The Male Gaze in Vertigo

First Look

The first appearance of Madeline in Vertigo is at Ernie’s in a busy room. As she becomes visible the camera stops panning and starts dollying in towards her. At the same time, the sounds of the room quiet down and the music swells into Madeline’s song. She is on display. The low-back dress reveals the perfect skin of her back and the curve of her neck. Her pose is just that; a pose. As if she knows she is being looked at from behind. The view is voyeuristic as the viewer is forced to move into the scene, yet no one looks at the camera (Isaacs, 3:12). This sets us up in John’s shoes, as a voyeur of the events about to unfold.

The Framed Image

Throughout Vertigo, Hitchcock often visually framed Novak in visually pleasurable scenes. In the restaurant, there is the frame of the doorway and the mirror behind her (Isaacs, 3:46). This creates a picture, like the painting of Carlotta Valdes in the museum.

The Framed Pose

When Madeline and her “husband” leaves, she pauses in the doorway. The pose shows off the low neckline of her dress. This view is exactly what John is seeing, and it is created for the male gaze. Culture, through magazine models and perfectly glamorous movie stars, has also made this a pleasurable image for female gazes (Mulvay). Our patriarchal society has manipulated the female perspective to match that of the males. Hollywood has perpetuated this through the films they make, focusing solely on the male gaze.

Reflection

The use of the mirror on the door to reflect Madeline’s image while John peeps through the crack helps build the voyeuristic nature of this film. Film in itself is voyeuristic, but by showing the watcher and the watched together in the same image, it enhances the suspense of the moment. Again Madeline is framed to make a perfect picture inside the mirror frame. Since pictures are made to be looked at having John looking at her enhances the pleasure of the scene.

Yes?

Many of the views of Madeline are from John’s point-of-view. Here he is looking down on her as she lies naked, under the covers, in his bed. The question is how did she get there? The answer, he put her there. They did not show him undressing her and placing her in his bed, but there is no doubt that that is what happened. We are made to look at her as a sexual object, as we look down on her making her into the submissive. She accepts that she is naked and an unknown man is standing over her, because it is for the male gaze.

Madeline and Judy’s Profile

The moment that John became enthralled with Madeline was at Ernie’s when she stood before him in profile. The same happened with Judy. The same profile, but with several differences. Madeline’s profile is elegant.

She holds her head up and shoulders back, presenting herself as an object to be looked at. As Judy, she is being herself. Her shoulders are slightly slouched and her chin is down. Here she is being watched unknowingly. 

In the first profile, she is an object for the male gaze, she is playing that role. Her job was to catch John’s eye so that he can be pulled into her scam.

In the second profile, she is not trying to attract the male gaze. She doesn’t know she is being gazed at by John. However, John wants to see Madeline’s profile in Judy. His expectations are not being met so he needs to make her into the object for the male gaze.

Like Me

Again, we are looking down on Novak, but this time as Judy. John is looking down on her as a dominant force. He trying to make her into Madeline. She wants John to like her for herself, but he wants to make her into Madeline. She is submissive to him, so she is put into a submissive position. 

The Illusion

In this shot, Judy becomes the illusion of Madeline. She steps from a green haze, green being the color of Madeline and the deception perpetuated by Judy. Judy has now, once again, become Madeline. We are watching this from John’s point-of-view and from the male gaze, as Judy becomes the perfect vision of the female. The vision created by John.

Sources