Big essay coming. I’ve been working on it for 2 weeks now.
Mirrors. So often they are associated solely with the world of women. Especially in art. Women are the ones who are represented looking in mirrors. Primping, preening, turning, looking for reflection, or maybe satisfied with what she sees, calm contentment in her self-contained beauty, but more often than that – looking for enlargement, or confirmation of something. That she is worthy, beautiful, that the outer image of beauty can be created, again and again. Searching for the fantasy that she is erecting of herself. Looking for it in the glass. This has not been men’s way, or their role in art. Narcissus is the exception, and look what happened to him.
But in the 70s and early 80s there was a sea-change in the culture, our culture, great shifts, still not completely understood, or seen fully – and naturally these shifts were reflected in the films of the time, and the characters being created. Especially the male characters. How do we see ourselves? How do we reflect upon ourselves? Our roles? Who we are as we navigate our lives?
Women looking in the mirror is a typical image, and for the most part, we know what she is doing when she looks upon herself. She applies her mask. It is an armoring up, rather than a stripping away. But when a man looks at himself in the mirror – (and not in a perfunctory practical “let me straighten the knot in my tie” way) – there are completely different connotations.
It has a supremely unbalancing effect on the audience.
The vulnerability makes some of these moments nearly unwatchable (and therefore iconic images in American cinema). We do not expect this silent questioning self-regard of men – it was unprecedented, at least in our cinematic history. It’s not vanity that is going on here. Not just vanity any way. Something else is happening.
That’s what my essay is about.
Michael: this whole thing was inspired by something you said to me recently. So I suppose … this will be for you, when the damn thing is finally finished. I have a photo of the two of us – which is connected to my theme of reflection and fantasy and contemplation, in its own way. Silly, really, but I’ll include it.
AWESOME, Sheila.
Here’s one of my favorites.
Oooh!!! Good one!
You look really beautiful in that photo, Sheila.
After reading your essay and looking at the photo I linked to – notice: he’s not looking in the mirror; he’s looking away. She’s the one who is staring. Especially when you consider the character he’s playing, the things he’s done that he has to confront, his “condition” that he has to live with and the people that manipulate him because of it…he’s not looking at HER or even himself. Looking at someone in the mirror like that demands a certain level of trust or familiarity, something that he’ll never ever share with another human being again. It’s kind of heartbreaking in light of your great observations.
And I just love the poster in the Travolta picture.
Very fascinating – the traditional female using a mirror thing is all about viewing youself from someone else’s point of view – as in, “let me see what so-and-so will see when i walk into the room”. the male in the mirror seems to me to be viewing yourself from your own point of view – as in, “let me see what I think of myself”. a practice run, if you would. Am I explaining the difference I’m feeling? the picture of DeNiro in particular displays what i’m trying to convey.
also sheila, another good example might be martin sheen in apocalypse now when he’s going all tae kwan do ape shit in his hotel room
Jean – yes!! That’s what I’m going to try to get at in the essay. Man up against himself. These are inward-looking images … even though these characters (especially DeNiro in the last one) THINK they are outer-directed. Like that Travis Bickle mirror moment is him trying to CREATE an outer self that will protect that inner little wounded guy.
The closest thing to the “female looking in mirror” energy is Travolta in the Saturday Night Fever one – but even that has a level of ANXIETY that is … very different. There’s a blankness behind his eyes as he contemplates himself. He is trying to psyche himself up into his public fantasy of himself.
Okay – I’m giving too much away. I’ll stop now. And keep writing.
Jean- oh shit, of course! Amazing scene!!
That’s from the same time period I was investigating – late 60s, 70s, and early 80s. I’ll add him to the mix. Thank you!
Emily – yes, wow, that is kind of what I’m trying to get at. It’s almost like – his body – those words all over it – it has become his own mirror. He looks to it to know who he is, where he is. But still – to stare at his own reflection would be too much of an admission, too vulnerable … Maybe??
I just find this whole topic so interesting.
I’ll put the essay up in the next couple of days.
I can’t wait to read it.
Another good one I just thought of was Maggie Smith in Gosford Park, the shot where she’s sitting at the vanity getting ready for dinner, talking about how much she hates shooting and asks “why does one have to do these things?” as she sweeps her face with her powder brush. It’s a great moment – she’s looking right at herself during the superficial act of putting on make-up but there’s no recognition of her own soul there. She’s completely and utterly lacking in self-awareness (“I haven’t got a snobbish bone in my body.” Um, lady…you’re the biggest snob in the house. Give me a break), even in moments where she’s staring into her own eyes. She just doesn’t get…I don’t know…life? Why does she have to go to shooting paries? Maybe because the guy throwing it is SUPPORTING her more lavishly than she deserves, though not in her own mind? The least she could do is show up and be considerate of his hobbies. No, she is just put-upon over it, but if you told her so, she’d swear you were describing a totally different person. A person with perfectly functioning eyesight who cannot see in spite of it.
John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank has a mirror moment in the hotel. In fact, I think there’s more than one. He does a practice run of what to say to people at his high school reunion (“Hi. I’m, uh, I’m a pet psychiatrist. I sell couch insurance. Mm-hmm, and I – and I test-market positive thinking. I lead a weekend men’s group, we specialize in ritual killings…”).
