reflects postmodernity becasuse stretches the line between the mediascape and the world we live in. As Nicholas Mirzoeff suggests in his article “Panoptic Modernity,” “Modernity was reconfigured from the zone implied by the norm into a social application of the sharp distinction between the normal and the pathological” (Mirzoeff, 107). Societal norms became split between the normal and the abnormal as modernity developed, particularly because historical, cultural, political, and economical conditions transformed as a result of enlightenment. Mirzoeff also notes that visual culture shifted to become more than simply practices of looking, for “the optical unconsciousness was produced, experienced, and identified as a space for personal identification, social organization and commodification” (118). Anne Friedberg approaches modernity from a hegemonic perspective, noting that panoptic modernity “tends to the non-corporeal” (Friedberg, 256). Modernity, then, in relation to Hugo incorporates all of the moving parts of life – from the clock, to the bodies of humanity, to the cars circling the Arc De Triomphe. They are reflective of the enlightenment era in which skyscrapers were built and industrialization was at its height. Hugo notes that “The whole world was one big machine,” much like Friedberg’s notion of the expansion of visual culture to more than one sense. The pace of the city as well as the idea of belonging to a part of the whole relates to the dynamic and transformative embodiment of modernity.

Friedberg, Anne. “The Mobilized and Virtual Gaze in Modernity.” The Visual Culture Reader. 3rd edition, ed. Nicholas Mirzoeff (Routledge 2013)

Lewis, Justin. “The Meaning of Real Life.” Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. “Panoptic Modernity.” An Introduction to Visual Culture. 2009.

Neoliberalism

Through both education and entertainment, the discourse of reality TV proves to be one of the most fascinating neoliberal subjects to date. The term neoliberalism, however, has yet to circulate within the language of the media discourse, but as theorists suggests, television has become a platform reflecting the ideological codes of neoliberalism. Laurie Ouellette elaborates on this notion by deconstructing the authoritative codes of Judge Judy in her article “Take Responsibility for Yourself.” She admits to the hesitant perspectives surrounding the topic, suggesting that, “Neoliberalism is generally understood as a troubling worldview that promotes the ‘free’ market as the best way to organize every dimension of life” (Ouellette, 225). The rule of the market in neoliberalism reinforces the need for citizens to fulfill and protect themselves within its domains, urging personal responsibility. Media, thus, has become an outlet where neoliberal ideals are utilized. Jon Kraszewski’s article, “Country Hicks and Urban Cliques,” analyzes the techniques reality TV shows use to convey issues of race, suggesting that,”Through mediations of casting, filming practices, editing and narrative strategies The Real World suggests that racism is a phenomenon located within rural conservatives, not liberals with an urban feel” (Kraszewski, 208). The television discourse, then, has also adopted neoliberal ideals negatively by projecting racism as an individual problem, rather than a public problem. The personal responsibility of ideal citizens through a neoliberal lens shifts with gender as well, particularly when examining women on reality TV.

Ouellette’s analysis of women on Judge Judy illustrates the gendered and problematic aspects of reality TV: “Women are typically cast  as ‘self-created’ victims in terms that articulate neoliberal currents to female self-help culture” (Ouellette, 235). The self-help discourse engages with government strategies which reflect techniques for living. Much like in Judge Judy, the women walk a fine line between independence and family life. Reality TV has developed to depict “the importance of self-discipline, the rewards of self-enterprising actions, and the personal consequences of making the ‘wrong’ choice” (240). The “wrong” choice Ouellette discusses can also be seen in TLC’s “What Not To Wear.” The clip below represents neoliberal ideals firsthand, for the “style experts” govern her appearance. She is lacking the personal responsibility to appear acceptably “sexy.” One cannot ignore the overwhelming presence of the male gaze as well.

Kraszewski, Jon. “Country Hicks and Urban Cliques.” Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. 2009.

Ouellette, Laurie. “Take Responsibility for Yourself: Judge Judy and the Neoliberal Citizen.” Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. 2009.