Cinematic gazes on the screen play a crucial role in the act of adopting power and superiority, not only among fictional characters, but also by viewers. There is a constant hierarchical dynamic in the film viewing experience: whether it is the narcissistic gaze in which viewers identify with the actors as figures to aspire to, the fetishistic gaze in the male characters who exercise their control over the image of a female character, or of the scopophilic and voyeuristic gaze where female figures are reduced to symbols of pleasure without a personality dimension. Such power struggles are often evident in the romantic genre, more used in traditional and older films, while more recent texts can propose a contradiction to the effects of cinematic gazes proposed by Male Gaze by Laura Mulvey, Oedipus Complex by Sigmund Freud, etc. . Such theories will result in the in-depth study of 'Anomalisa', which will be contrasted with the analyzes of 'Pretty Woman' to show a difference in the social context in which the film was produced. Anomalisa demonstrates that the powerful gaze occurs between the protagonist and his surroundings rather than between the viewers and the film. His disdain towards female characters manifests itself equally in everyone in his world, where he eliminates the concept that cinema's looks must include gender roles. Thus, modern cinema may share similar notions of the cinematic gaze as any other film, but it also rejects the narrow confines of these theories. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Initially in Anomalisa, Michael, the protagonist demonstrates that his view towards women actually comes from a position of superiority, which fits Mulvey's ideas. Laura Mulvey's male gaze was introduced in her essay The Visual Pleasure & Narrative Cinema in 1975 and is one of the dominant cinematic gazes in romantic films due to their main element of love. It is a collective belief that the topic of falling in love is romanticized and idealized. Mulvey suggests that it is “an active male gaze and a passive female image.” Anomalisa shows this through Michael's first "meet cute" with Lisa, where long continuous shots of her moving towards the center of the frame while a non-diegetic instrumental melody make the scene picturesque. One of his first dialogues addressed to Michael was "I can't believe you're in our room!", in which there are words of adoration that automatically make Michael a more dominant character. It's also clear at this point in the film that every character is animated to have the same face besides Michael and now Lisa, who has a large scar near her right eye. There is meaning in Michael's encounter with someone who stands out as he exclaims "someone else!" - therefore making Lisa more glorified. Similarly in a classic romantic film like Pretty Woman, Vivian, the female protagonist is presented in close-ups of fragmented parts of her naked body. Barbara Creed suggests that this is body fetishism by “overvaluing a part of her body.” In both the older and recent films, the female protagonists are introduced through forms of scopophilia and voyeurism, meaning that “looking in itself is a source of pleasure." In Anomalisa, Michael asks Lisa, "Can I kiss you there? " in reference to his scar on his face which shows that his main attraction towards him is a physical characteristic. There is also a hint of perversion in Michael's character due to his sexual attraction towardssomething traumatic for Lisa. In Pretty Woman, Vivian's character is a prostitute, which makes her consistently characterized by her attractive features and overt sexuality. Mulvey's different perspectives come in part from the psychoanalytic approaches of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan who encouraged the integration of the Oedipus complex when it came to understanding sexual dynamics. This consists of the notion that the male "fears that his father will punish him, perhaps even castrate him." Mulvey suggests a “sexual imbalance” in which “the man controlled the gaze.” This claim to authority comes from the fear that allowing any female to be in equal positions with the male will make her a threat to punish him in the same way his father is capable of doing so. Furthermore, both female protagonists are not only sexualized, but are belittled in their mutual respect. Both Lisa and Vivian are younger, naive girls who are introduced to greater excitement, namely an older, more successful man. This automatically places them in a lower position. In the aspect of Mulvey's Male Gaze, both films from different eras were shown to still pursue the effect of "aligning spectacular pleasure with a hierarchical system of sexual narrative". The concept of men's subconscious need to oppress the female character is concluded by Richard Allen in his Psychoanalytic Film Theory, “the first is to fetishize the image of the woman, the second is to punish the woman”. So, in addition to placing the woman in a sexualized and less assertive role, a masochistic motivation is also highlighted through this fetishistic gaze. Before meeting Lisa, Michael's character calls an ex-girlfriend, Bella. They meet up and she ends the conversation with, "I've gained some weight... so don't look at me scared or anything." With Lisa it is often said “Shut up Lisa!”, or she is filmed in a close-up while her hair is constantly pinned down to cover the scar to show a sense of discomfort. Michael is eventually revealed to have a history of significant others having insecurities and shyness in their behavior. This repeated preference can be explained as compensation for Michael's loneliness as he is literally surrounded by a world where everyone looks and sounds the same, and in return makes his social interactions with them stale and hostile. This includes the disconnected relationship he has with his wife and children, as shown in telling his wife, "Woman, I don't want..." as a hesitation to talk to his son on the phone. With this loneliness, Mulvey describes his scopophilia as “taking other people as objects.” Even Edward in Pretty Woman, freshly hurt by a breakup, turns to a woman who is more submissive to his desires and needs since she can be paid by him; he states “I will pay you to be at my command” which shows his goal of finding the simplest source of human intimacy. While these male characters seek a more compliant mate, they are also equally insecure. This raises the suspicion whether the power gaze in romantic films helps to strengthen the charisma between the character and his lover, or is it actually that "the woman does not matter in the slightest" but only what "inspires the hero" . The female character is simply what she represents and in turn could be interchangeable with whoever the male character can satisfy. In Anomalisa, Michael asks Bella "Did you change while we were together", despite Bella stating that they were "special together". This suggests that despite their extraordinary bond, he has begun to feel bored. The same goes for his infatuation with Lisa which leads to his gradual annoyance with her more obvious flaws.