Film and society have a unique parallel structure mirroring and perpetuating heteronormative conflictions. The natural relations and social “norms” between men and women are easily constructed through and as a result of cinema. Cinema both influences social norms and promotes existing norms and ideas. Major critics have identified this hidden agenda in cinema, which has prevailed since the beginning of film.

Laura Mulvey, a feminist film scholar, has published one of the most reviewed arguments on this issue. Mulvey critiques cinema through a feminist lens with psychoanalysis, mainly from the works of Sigmund Freud. Her 1975 article, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"–written in a screen journal for film critics, directors and scholars–provides the first feminist intervention of cinema into popular culture and mass media. Although this was written in the second wave of the feminist movement, Mulvey reveals the sexual constrictions in media. Mulvey attempts to reveal–as she describes–the phallocentric and patriarchal structures that have constructed film and further perpetuated the problematic conflicts posed on women. Mulvey claims that voyeurism–looking at what is private or should not be seen–provides scopophilia–pleasure derived from the act of looking–which entices and controls the audience’s gaze. Laura Mulvey presents the idea that cinema and society are directly associated, mutually affecting one another through the social norms they both pose on the patriarchal society they mirror.

Voyeurism in film creates the sense that what is being seen is something that has either been mistakenly or forcefully unveiled. Regardless of that, the audience takes a pleasure in witnessing such a private scene or moment. The darkness of the auditorium or theater enhances the effect of experiencing a voyeuristic phantasy. Cinematography has a great effect on creating the voyeuristic experience as well, since the scenes might be shown in a way similar to the experience of a Peeping Tom, or might be directly following the character from behind, following the mismatched steps and hearing the ragged breathing, providing the illusion that the audience is secretly following the subject of the film.

The lighting of the film, whether utilized by flashes of light or fleeting moments of hidden sights, allows the audience to fully engage in the voyeuristic phantasy. Cinema and film provides scopophilia by utilizing these “surreptitious observations of an unknowingly or unwilling victim” to create the illusion that the audience is viewing the forbidden, and living their enticing and engrossing voyeuristic phantasy. The audience can easily lose themselves in this illusion, making their gaze as steadfast as can be. Their focus and their sight is what the film willingly and purposefully presents to them. As a result, their thoughts and their ideas are now greatly influenced by the film’s ideals and message. This form of cinematic control allows the director of the film to effectively exhibit societal themes or issues while providing visual pleasure. In most cases, the themes exhibited are misogynistic, sexist and mainly aimed towards the female body.

In the film, Black Swan, Daren Aronofsky, the director, deliberately employs voyeurism and scopophilia – as according to Mulvey – to attract and control his audience’s gaze effectively exposing the paradox of perfection for women dramatically through the genre horror. The cinematic presentation of the female characters illustrates how society places a convoluted and problematic idea of perfection on women through his use of voyeuristic cinematography and aspects of horror. The plot of the film mirrors the story of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake. Nina embodies the white swan symbolizing purity, innocence, and the virginal girl. Lily is the alternate or foil to Nina who embodies the black swan and symbolizes seduction, danger, and enticement. Throughout the film, Nina is pressured to fulfill the role of both the white swan and the black swan transcendently in the play and in her character. The director of the ballet company, Thomas – the only male character – represents the problematic constructions of society as he constantly forces and shapes Nina into becoming what he believes is the ideal image of perfection. As the dominant male character, Thomas uses his authority to stresses his personal idea of one virginal yet seductive entity being what the audience of the play desires to see. Thomas mirrors the character of the sorcerer in the play as he tricks and manipulates Nina into her transformation into the black swan. The concept of perfection stated by Thomas provokes a metamorphosis within Nina both physically and mentally. Nina can portray the white swan with ease but finding the black swan within her leads to her digression into hysteria and mental illness as she loses herself in the darkness trying to find the grey area.

Black Swan employs voyeuristic cinematography to truly delve into Nina’s disturbing transformation and demise portraying how convoluted concepts of perfection horrifically killed her which provides scopophilia for the audience. Witnessing this private, rare, and even taboo transformation of a ballerina into the ideal notion of perfection provides a type of disturbing scopophilic pleasure for the audience. It is ironic as such disturbing scenes should not typically provide pleasure, but do as they expose Nina’s most personal moments. The notion of viewing what should not be viewed can be deemed as a privilege and therefore something that can pleasure can be taken in. Giving the audience the privilege to see what should not be seen transforms into disturbing pleasure rather than pure disgust. The camera follows Nina into the bathroom inducing vomit, into her bedroom having sex with Lily, and into her hysteric and confused mind disturbing the audience. Because the cinematography sets the illusion that the audience is living their voyeuristic phantasy, they are experiencing what they would not have the audacity to see if not for this film presenting the forbidden. Aronofsky deliberately disturbs the audience through voyeurism, yet this does not reduce any pleasure found in looking at the visuals in the film. The genre of the film is horror and the audience understand they will be disturbed. In fact, they choose to watch this film because they find scopophilia in this disturbing and taboo form of voyeurism. The genre dramatizes the destructive and violent nature of societal concepts of perfection through horror. This introduces a unique type of scopophilia that can be both disturbing and pleasurable, as is the true reality of societal confinements. The violent and cataclysmic reality of society’s constructions are amplified through horror which is extremely successful as the pain and horror on the screen transcends from Nina to the audience. Aronofsky purposefully uses voyeurism and scopophilia, as stated by Mulvey, to transfix his audience, introducing a disturbing form of pleasure to both satisfy his audience and to expose horrific social confinements posed on women today.