Voyeurism/Fetishism

 Hayward defines voyeurism as “the act of viewing the activities of other people unbeknown to them” (480). In my mind, voyeurism has such a negative connotation, but after reading Hayward's piece and really thinking about this concept, it believe that it perfectly describes what we do when we watch movies. Hayward goes on to comment that audiences derives pleasure from watching films precisely for this reason. For just a short period of uninhabited time, we get to completely immerse ourselves in other people’s lives, the good and the bad. Hayward also mentions that many films include a voyeur character. This immediately reminded me of the scene at the beginning of Citizen Kane when Kane’s mother, father, and Mr. Thatcher are watching him play outside in the snow. In this scene, Kane is about to be taken away from his parents to embark on a new life with Mr. Thatcher as his guardian. The three adults watching the young boy play absentmindedly in the snow, creates this eerie feeling. Everyone is watching the carefree boy knowing that in a few short minutes his whole world is about to be turned upside down. Thinking of watching films as a voyeuristic activity helps alter the viewing process and the meanings derived from such viewings.