Review: Repulsion: Semiotics and The Male Gaze

Fig.1 Original Repulsion Poster [Poster] (1965)

Semiotics is the study of signs or symbols, enabling a reader or viewer to further understand the meaning or interpretation behind something. Some things this review will be looking at include; the hands in Repulsion, use of Eyes, the decaying Rabbit and the cracks forming around the protagonist, in correlation with the male gaze theory. The male gaze theory is a theory invented by Laura Mulvey. It is the theory that is made up of women being placed somewhere for the pleasure of men, for men to look at and enjoy. The male gaze theory has been used for a long time to gain male viewer attention, some films purely based around this theory like 50 Shades of Grey (figure 2)- it can even be seen during films, that don't have any relation to sexual nature at all, like Transformers (2007) (figure 3).

Fig.3 Megan Fox in Transformers [Still] (2007)

Fig. 2 50 Shades of Grey [Film Still] (2015)

Repulsion is Roman Polanski's, 1965, drama/thriller film about a young woman named Carole. Carole is a woman who is ruled by her fear of men (androphobia), so when her sister leaves town to go on a holiday with an already married man, Carole begins to lose the plot. As the time goes on, she leaves her job and hides in the apartment for days, in her mind, the walls begin to fall apart, large cracks form as her mental state deteriorates and a rabbit rots on the counter. Eventually, a man comes to visit her as he had interest in her, who she then proceeds to kill out of fear. Another man comes along, the landlord, who she kills as well. Once her sister returns to find two dead men and a destroyed apartment, Carole is carried away, leaving the audience on quite a cliffhanger, we never find out what happens to Carole after her insanity peaks.

In Repulsion, Carole is a beautiful blonde woman who is always being watched by men, she is always in the public eye when leaving the house and this is emphasised through the cinematography and costume design. 'Polanski often fills the frame with Carol's body rather than her face, providing a unique self-aware presentation of the male gaze.' (Myers, 2015). This can be seen in Figure 4, where her body is more visible than her face, which is covered by her hair. She is treated more like an object than a person for a lot of the film, the only real time Carole behaves like a normal person is at work, and even that falls apart. 

Fig. 4 Carole on the floor [Still]

When looking more closely towards the male gaze in Repulsion, it can begin with hands. Hands play a crucial role in Repulsion, at the beginning of the film when Carole is happier and in control of her life she is working and giving a manicure to a client. She is holding the hand, helping a client achieve a males perspective on beauty. Not only is Carole in control of herself and somebody else here, but she is also helping another woman achieve a stereotype in the male gaze, her whole job in fact revolves around the male gaze. Carole works with many other pretty women in a beauty salon, constantly beautifying other ladies to live up to a mans expectation of what they should look like. After Carole returns after a few days of her mental state getting worse, she injures a clients finger. This can be a way of her showing us that she is subconsciously beginning to reject the way that women are objectified by the way they look (Cileone, 2015). 

Once her mental state begins to deteriorate, this is represented in a few ways. One being the rabbit, which spends its time decomposing in the apartment, out in the open and covered in flies. It slowly rots away, symbolic of Caroles 'deterioration into madness, shown in stark hallucinogenic horror form' (Jones, 2005) The only way the audience knows that time is moving is by the state of the rabbit. In the flat, through cracks forming, unplugged equipment and rotting food, the audience can identify that Carole is losing a sense of reality and connections to the real world. In relation to the previous paragraph, the walls turn into male hands and arms, which grab Carole sexually and make her extremely uncomfortable (figure 5)

Another way her mental deterioration is represented is through the apartment changing. Cracks appear in the walls and the floor. Some of the smaller cracks are real, but larger cracks begin to form as Caroles mental state falls apart. The cracks and her mental state reflect each other quite literally, '[Carole's] fragile psyche begins to crumble' (Hogan, 1988). As the film continues, it can start to become more clear that Carole is suffering terribly in some form, mentally. The cracks on the apartment represent the cracks in her mind (in terms of semiotics), these cracks could represent the cracks of her past, or the cracks of a mental sickness like psychosis- which involves very vivid hallucinations. Through the film, there is also multiple references to the old photograph of Carole's family, where she appears very out-of-place. 'Child abuse is a casual factor for psychosis and schizophrenia, and, more specifically, the hallucinations, particularly voices commenting and commanding hallucinations.' (Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2005). The photograph references can refer that this has been a long time coming for Carole, and her mental breakdown was going to happen due to events in her past. By the way she is represented being terrified of men throughout the film can let a spectator assume that she was raped or sexually abused when she was younger. 

In conclusion, using semiotics and the male gaze to analyse Repulsion, it is fair to say that the film has a lot of layers that help to form Carole into the character she is, in the state that she is. The male gaze as a whole is very prominent throughout the film, seen by how men treat Carole as an object and how women constantly go out of their way for men, in terms of beauty. Hands are used to also help with the male gaze representation, using them to show touch, aggression and lust. The apartment changing helps the audience to understand that Carole is falling apart mentally. 


Illustrations:
Figure 1- Repulsion Film Poster (1965) [Online] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059646/mediaviewer/rm685521408 (Accessed on 26 November 2018)
Figure 2- 50 Shades [Film Still] (2015) At: https://variety.com/2018/film/opinion/fifty-shades-of-grey-freed-consent-metoo-1202693353/ (Accessed on: 26 November 2018)
Figure 3- Megan Fox in Transformers [Film Still] At:  https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/transformers-4-cameo-megan-fox/ (Accessed on: 26 November 2018)
Figure 4- Carole on the floor [Film Still] At: https://www.timeoutdubai.com/films/features/32880-repulsion-1965 (Accessed on: 26 November 2018)
Bibliography:
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, (2005) Childhood Trauama, Psychosis, and Schizophrenia: A Literature Review With Theoreticval and Clinical Implications. [Online] At: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9993/2964fd5a7ad13d63ade2630b088e8c7c8d64.pdf (Accessed on 22 November 2018)
Cileone, G. 2015. Repulsion [Online] At: http://mymeaningfulmovies.blogspot.com/2015/08/repulsion.html (Accessed on: 22 Novemeber 2018)
Hogan, J. D. (1988) Dark Romance: Sex and Death in Horror Film. Northamptonshire: Equation.
Jones, A. (2005) The Rough Guide to Horror Movies. London: Rough Guides. Page 138.
Myers, S. (2015) Classic 60s Movie: Repulsion [Article for Go Into The Story, Medium [Online] At: https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/classic-60s-movie-repulsion-4065d7e9c1e0 (Accessed on 22 November 2018)