Film posters; appealing to the male gaze

This poster is from ‘Pihrana 3D’, or, as it was billed in many places, ‘Pihrana 3DD’. The name, other than challenging my spelling of the word Pihrana, is a cheap pun, befitting of that the entire marketing campaign of the movie was centred on ogling at the female casts’ breasts – the most blatant possible depiction of the male gaze short of complete pornography.

And this film, ‘The Seven Year Itch’, starring the infamous Marilyn Monroe, is notable not only for proudly displaying its exploitation of the female body for money, but for having that very same moment of sexual voyeurism and degradation become one of the most iconic moments of film history. Just from seeing this image, you all immediately know what film this is, because the imagery of Marilyn’s skirt being blown up by the draft is such a persistent bit of imagery, which has been absorbed into the larger modern/postmodern pop culture canon – proving just what a proclivity Hollywood has toward this treatment of women.

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