The relationship between Gender and Urban Mobility in Cleo from 5 To 7

The relationship between Gender and Urban Mobility in Cleo from 5 To 7 Student Name Institutional Affiliation The relationship between Gender and Urban Mobility in Cleo from 5 To 7 Cleo de 5 à 7 is a film that occurs in Paris from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on 21st June 1961 (Varda, 1961). The movie is about Cleo who is eagerly awaiting the outcome of a biopsy to know where or not her abdominal tumor is malignant. The film follows the life of Cleo from an apartment through the streets and her unlikely encounters. Constantly on the move, the film makes Cleo‘s body a site where corporeal and temporal situations get smoothened. The film is divided into chapters that indicate the passage of time during the two hours. The chapters bear the names of Cleo and other characters that are interacting with her. This essay is an analysis of the relationship that exists between gender and urban mobility as indicated by the Cleo. The Transition from an Object to a Subject Cleo, a young starlet, is used to fame. She has individuals mainly focusing on her. Her young body is admired by many who look up to her. She has a huge following especially from men who admire not only her beauty but also her body figure. The mobility in the streets of Paris changes all that. According to Stark (2012), Cleo transitions from “being looked at” to “learning how to look.” Cleo moves from being the object and becomes the subject matter. She has to let go the fetish desires the society has imposed on her star body. The movement around the city teaches her to learn to look not only on others but herself also. Cleo is a famous Parisian singer who is continually on display. Betz (2009), notes that “Angele her handler, Jose her former lover and her songwriters Bob and Plumitif all treat her as both a doll and a child.” Singing the song “Cry of Love” awakens Cleo to the reality that she has never known anyone, even herself. Mobility through the city becomes an opportunity for self-realization. She takes off her material shell that has for long occupied the better part of her life. As a woman used to being observed and admired by others, she transitions to the role of a participant observer as opposed to her usual position of being observed. Baudelaire & Mayne (1995) believe Cleo has all along been the center of the world but for a moment she is hidden from it. Cleo dresses in a black dress and purchases a hat to become like any other ordinary lady in the streets. Female Consumerism The film indicates that females are obsessed with consumerism. As Cleo returns home, she stumbles upon a hat shop. She moves along the shop trying even unusual hats (Betz, 2009). As Cleo shops for a hat with her friend Angele, she escapes into the world of aesthetics. She uses shopping to deal with her fears by escaping from reality. Shopping allows Cleo to have the finest things in town. As a pop star, she needs to look good before for her fans. Moving around the town indicates how she is obsessed with sensing her money on shopping. Urban Mobility and Feminine Masquerade Cleo de 5 à 7 has appearances of a flâneuse. The flâneuse refers to an individual who is a streetwalker or homeless. The term is associated with an idler, an urban explorer and an individual who values leisure. In the second half of the movie, Cleo shed her feminine masquerade and moves along the streets. In this case, her desire is to gaze the city as opposed to the object fetish she is in the first half of the film. Mouton (2001) observes that Cleo transitions from feminine masquerade to flâneuse due to her involvement in with the city. It is critical to recognize that Cleo is not the only woman in the film who travels through the city of Paris. Although a greater portion of the film focuses on Cleo’s ability to overcome her status as an object, her transformation occurs as a result of interacting with other women surrounding her. Since the women surrounding Cleo are already flâneuses, Cleo has no option rather than to become a flâneuse like them. The fortune teller predicts how urban mobility will cause Cleo to shed the feminine masquerade. The opening credit scene shows two disembodied female voices talking about the outcome of the tarot cards. As the fortune teller reads Cleo’s card, the viewers realize the ability of the fortune-teller to foresee the future of Cleo. The fortune teller observes “You haven’t appeared yet. The cards speak better if you appear” (Varda, 1962). The fortune-teller then turns over the last card bearing the image of a woman. A close-up on the image on the card shows the name of Cleo on it. Having the image of Cleo on the card indicates that she is just a literal object (Forbes, 2002). Varda allows the viewer to realize that Cleo is nothing but a commodity. As a pop singer, Cleo image and voice play an integral role in her career. She is an object to be consumed by her fans both visually and aurally. Unfortunately, the predictions of the fortune-teller turn negative. As the camera cuts through the shots of Cleo and the fortune-teller, the viewers can notice the contrast between the two. On the one hand, the fortune-teller is an old woman with a wrinkled face and without make-up. On the other hand, Cleo is young and beautiful. She has a beautiful hairstyle. However, as the film progresses, the viewers realize that the hairstyle is an extension. Cleo ends up removing it to shed the feminine masquerade. All along, her public image is not real. She invests in an image that her fans want to see. Her make-up is to display an appearance of an appealing pop star. All the image that people see is fake. As Cleo removes all the make-up, she reinforces the idea that her public appearance has never been authentic. The viewers soon realize that Cleo’s worst fears are not all about the possible negative medical report. In addition, Cleo is afraid that she could lose the good looks due to the illness or because of aging. As Cleo observes the image of the fortune-teller, she can see her future. Cleo realizes that her appearance could soon be like that of the fortune-teller. The illness may adversely affect her image and she would no longer be in a position to attract her fans as she has done before (Wilson, 1992). As Cleo sees a gloomy future in the cards, she decides to exit the room and walks down the stairs. She pauses for a moment to look at her image in the mirror as she laments for the future that awaits her. Self-reflection Women usually value their body appearance. However, mobility through the streets of Paris causes Cleo to care less about her appearance. The first 40 minutes of the film are full of mirror reflections of Cleo. Viewers are made aware of the contractedness of her image in the opening scene. A close-up of hands moving in an out of the frame on the tarot table indicate fragmented body. Before the viewers see Cleo, the film introduces an image of a tarot card that is associated with her. The first shots of Cleo do ...