Women in Film:
That
Object Named "Desire"
or In Search of TRUE Liberation for
Women
by
Maria
Pearse
Romanian
translation by Alexander Ovsov: Femeile în film

I. Introduction
It can be said with no
exaggeration that without women there would be no cinema. Sadly, this is
so not because the natural concerns of genuine womanhood have been
addressed in film, but because from the very beginnings of cinema a
woman has been made the centerpiece of attraction, an object of desire.
This systematic cultivation of women as objects of desire has been akin
to the gradual process of drug addiction: at first, the effects were
rather mild and pleasantly stimulating - and thus considered not only
harmless by both men and women, but even liberating - however, as time
went on and doses increased, a feverish state of dependency set in. What
has started out as a quest for liberation from convention ended up being
a different form of enslavement.
Today women can be seen to have
divided themselves into roughly two groups: those, who continue to
perceive this enslavement as "liberation"; and those, who vaguely sense
that the real search for the true liberation of women has not even
begun.
To help us gain insight into the
predicament of womanhood, we will focus at the outset on the two films
by the world's greatest woman-director, Agnes Varda. The choice of Varda
is a natural one not only because she is a woman (it is actually quite
rare that a woman-director is able to make use of her womanly intuition
in the filmmaking process), but more importantly, because she belongs to
that select group of filmmakers, who engage in spiritual seeking through
the medium of film.
II.
Beauty and Freedom
Surprising as it might seem at first,
the question of beauty is absolutely critical to unlocking the mystery
of a woman's failure so far to attain true liberation - so that Varda's
film Cléo from 5 to 7 (1961) presents us with the perfect
opportunity to focus on this issue and to see just what connection
exists between beauty and freedom. The film chronicles two hours in the
life of a woman as she waits for the results of her cancer test.
Cléo, the main character, is
beautiful - so beautiful that, as she walks down the street, men stop
and stare. She herself is perfectly aware of this and does not miss a
chance to look at her own reflection. She is a famous pop singer; she
has money and a boyfriend, who "adores" her; she lives in Paris, has a
maid and rides around in cabs. Her life is perfect. There is only one
problem now: death is knocking on her door. Panic-stricken, she
intuitively grasps at that, which she feels should provide her with a
support: beauty. But this support is not there for her. Again and again
she reaches for it in vain; it slips right through her fingers. She goes
to a hat store and tries on every hat, reassuring herself that she looks
beautiful in everything. And even, when she receives "confirmation" from
a fortune-teller of her own forboding premonition concerning the outcome
of her test, she consoles herself by looking into the mirror and
thinking:
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Don't rush away,
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pretty butterfly.
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Ugliness is a kind of death...
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As long as I'm beautiful,
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I'm alive.
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This, however, only works for a
little while. A few minutes later, she is having a fit of hysterics in a
cafe (also while looking at herself in a mirror). So what is wrong here?
Why can't Cléo find real support in beauty? Is she, perhaps, mistaking
in her assumption that beauty can provide such support? Is true beauty
as fleeting as a butterfly? Or does it possess an unsuspected power? Such power as prompted Dostoevsky to
write:
"Beauty will save the world."
These words are
well-known (particularly in Russia), but they are usually viewed as the
statement of an idealist, a dreamer. Hardly anyone suspects that behind
these words stands the Power of the Living Law: the Law of Beauty.
Knowing this, we can see the following: it is not beauty that has failed
to save the world, but it is we, who have failed to bring true beauty
into this world. And this is why now we, along with Cléo, have no access
to the Power of Beauty. What we have instead are substitutes for beauty.
We are assailed by them continuously from all sides.
Cinema, in particular, has
made a devastating contribution here. One definition of 99% of cinema
would be to say that it specializes in creating beauty-substitutes.
Through personality cults of stars, through promotion of escapism into
fantasy, it creates images, which encourage superficiality and vanity -
the two qualities that are already sufficiently developed as it is
within all of us. And since women, due to their superior intuitive
faculty, are more susceptible to suggestions through imagery than men,
the effect on the female population has been nothing short of
catastrophic. Most women are no longer able to separate vanity from
beauty; to be an object of desire has become synonymous with being
beautiful. During her televised funeral, Princess Diana (a role-model
for millions of girls and women around the world) was eulogized ( by an
anchor-woman) as "an object of every man's desire".
Cléo too is unable to separate
herself from what has become her identity. To everyone and to herself
she is that object named "desire". Even when she wants to be alone, far
away from everyone; when she abruptly leaves her apartment, ordering her
maid to stay behind and slamming the door; when she finally gets to the
secluded section of the park and finally finds herself all alone - she
cannot turn it off, cannot be herself! She treats a stairway in the park
as a stage: moving her body in a seductive way and dragging her scarf
behind her, she begins to sing a song to herself, while slowly
descending the stairway. Her identification NOT with true beauty, but
with a beauty-substitute makes it impossible for her to find consolation
and support just when she needs it most. She is beginning to taste the
bitter harvest of her own sowing.
