The Aesthetics of Content Consumption

Aesthetic Analysis of the film

The Imaginary Signifier... That which we see in a mirror and with which we can identify.

The spectator identifies with himself, with himself as a pure act of perception... as a kind of transcendental subject... The All-Perceiving subject. As he identifies with himself as look, the spectator can do no other than identify with the camera, too...

Identifying with one's look (or camera) = "Primary Cinematic Identification"

Identifying with characters = "Secondary Cinematic Identification"

The man controls the film phantasy and also emerges as the representative of power in a further sense: as the bearer of the look of the spectator. This is made possible... by structuring the film around a main controlling figure (often a man) with whom the spectator can identify. (ie- Male Gaze may not work for all identities - Cause of Gender Dysphoria?)