Mulvey and my Independent Study

Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze can relate to the main character ‘Kitten’ in ‘Breakfast on Pluto’. Although he is male, when dressed as a woman he is physically attractive, glamorous and has many stereotypically feminine attributes and personality traits such as being gentle and romantic. This could therefore lead to him being objectified by a male audience, especially in the scene in which he wears high heels and mini skirt to go to the club. This could therefore mean that the male audience fetishizes the transvestism of the main character, as is suggested within the film in the club scene where the audience is unsure whether the man Kitten dances with is aware of his transvestism or not. In terms of psychoanalysis, Freud may suggest that this male physical attraction to main character Kitten could be repressed to the subconscious, known as resistance. Yet, as Freud suggests, Kitten is often shown with phallic symbols to combat anxiety of castration. These objects include an umbrella and a microphone and are present both when Kitten is dressed as male or female. In fact, even when Kitten is dressed in male clothing it could be suggested that his attire is feminine, although this is accounted for in part by the glam rock era and it’s sexual ambiguity. When Kitten is dressed as a woman although he seems convincing to the characters within the film, the audience are not convinced. Plus, Kitten adopts stereotypical roles such as that of a mother and a housewife. This seems to reinforce a patriarchal society in which becoming a woman means becoming subservient to the dominant male. Womb envy is also obviously very significant to the film as Kitten goes so far as to overcome this envy by adopting the female persona and cares for Charlie’s baby in a motherly way.