We too are in the same position as
Cléo. We may not be as beautiful or as famous as she is, but the poison
of vanity and ambition has also seeped into our being. And today's
cinema reflects our inner being. The intoxication with one's own image
and the relentless promotion of that image - this is the agenda for
womanhood, which today's cinema (along with television and other media)
lays out enticingly before every woman. And nearly every woman is hard
at work implementing this agenda into her life. The scope of this
activity, naturally, varies with one's particular circumstances. A woman
does not need to be a movie star in order to become an object of desire
among friends, acquaintances and co-workers. A woman might even honestly
feel that, in this way, she is creating beauty in the world - where as,
in reality, she is helping to produce beauty-substitutes in every area
of her life: in her choice of attire, her movements, her language, her
thoughts and her dreams. These substitutes have no connection with
the Power of Beauty in Creation and thus they have no support from
the Source of Life, Love and Light. So that today, womanhood on earth
finds itself cut off from the Light - without even realizing it. Vanity
has contaminated the beauty of everything and of everyone to such an
extent that no one today is totally free from it.
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"Vanity is so firmly rooted in man's heart that
a soldier, a cook or a porter will boast of their abilities, and
yearn for admiration. Even philosophers want people to admire
them; even when they write against the folly of human vanity they
want to be admired for the style of their prose. And those who
read philosophy want to be respected for the depth of their
understanding. Perhaps in writing this I too am fishing for the
admiration of my readers." (Blaise Pascal)
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And yet, it is
just womanhood, which is called upon in this Creation to bring true
beauty to earth. This, however, we cannot do until we free ourselves
from our vanity. This is the connection between beauty and freedom. True
beauty is impossible without freedom - freedom from vanity! To attain to
this freedom will not be easy for any of us (those, who feel that it is,
have not even tried it yet). It would even be utterly impossible, were
it not for the unprecedented help given to womanhood (as well as to
manhood) at this time in the book of New Knowledge "In the Light of Truth: the Grail Message" by Abdruschin, which discloses
the unique origin and the unique role of womanhood in
Creation.
III. The Quest for Lost Womanhood

Another brilliant film by Agnes
Varda, which examines the issue of women's freedom, is Vagabond
(1987). It follows the story of a young woman, who makes a
conscious decision to drop out of society and lead the life of a
drifter. Shot in a poetic/documentary-like style, the film conveys in an
objective yet intimate fashion the dilemma of someone, who can not and
does not want to fit into the existing conventions of society. This
decision, however, is depicted neither as a "grand statement" nor as a
confrontation between youthful idealism and the corrupt world. Instead,
we see a young woman, who is just as confused and as adrift spiritually
as those with 9-to-5 jobs, trying to help her. Much to the credit of the
filmmaker, no attempt is made in the film to idealize the main character
or to cover up the fact that she has already picked up some of the worst
traits of that very society, from which she is trying to escape:
coarseness, selfishness, laziness, foulness of language and habits, etc.
Equally interesting are the reactions and comments of the people with
whom she comes into contact on the road. Some have nothing but contempt
for her; others feel sorry for her and try to help; and some almost envy
her. One woman says with a sigh: "She is free. She goes where she
likes."
The most remarkable feature of
Vagabond is that it raises the question of woman's freedom in a
natural and unobtrusive way. In essence, this question pulsates
continuously underneath the narrative of the entire film - though, it is
never posed outright in a clumsy or pointed way. But as we watch this
young woman wander from place to place, enduring hunger and deprivation,
we are seized by a feeling of anguish: what is she looking for? Is she
looking for anything? Is this really freedom?
Several times in the
course of the film, she is offered a chance to settle down. One offer is
even in complete accord with her "dream": to have her own piece of land
to grow potatoes. But in the end, all of these opportunities come to
naught. The viewer can almost empathize with the frustration of that
kind landowner, who gave her the land for free only to watch her just
sit there all day, doing absolutely nothing, while he had to work the
land. After all, what is the matter with her? Why can't she shake off
this inertia and take advantage of a new chance in life? The film gives
no explanations. But in the course of all her wanderings, we can observe
along with her the various forms and realizations of other women's
"dreams": the dream of motherhood, the dream of going "back to nature,
back to the land", the dream of becoming a successful career-woman in a
man's world, the dream of a woman with wealth, with a cozy job, etc.
All these options pass before her (and our) gaze. Could it be that
none of them fully satisfy the magnitude of her inner longing? The inner
longing of what it means to be a REAL WOMAN?
