Detailed Plan..x

My independent study will be focusing on the representation of Lesbians in Sugar rush and whether Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze is subverted or applied. My argument will be split into two as I will be discussing how lesbians are represented in the show, whether they are dominant or inferior to men. This will link well with Laura Mulvey’s theory as her theory’s main focus is about the male gaze and that women are always subservient to men and that there are an object of being lookatless.

The programme is based on a teenage girl called Kim and her infatuation with her best friend, Sugar. The programme takes the audience on a journey of Kim’s life. Kim is the narrator of the show, so as the audience we are forced to identify with her as we see everything in her point of view. This means that Kim is not a passive female but is active, as she is the person who drives the narrative forward and she is the one who controls what we see and what we don’t.

Sugar Rush was produced by the company responsible for teen drama series As If, and shares many of the same production values. Both are glossy and vividly colored, with quick editing and a poppy soundtrack to keep things moving, making both shows the dramatic equivalent of the Bacardi Breezers so beloved of British teenagers--colorful and sweet, but with a punch.

But while As If was on in the early evening and Sunday lunchtimes, Channel 4 has scheduled Sugar Rush at 10:50pm, a little late for what should be considered its target audience, especially on a school night. This is probably due to strong language and “scenes of sexual nature” but it does beg the question: what audience is Channel 4 targeting?

Main Points in the Essay:

• The show is based on a lesbian woman and how she deals with her day to day dilemmas of having feelings for her best friend, Sugar.
  
• The woman in the shown are seen to be independant, free and stable. They are not dependant on any male figure, besides Sugar who claims she is hetresexual and still conforms to the stereotype of woman needing and wanting a man.
  
• Even though the show is targeted at more of a female, tenage audience, the women in the show can be seen a objects of the male gaze, as in some seens parts of their body are fetished to fulfil mens desires.
  
• Teenage, drama, romance, the fact that lesbianism seems to be a normality and everyone in the show eg Kim's parents accept and support the fact that she is a lesbian. Society's views are changing and being lesbian is not seen as a problem no longer.
  
• Women in the show are breaking traditional stereotypes and roles reversals are seen as Nathan is at home taking on the domestic role and Stella, his wife is portrayed as the homer wreaker by having an affair. Kim doesnt acknowledge her own parents and calls her mother by her first name which gives the audience the impressions she does not respect her mother.
  
• Kim is the protagonist in the show, which is ironic as men usually are, which portrays her as dominant as the entire show is from her perspective which allows the audience to indentify with her.
  
• None of the women in the show illustrata a passive role, as all of them are rebellious and do something that would have be fronded upon in society many years ago.
  

All the women in the show are there for a different purpose as all of them suffer and long for different things..

Stella, Kim's mother is longing for companionship. To help her with this, she decides to have an affair with Dale, the builder, while her husband it out. This illustrates how society is changing and that woman have more of a powerful role then they use to as opposed to many years ago when women in film and TV were sexually active or seductive were likely to get killed of. this was seen as there form of punishment from soceity. Stella is challenging stereotypes of women and sexuality. She is stating that women are allowed to enjoy sex the way men do. She wants her sexual deseries to be fulfiled as she clearly states 'Bering married to a man for 15 years and having his two children can lead to a very boring and repetitive sex life'. Stella is represents a hetresexual realtionship in the show as opposed to her daughter who represents the homosexual ones. Stella is not a ordinary mother fiure that a teen would respect, she is more of a freind to her children, which allows her children to have a comfortable and laid back relationship with her. Since stella didnt fulfill her motherly duties, it allowed her children to lose respect for her. Rather than her children coming to her for advice, she would go to Kim for advice. This agian, illustrates role reversal as kim as seen more a responsible figure.

Saint,is a young woman who works during the day in a female-orientated sex shop (called The Munch Box) and by night as a DJ at the CC . She is quite attractive and is more confident than Kim. Saint was introduced in the first episode of Series 2, where she bumped into Kim on the street. After the accident, there was a certain chemistry between the two and after several failed attempts at dating they become girlfriend and girlfriend, however by Episode 3 of Series 2, it is revealed that Saint is still friends with her ex-boyfriend, which causes some friction in her relationship with Kim. During Episode 5 of Series 2, Kim is caught cheating on Saint with rocker Montana which results in Kim overdosing on the beach. After several hallucinations, Kim repeatedly calls Saint apologising profusely before collapsing. When she awakes, Kim mistakenly believes Sugar saved her life; Yet it is revealed that it was actually Saint who saved Kim's life.

