In recent years, the rise of the internet and the sharing of ideas across diverse populations have led to an increase in people identifying openly as queer. This cultural shift has prompted the film industry to cater more to queer audiences, moving away from the predominantly straight-focused narratives of the past. This evolution is particularly evident in lesbian films, genre historically plagued by objectification and the male gaze. The past decade seems to mark a golden age for lesbian movies made for and by queer women. A prime example of this trend is Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding, which breaks away from toxic tropes and presents a love story that is authentically and deliciously queer.
One major shift in the sapphic film genre is retaking the gaze. To understand this phenomenon, it is important to define the concept of the “gaze.” This idea, brought to popular attention by feminist film scholar Laura Mulvey in her 1973 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” discusses gazing as the relationship between the audience and an object onscreen, particularly concerning voyeuristic desire. The male gaze, as defined by Mulvey, refers to the point of view of a male spectator that is reproduced in both cinematography and narrative conventions of cinema. In this view, men are the subjects who shape the action, while women are the objects shaped by the action.
While the male gaze was discussed long before Mulvey’s essay, the concept of a “female gaze” emerged as a reaction to her theories. Rather than being a mere opposite of the male gaze, the female gaze in film theory refers to works that display the reality of being a woman in modern society. Female characters are portrayed as fully fleshed-out human beings, prompting the audience to consider the implications of voyeuristic pleasure at women’s expense. The female gaze challenges the male gaze instead of flipping the script to sexualize men for female viewers.
Most mainstream media centers around male audiences or a patriarchal society, catering to the dominant culture. Films threatening this mindset or made for more diverse audiences have often been considered niche or indie, rarely gaining public attention. Consequently, many queer films have been created with the male gaze in mind, following tragic tropes that portray queerness negatively to cater to straight audiences.
In sapphic films, particularly critically acclaimed male-directed films featuring graphic sex scenes like Blue Is the Warmest Color, the male gaze is evident in the sexualization of women on screen. These portrayals serve less to advance the plot and more to fulfill male fantasies. The women in these films often conform to traditional beauty standards dictated by the male gaze, appearing very feminine and desirable. While maintaining femme representation is important in recent queer films, the way these women are sexualized by the camera and each other makes it clear that these films were not created with queer audiences in mind.
Breaking away from this harmful archetype, the recent focus on queer female filmmakers has allowed both the female gaze and the queer gaze to take the forefront of modern sapphic films. This shift has led to more authentic queer stories and representation. The difference between queer films made for straight audiences versus those showing authentic stories lies in the gaze through which they were filmed. The female gaze has been used more in mainstream films in recent years. Historically, queer cinema struggled to break into the mainstream, with many queer projects only taken on by indie studios or perpetuating tragic tropes. The recent shift has been encouraged by the rising number of people identifying as queer in younger generations, highlighting the necessity of authentic representation.
Not all these films have been well-received, and some have failed in their portrayal of healthy queer relationships. However, Rose Glass has struck gold with her film Love Lies Bleeding. This neo-noir thriller follows reclusive gym manager Lou and bodybuilder Jackie, who is passing through town on her way to a competition in Las Vegas. The film includes some violent and graphic scenes, so viewers should watch with caution. Since its release in May, Love Lies Bleeding has received incredibly positive reviews, earning a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing $8.3 million domestically, finishing 6th at the box office.
Love Lies Bleeding is an unapologetically queer film, made for and by queer people. One significant aspect that highlights this fact is the direction of the gaze within the film. In many male gaze-centered sapphic films, the protagonists conform to traditional beauty standards, exploiting the sexuality of two feminine-presenting women within the scope of male fantasy. However, this film provides the masc representation that many queer films have been missing. Neither protagonist is presented as traditionally feminine, removing them from a male-validation-centered universe. The sex scenes are well-executed, with the women not overly sexualized. The camera positioning and their interactions at the beginning seamlessly fuse intimate scenes into the narrative, avoiding voyeuristic elements common in sapphic movies.
Another commendable aspect of the film is that it is not inherently about two people who are gay. Their relationship is integral to the film but is not overtly focused on tragic coming-out stories or backstories of discrimination. This, coupled with scenes of Lou and Jackie confronting and defeating oppressive male figures in their lives, emphasizes that the film is created through the female gaze. By doing this, they entertain one of the major factors of the female gaze of literally overpowering the patriarchal society they live in and punishing those who have put them in boxes in the past. Despite its short runtime of less than two hours, both protagonists are well-developed characters whose trajectories throughout the story force the audience to consider the meaning of the female experience in a patriarchal world.
Love Lies Bleeding exemplifies the recent trend of having more queer creatives in charge of queer stories, presenting a wonderfully queer narrative through the female gaze. As the film industry continues to evolve, supporting and uplifting these authentic representations is becoming more essential, fostering a more inclusive and diverse cinematic landscape. This film not only highlights the progress made in queer cinema but also sets a high standard for future sapphic films, proving that stories made for and by queer people can resonate powerfully with audiences.
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