"Being John Malkovich"

Paper Summary:

This paper is a review on the film "Being John Malkovich", a film that tries to investigate how sexuality and gender roles determine identity, as well as how the former are shaped in modern society. The author summarizes the movie and examines how Foucault's ideas on sexuality and gender roles are played out in this film. Describing the main characters, the paper discusses the process of gender formation through the symbolic penetration of John Malkovich's identity. The paper also analyzes the symbolical vision of gender, sexual and social identity formation in contemporary society and how this projected onto the screen using creative sound editing and focused close angle shots.

From the Paper:

"The movie tackles the issue of displaced desire. Craig Schwartz and his wife Lotte are both smitten with Maxine, a beautiful and mysterious woman. Maxine is actually the one who comes up with the idea of using the portal into the mind of John Malkovich for financial gain. For Lotte and her husband, the portal is the realm where their attraction to Maxine can be concretized. By inhabiting Malkovich, each of them can be with Maxine while Maxine is engaged in amorous activity with Malkovich himself."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Butler, Judith. 2004. Undiagnosing Gender. In Undoing Gender, 75-255. New York: Routledge.
• Weeks, Jeffrey. 2003. The Invention of Sexuality. In Sexuality, 11-28. New York: Routledge.
• Dragunoiu, Dana. "Psychoanalysis, Film Theory and the Case of Being John Malkovich." Film Criticism 26.2 (2001): 1-7
• Gauntlett, David. 2002. Michel Foucault. In Media, Gender, and Identity: An Introduction, 115-134. London: Routledge.

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• Film Review # 110829 : "Changes in "Being John Malkovich"
• Essay # 23644 : "Studies of "Pulp Fiction" and "Being John Malkovich"
• Analytical Essay # 16999 : "A Cinematographic Analysis"

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