Saint has her own business which shows she is reliable and indepedant as she doesnt need a man to support her. In the past, the men were seen as the breawinners as they use to bring the money home, while the woman was meant to remain in the house hold and only have the responsibilty to look after the children and atke on the domesticated roles such as cooking, cleaning and meanding. She also has her own apartment, that she choses to share with Kim. Two lesbians living together would be seen as wrong, however it is openely being accepeted. Audiences would assume that they would be weaker without a man, however, they are represented as more active that passive.

Historical Research

BooKs AnD FiLm…

BENSHOFF, Harry M.

Monsters in the closet: homosexuality and the horror film.

Manchester, New York: Manchester University Press, 1997. 328p. illus. bibliog. index.

This text examines the relationship between the figure of the monster in horror film and that of the homosexual in real life, arguing that one is the ‘metaphoric construct’ of the other. Throughout history anything outside the ‘normal’ ideological realms of society has been viewed as monstrous by our culture at large, the author takes this premise and looks to the classic horror films of Hollywood’s Golden Era right through to the post-modern texts to explain how and why this genre above any other has homosexuality at its heart.

BRYANT, Wayne M.

Bisexual characters in film: from Anaïs to Zee.

Bingham, New York: Haworth Press, 1997. ix-xii, 186p. bibliog. indices.

In wanting to highlight and explore the history of bisexual characters in film what the author has actually achieved in doing is presenting a highly readable, well-researched history of the American film industry and its censorship laws. Whether you agree with his assertion that bisexual characters are less visible than even gay and lesbian ones, his arguments as to why can be applied across the breadth of queer film theory. Useful, easy to follow, recommended text.

CREEKMUR, Corey K. and DOTY, Alexander (eds.)
Out in culture: gay, lesbian and queer essays on popular culture.
London: Cassell, 1995. viii. 535p. illus. bibliog. index.
This is a key text in any study on gay and lesbian culture, and an invaluable resource when looking at how homosexuality is represented on screen. Here you’ll find essays from key feminist theorists such as B. Ruby Rich and Lucretia Knapp to gay film theorists Richard Dyer and Robin Wood. Discussing everything from Hitchcock to the television series BEWITCHED.

DYER, Richard (ed.)
Gays and film. [2nd ed.]
London: British Film Institute, 1980. 73p bibliog. filmog.
Although first published in the late 70s this is still a relevant text today as it addresses the
symbiotic relationship of the cinema and particular social groups, in this case gays and lesbians. It highlights the ‘special’ relationship gays and lesbians have with the cinema, not just theorising the ways this social group has been represented on screen but what impact such representations have on the viewer. Containing three essays by two authors as well as Dyer himself addressing ‘Lesbians and film’ ‘Stereotyping’ and ‘Camp sensibility’.

DYER, Richard
Now you see it: studies on lesbian and gay film. [2nd ed.]
London, New York: Routledge, 2002. 339p. illus. notes. refs. index.
Sometimes this book can seem heavy going at times but it’s worth persevering with as Dyer has proved himself an expert in this field of film criticism. Dyer examines specific films by and about lesbians and gay men such as MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM, Un CHAT D’MOUR and some forgotten early cinema, placing them within the context and sexual subculture in which they were made. In this second edition also included is a useful afterward by Julianne Puddick bringing the queer cinema debate up to date with a discussion of 1990s cinema.

DYER, Richard
Only entertainment. [2nd ed.]
London, New York: Routledge, 2002. 187p. illus. index.
Yet another collection of essays from Dyer on the subject of homosexual representation – this time he turns his attention to the less definable medium of ‘entertainment’. Understanding and defining entertainment in terms of where it fits into out culture in the first place, then going onto examine what we find entertaining as a society. His research is informed by cultural theory and representations of gays and lesbians in the mass media. Focus on specific films such as
SOUND OF MUSIC and SWEET CHARITY.

Other References...x
http://www.afterellen.com/Movies.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Rush_(TV_series)