Gaze (Katy Perry Teenage Dream)

Marjorie Ferguson

Chocolate Box: half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood: blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.

Invitational: emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera. Projected mood: suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.

Super-smiler: full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown. Projected mood: aggressive, ‘look-at-me’ demanding, the hard sell, ‘big come-on’ approach.

Romantic or Sexual: a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual. Projected moods: possible ‘available’ and definitely ‘available’.

Trevor Millum

Seductive: similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.

Carefree: nymphlike, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more outward-going than the above, often smiling or grinning.

Practical: concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.

Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.

Catalogue: a neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed.

Our chosen music video is Katy Perry – Teenage Dream, we chose this because it shows a good example of all forms of the gaze.

This video shows the voyeuristic gaze as the audience like looking at the video, because of the fetishistic aspect. Laura Mulvey says ‘women as image’ and ‘men as bearers of the look’ this is shown through the video as the artist Katy Perry strips, and the men all look at her longingly.  However Mulvey’s theory fails to account for the female audience as she focuses on the average heterosexual male. Another criticism of her theory is that since the 1980s the public have become more accepting of sexualisation within the media of male bodies; this is shown in the video as there are a variety of shots showing the main man topless. This is also shown when all actors strip in the sea and play fight.
Marjorie Fergusons theories also apply in Katy Perry’s video, for example the chocolate box is shown throughout, with many full and half smiles. During many clips of the video there are romantic and sexual gazes, this accentuates the fact that she’s definitely ‘available’.
This video also uses the care free gaze by Trevor Millum, this is shown at the very start when the two main characters are in the car, the girls hair is flowing in the wind this gives the impression she is an ‘outdoor girl’. The seductive gaze is also applied during a particular slow part of the song involving a sexual scene; the darkness of the room links to why their eyes are half open, the mood of the scene is also shown through their body language.