|
|
Article: Introduction.(THE EDITORS)
- Article from:
- Velvet Light Trap
- Article date:
- March 22, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 University of Texas at Austin (University of Texas Press). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In one of the earliest pieces on pornography from the field of film studies Paul Willemen laid out the concept of the fourth look as distinct from the three looks of mainstream narrative cinema: the intradiegetic look of the characters, the look of the camera, and the look of the spectator. (1) The fourth look catches the spectator in an act of cinematic voyeurism and causes shame. It is a censorious look whether self-censoring or through more overt legal restrictions.
Obviously, pornography elicits this fourth look more often than any other genre. In mainstream narrative cinema (and even in many art films), for example, the look of the viewer is frequently ...