Female Gaze From the View of A Female Director Analysis of The Bold, The Corrupt, and The Beautiful and The Old Town Girls as Examples

Abstract

Since Laura Mulvey innovated the gaze theory, European and American societies have experienced two waves of feminist revolutions, and women's social status has gradually increased. Thus in recent years, many filmmakers have begun to create films from women's perspectives, and critics have also created the term "Female Gaze" as an opposite to the term "Male Gaze". However, there has not been any clear definition so far of what the "Female Gaze" is. The film and television analysis nowadays pays more attention to the female-to-female gaze and female-to-male gaze in romantic relationships and ignores the role of female directors play in shaping the relationship of film characters, especially the non-romantic relationships between female characters. Influenced by the feminist current, China's feminist films have also made great progress. Male and female directors have created new female roles through the lens. However, the different portrayals of female characters in the female-led films reflect the differences between Male Gaze and "Female Gaze". This paper will take The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful and The Old Town Girls as examples, by analyzing these two female-led films directed by a male and a female respectively, this paper will explore the main features of "Female Gaze" in female directing films.