The Substance (2024)-Male Gaze

This study analyzes the representation of the female body and the impact of patriarchal beauty standards in The Substance (2024) through Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory. The film offers a paradoxical portrait of women's objectification, focusing on the character of Elisabeth, a middle-aged actress ostracized by the entertainment industry for not fitting into youthful ideals. This study aims to analyze how The Substance visualizes the male gaze by comparing Elizabeth's aging body with Sue's body perfection by depicting the entertainment industry's obsession with youth and female disposability. This study uses qualitative content analysis and scene-based close reading to analyze specific scenes and highlight how these films reproduce and critique hegemonic norms. This study is critical because it exposes how the male gaze continues to shape women's roles and agency in contemporary cinema, even in self-aware feminist horror. The study's findings suggest that The Substance satirizes and supports the commodification of the female body, specifically through the horror of aging, body modification, and identity removal. The final scene, where the protagonist's body melts, shows objectification; A woman's body is used and discarded. While previous research focused more on youth-centric beauty ideals, this study offers a new contribution by focusing on aging as a cinematic horror. The study contributes to gender discourse and the media by showing how The Substance issues visual pleasure, illustrating the risks of maintaining the "ideal woman" in a male-dominated visual culture

本研究借助劳拉·穆尔维（Laura Mulvey）的男性凝视（Male Gaze）理论，剖析2024年电影《肉体》（The Substance）中女性身体的呈现方式，以及父权制审美标准的影响。该片对女性客体化呈现出悖论性的刻画，聚焦中年女演员伊丽莎白这一角色——她因不符合年轻化审美理想而被娱乐行业排挤。本研究旨在通过对比伊丽莎白的衰老躯体与苏的完美躯体，结合对娱乐行业痴迷年轻特质、女性可弃置性的刻画，分析《肉体》如何具象化男性凝视。本研究采用质性内容分析（qualitative content analysis）与基于场景的细读（scene-based close reading）方法，对具体镜头场景展开分析，凸显该片如何再生产并批判霸权性社会规范（hegemonic norms）。本研究的批判性价值在于，它揭示了即便在具备自我意识的女性主义恐怖片中，男性凝视仍持续塑造着当代电影中女性的角色定位与主体性（agency）。研究结果表明，《肉体》通过衰老恐惧、身体改造与身份消解的恐怖叙事，既讽刺了又在强化女性身体的商品化（commodification）现象。主角躯体融化的终场镜头，具象展现了客体化过程：女性身体被利用后即遭抛弃。既往研究更多聚焦以年轻化为核心的审美理想，本研究则将衰老作为电影恐怖元素展开探讨，由此提供了新的研究视角。本研究通过揭示《肉体》如何传递视觉快感，阐明了在男性主导的视觉文化中坚守“理想女性”形象的风险，从而为性别话语与媒介研究贡献了新的思考维度。