Sexuality Essay

From the first moment, it is apparent that the two women do not fit the homosexual stereotype and yet, from the eye contact in which the lady being dressed is continuously on her dresser, plus the diegetic sound of her breathing heavily denotes that her heart rate is high signifying an attraction. Therefore when the dresser reciprocates by seductively stroking her dressee’s shoulders and exclaiming “You look beautiful”, the audience starts to believe that they are more than just associates or friends, that they are attracted to one another. However, due to their Victorian era, appearance and upper class location, they are challenging the homosexual stereotype. The accompaniment of a mid-shot reinforces their already questionable relationship by demonstrating the proxemics between the two, as they are standing within inches of each other. Furthermore, the mid-shot being followed by a close up emphasises the dressee’s breathing, so in effect, the audience’s idea is reinforced.  The transition into the next scene is a slow smooth fade, representing the dresser’s forbidden love for her friend, it is motivated by the dresser who is also the narrator, signifying her attraction for the other. The narrator’s voice over is soft but how she talks to the other lady is very passionately. The camera zooms slowly to show the composition of the two women in the same bed, where the depth of field or focus is on the main character’s hand slowly moving over her friend’s body, in order not to touch it but to gain the closeness she so desires, hence why the camera moving so slowly makes the scene so much more intense and passionate. The scene’s atmosphere is heightened by the lighting in the room being very dark with only a few lights signifying a romantic atmosphere, but in this case the secrecy of her love is prominent. The next scene shows the lady painting her friend, and as she looks the camera pan with her eyeline, until her eyes fall on her friend’s breasts, this is shown in a shot reverse shot, from her eyes to her friend, the object of her eye, this could be likened to Laura Mulvey’s male gaze, as the way she is looking at her friend is in a way a man would look at a woman. The dripping of red paint denotes that her attraction must stop; this is accompanied by the man saying “She must think we are in love”. The non-diegetic music is very quiet and slow while she paints, but when a man enters the scene it gets faster and louder, to denote a threat or dominance he has over her. The man also exerts his power over her by he is leaning over her, this is followed by a mid-shot of where the man grabs her, enforcing on her that he is in charge, he has a hold over her. The camera pans with the man’s actions as he caresses the lady’s hand, and the look of disgust on her face as he does so, he has all the control and power and dominates this woman over her sexuality. The very last scene is introduced by her friend undressing; this is slowed down to emphasise her eyes scanning every detail on her friend’s body. The clip as a whole is challenging the lesbian stereotype due to being set in Victorian times, where homosexuality was uncommon and frowned upon. Homosexuality in this clip is shown as a negative stereotype as it was forbidden and therefore the heterosexual man, even though he is the villain, is a positive sexual stereotype in the era.