Mulvey's text 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' (1975) and Storey's text 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture' (2008) both argue that the purpose of women in films is for the male gaze and that the male role in mainstream film is to advance the narrative. 'The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure' (Mulvey 2009[1975]p.19), Mulvey explains how the male audience projects their idea of eroticism onto the female form. 'The audience's 'voyeuristic fantasy' is encouraged by the contrast between the darkness of the cinema and the changing patterns of light on the screen' (Storey 2008 p.82), here Storey is saying that the cinema environment is the perfect place for the male gaze to be released, because of the dark room the film feels more personal.
Both these quotes tie in with each other and the two texts appear to have the same perspective however a third text titled 'reconceptualizing stardom' (McDonald, P(1998)) disagrees with the other two texts. 'Holden as Hal Carter continually removes his shirt to reveal an athletic physique. The female cast of ... each register their erotic recognition of the objectified male body.' (McDonald 1998 p.188) This quote shows that McDonald disagrees with the statements that the female figure is only present in film as a spectacle of the male gaze and that the male characters are for advancing the story. The example described in the quote shows the roles flipped as the male character is being looked on as an erotic object and the women are advancing the story.
Its important to note that Mulvey was a feminist and therefore will be naturally biased towards the women being the main victims. Considering this i still agree with Mulveys statements to an extent, i agree that the female figure is objectified alot more frequently in mainstream film than the male figure however the male figure can still be objectified sometimes and the role therefore can be switched.
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