Later I think he’s looking in the mirror when he repeats his institutionalized mother’s words back to himself, “You’re a handsome devil. What’s your name?” It makes sense to return to the mirror because the entire film revolves around a man trying to figure out who he is and who he wants to be.
I think you’re spot-on about the difference in impact when we see a man looking in a mirror. For me, when a woman does that in a film it seems to ask the question, “What is she seeing?” and when a man does it I often find myself wondering in a more abstract way, “What is he thinking?”
//She’s completely and utterly lacking in self-awareness (“I haven’t got a snobbish bone in my body.” Um, lady…you’re the biggest snob in the house. Give me a break)//
I am shaking with laughter. That is so so true – isn’t she just the most brilliant thing ever?? It takes a true genius to play someone so completely un-selfaware.
Marisa – cool observation at the end there, thank you … I feel, in a way, that when we see images of women staring at their reflection, we are seeing a version of their public self. It is them “masking up” – if we want to see a woman in a really private moment, then it probably will NOT be at her mirror. But these men are all having intensely private experiences – staring at their own images … and each one, each character, is having a totally singular experience, based on who he is, and where he is at in his life at that time. Rocky looking at himself is having a totally different experience than Travis Bickle – and Julian K from American Gigolo is having a totally different experience than Jake LaMotta … these are all men engaged in some sort of private dialogue with themselves … and it’s inherently mysterious. Woman has mystery … but it’s usually not revealed in the mirror. It comes out in different ways.
I love contemplating all of this – there are so many awesome juicy examples.
Also, there’s no right or wrong here, no either/or … it’s just different.
and don’t forget Little Edie and the mirrors!!!
I’m somehow sensing that I’m going to spend the rest of my life tearing apart scenes in movies involving mirrors because of this…and you haven’t even written the main post yet. You’re right, Sheila. It’s a fascinating subject.
Isn’t there a mirror scene at the very end of Dangerous Liaisons? Glenn Close has just been disgraced at the opera and sits in front of her mirror, dragging her makeup off with a cloth. It’s like she’s naked.
Looking SO forward to reading your piece, Sheila!
I found a shot of that moment, but I don’t know how to put links up here! ACK!
Tracey….
BRILLIANT moment. Absolutely stunning…she’s totally gotten what she deserves. Complete disgrace. It’s beautiful.
Emily — I know! There’s a shot of that moment on the wikipedia page for Dangerous Liaisons. It also shows the shot of her looking into the mirror at the very beginning of the movie, at the height of her confidence. It’s amazing to see those two moments together.
One of my favorite movies of all time. Now, I must see it again, just for that mirror moment at the end.
Tracey – the one in the beginning! Oh YEAH! She’s just so satisfied with herself, so PLEASED with what she sees. Outwardly, she’s the image of perfection for her time, but just a morbidly cruel and disgusting person on the inside.
BTW, I’d type you the code for how to post links to the photo, but it wouldn’t show up, since the blog would read the HTML.
Maybe this will work:
type:
And clearly it doesn’t. Bah. It showed up in the preview. Bloody HTML.
Okay, I found a great one of that moment. Look at that face.
YEAH! Bloody HTML! ;-)
THAT’S THE ONE! YAY!
And I had typed my last comment before I noticed you’d gotten it.
But that face — that one moment — is a whole world in itself. It’s astonishing. She’s dead; she’s lost. Damn! She is SO amazing in that movie.
Tracey – she was. She was. The thing about that moment in the picture – where she’s totally stripped of her “mask,” the one that made her outwardly appealing and all she has left is herself and her conscience. And that makes her MISERABLE. I’m not even sure it’s guilt or shame for what she’s done that she’s experiencing. She was too evil to regret her actions or accept her role in the blame of things. It’s hard to tell what her character might actually be thinking because everything she is and does is just so foreign to me. I cannot think like a person that cruel. I can’t imagine what she’d be feeling at that moment, when all is said and done and she’s been exposed as a sadistic phoney to everyone she knows and all she’s left to contemplate is her own bare reflection.
Amazing idea, Sheila. It never would have occured to me to give these kind of details such thought.
Never thought about it before, but during a key scene in Gross Pointe Blank the song “Mirror In The Bathroom” is playing. I’d like to think it was intentional.
first time we see the face of barbra streisand in a film..its in a mirror and she says “hello gorgeous” to her reflection..she is pretending she thinks its true…in meet me in st. louis..judy sits at her vanity and responds to her sister saying that “men dont like the bloom rubbed off”..she eyes herself and says to herself “personally,
i think i have too much bloom”..both scenes are of beautiful women being fretful of how they are perceived by others.
What a fascinating subject! I love it!
dork,
Any song that contains both the words “mirror in the bathroom” and “please don’t speak” should be self-explanitory. You are a genius for bringing them both up.
tracey and Emily – that Dangerous Liaisons one is very interesting because that, to me, represents a private moment – along the lines of the male ones I’m dissecting. She’s not masking up – she’s raw and vulnerable and really BEING with herself. Her horrible self. And it’s interesting because she’s taking OFF her makeup. That’s her most private moment.
Makes a lot of sense. She’s brilliant in that movie. I love when she gets hissed at in the theatre. Wow.
Oh good GOD, don’t forget Marshall Mathers in the beginning of “8 Mile”