We’ve recently seen modern stars emulating Marilyn Monroe and characters out of Disney and Hitchcock. We’ve even seen Jessica Alba posing as leading ladies of horror. But now comes the most confusing photo to hit the re-creation trend: Alba dressed up as Charlie Chaplin for Allure (via People). Yes, men, it’s upsetting. Could there be any character more opposing to Alba’s typical “eye candy” role than the Tramp?
Actually, though Alba may be trying to challenge the male gaze and also negate my claim that she’s the perfect poster child for feminist film theory, this picture further supports my argument. Anyone who’s read Mary Ann Doane’s “Film and the Masquerade” knows that Alba is taking on the masculine clothing in order to conceal her femininity and transsexually identify with the male spectator. Duh.
Alba is simply playing with the issue that a woman must become like a man in order to have a real voice in Hollywood. In her interview with Allure, though, she also hints that her sexualized cinematic identity may be representative of the other sort of masquerade, in which she becomes excessively feminine in order to exploit the gaze:
On Her Steamy Public Image: “[Hollywood] always play[s] up your sexuality, because that’s what gets men into the theaters. And I never really gave a s— about all that stuff! It’s nothing to be ashamed of. But it is definitely not what I am about by any means!”
So what is she about? Slightly cryptic feminism? Pick up the June issue of Allure to find out more on the actress’ ownership of her sexuality and her appropriation of patriarchal standards.
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