This and only this can be
the reason why she rejects all these options and ends up as she began:
with nothing other than a vague sense that the search for the true
meaning of womanhood must start somewhere, where all these options leave
off: BEYOND motherhood, BEYOND marriage, BEYOND career and success,
BEYOND all present womanly goals. This unknown young woman, with no
earthly accomplishments to her name, has enough womanly intuition left
to perceive that even if she were to have her own potatoe field, become
successful, get married and have children, she would still be carrying
this void deep within her, she would still be unfulfilled.
Indeed, it cannot be
otherwise. This is so, because all of a woman's present activities lack
the perspective of a WOMAN'S PRIMARY ACTIVITY, which has remained
undiscovered up until now. And only the specific knowledge about this
PRIMARY ACTIVITY can shed enough light on a woman's true role and
purpose and give the necessary meaning to her other, secondary
activities - such as motherhood, marriage and whatever else she might
wish to do. The grandiose nature and breathtaking scope of this PRIMARY
ACTIVITY OF WOMANHOOD is disclosed in a book,
which brings New Knowledge concerning ALL issues confronting humanity
today.
Without
this knowledge about the woman's principle function in Creation at
large, all attempts at attaining lasting happiness and genuine
liberation for women are doomed from the start. In Vagabond, the sensing
of this doom is given its expression in the narrative structure of the
film: we learn that all the trees of Europe carry a disease (a rot
inside), which spreads slowly but surely and therefore "all the
plane-trees are doomed". With human beings, on the other hand, the
reversal of the disease is possible - but only through individual
initiative in discovering what it means to be a woman in Creation
(or what it means to be a man), which the Grail Message
of Abdruschin discloses.
IV. A Dilemma for Both Sexes
Men have suffered greatly
under the failure of womanhood to achieve true liberation and to realize
true beauty in this world. Some of them, of course, are too busy
"enjoying" the fallen state of womanhood to notice the suffering of
their spirits. But all must sense that, at the very least, something is
not quite right in our relationships with each other.
One man, who did, is the
great Spanish-born filmmaker (who also lived and worked in France) Luis
Buñuel. His film That Obscure Object of Desire is a remarkable
record of the absurdity that male/female relationships have become. In
this film something strange happens: the actress, playing the female
lead, is suddenly replaced in the middle of the film by a different
actress, who continues to play the same part - and the male protagonist
does not even notice the switch! One cannot help wondering how many of
the viewers actually do not notice this switch either, since Buñuel
keeps the narrative right on going as if nothing whatsoever has happen.
Throughout the course of the film the two actresses are used
interchangeably - but the male protagonist continues to pursue the woman
in the film as if she were the same woman, not noticing any difference.
This is Buñuel's brilliant way of demonstrating our present-day
distortion: all a man sees in a woman is "that obscure object of
desire".
By way of contrast, in the
films of Sergei Paradjanov we see a rare attitude towards women: a
genuine intuiting that a unique treasure is buried within each woman. In
his films, men look up to women for inspiration for their deeds.
Nobility emanates from his main characters; this is reflected in their
attire, their movements and their speech. Untiring striving for images
of genuine beauty is the predominant and most extraordinary quality of
all of Paradjanov's films. In this context, it becomes possible to catch
a glimpse of true womanhood - so that in his films a natural connection
emerges between Beauty and Purity. (Purity should not be confused with
puritanism, for it represents something as yet unknown among humanity.)
In his Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors, for instance, we see
the juxtaposition of two kinds of women: Ivan's first and only love
(Marichka) is pure and natural - and therefore beautiful; while Ivan's
wife is "beautiful" only by worldly standards. After Marichka's sudden
death, Ivan is shattered and, in a moment of weakness, he succumbs to
that object named "desire" and marries the second woman. But personal
misery sets in immediately and he no longer even feels attracted to his
"beautiful" wife.
Another remarkably
perceptive film highlighting the contrast between two types of womanhood
is The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne by Robert Bresson. It
illustrates the unique power every woman holds to either uplift or
destroy, inspiring a man to direct his desires upwards or enticing him
to direct his desires downwards. It also shows how an extraordinary
transformation can occur, when a woman makes a decision to start on a
new way of life, based on her inner longing to regain purity. The ideal
womanhood will invariably embody these words of Anton
Chekhov:
"Beauty should be pure."
Probably, no other major
director on the world stage has been so preoccupied with the mystery of
womanhood as Ingmar Bergman. From as early a film as Persona to
as late a film as Autumn Sonata female characters occupy center
stage in all of his films. Frustrated and confused, often in the middle
of a life-crisis, these women are definitely seeking something - their
identity, the meaning of it all . . .
Although just a few
examples from some of the world's greatest filmmakers have been cited
here, the ongoing search for a woman's true identity can be seen in the
films of many filmmakers from all over the world. Ultimately, this
search has to take us to a higher plane: to a search for
Knowledge of how womanhood fits into a greater context of not just
the world, but of Creation at
large.
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text and artwork by Maria Pearse,
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except the first picture, which is by
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Caspar David Friedrich
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Copyright (c) 2007 cinemaseekers.com
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