Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (DVD)

If the camera is predatory, then the culture is predatory. In this eye-opening documentary, celebrated independentfilmmaker Nina Menkes explores the sexual politics of cinematic shot design. Using clips from hundreds of movies we allknow and love from Metropolis to Vertigo to Phantom Thread Menkes convincingly makes the argument that shotdesign is gendered. Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power illuminates the patriarchal narrative codes that hide withinsupposedly classic set-ups and camera angles, and demonstrates how women are frequently displayed as objectsfor the use, support, and pleasure of male subjects. Building on the essential work of Laura Mulvey and other feministwriters, Menkes shows how these not-so-subtle embedded messages affect and intersect with the twin epidemics ofsexual abuse and assault, as well as employment discrimination against women, especially in the film industry. The filmfeatures interviews with an all-star cast of women and non-binary industry professionals inc