Mulvey and Williams

After class, I got to thinking about how Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema” relates to the film version of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Mulvey suggests cinema gives men the power of “the gaze” thereby transforming women into objects of desire. In the film, Elizabeth Taylor plays a more attractive, glamorous Maggie than is depicted in the play. She is shown doing mundane things such as changing her stockings, but it is done in a proactive manner in order to obtain Brick’s gaze and quite possibly her male audience. Elizabeth Taylor, I believe, was casted perfectly for this role because she illustrated a great depiction of Maggie. She is a talented, classic beauty whose character I felt I could truly get into. However, as beautiful as she is, I feel Elizabeth Taylor was not the central object of desire in this story. Brick, played by the most handsome of all actors, Paul Newman, was the most intriguing character to follow. He, more than Maggie, represented this idea of “the gaze.” He was the most desirable figure and the most impenetrable figure within the play. 1) Brick’s wife, Maggie, wanted nothing more than for him to show physical and emotional affection for her, but because of his covert love for Skipper and disgust with himself, he could not show Maggie this affection. [play version—) 2)Out of the fear of what was not socially acceptable, Brick hung up the phone when Skipper confessed his love for him. Though Brick had strong feelings, Skipper could not get to him.] 3) Lastly, Big Daddy and Big Momma both desire that Brick be happy, but it is not until his and Big Daddy’s talk that Brick truly understands his situation within the family so to make himself happy. I may be a sucker for a Hollywood film ending, but I rather liked the end of the film as opposed to that of the play. I feel that after having that long talk with Big Daddy, it is possible for Brick to understand the inner-workings of his family and want to better his situation with Big Daddy and Maggie.