Sexual Illumination in the Media's Realm: Examining a Scene from Phantom Lady

figure 1.1. Phantom Lady - The Jazz Band Scene (1944)
Source: Youtube

During last Tuesday’s lecture offering attention to psychoanalysis and its theoretical affiliation with media, I was intrigued by Professor Petit’s documenting of Phantom Lady (1944), or in a more specific manner, the scene documenting a musical activity which betrays connotations of sexual intercourse (Professor Petit Lecture: 27 Oct. 2013). In the clip, the two integral characters are located in Carol Richman (Ella Raines) and a practitioner of the drums identified as Cliff (Elisha Cook, Jr.) (Youtube: The Phantom Lady - The Jazz Band Scene (1944)) . The camera-work can be characterized as majorly indifferent to Cliff’s affiliates, as it is he who takes over the view (ibid). In the illustration of his character, the bodily fluid of sweat storms forth while the portrayal of facial expression would make one hard-pressed to not perceive a dimension of exertion and gratification (ibid). Shifting focus to the captivated Richman, she appears to manifest the fact that something is pulsating her, suggested by her powerful and satisfying mannerisms of physicality (ibid). Greeting the culmination of the brief illustration from the motion picture was an inquiry of Professor Petit: what are the conceptions implicitly up for grasp within the aforementioned part of the movie (Lecture: 27 Oct. 2013)? Though I myself did not respond, another student suggested what I myself calculated in reference to the scene, which is that the engagement of Richman and Cliff illuminated an instance of sexual intercourse linking the characters, an instance which paid no attention to physicality and all of its focus to connotation (Professor Petit Lecture: 27 Oct. 2013). As Professor Petit suggested, this utilization of suggestion came to be catalyzed by postulations finding representation in the Hays Code, a documentation device which issued forth illustrations of what is a justifiable depiction, and what does not enter this realm, thus necessitating a Hollywood barrier to its visitation in the enjoying of a motion picture (ibid). One postulation is that illustrated sexuality will be barricaded from consumers of Hollywood, defeating any semblance of explicit materialization, which is telling of the Phantom Lady scene (ibid). Despite the secretive elements, I was able to grasp the connotation of the scene in an instantaneous fashion and I think this is because there is no ambiguity in my mind that the media which has come across my eyes has betrayed sexual illumination in its illustrations, a statement true of the music I have listened to since my teenage years, the programs on television I have been providing my attention to since high school, and the small amount of films I engage with. If these media have embedded something in my mind, it is that the sexual circulates media artifacts in a great way, thus allowing me to grasp that an eroticized perceptibility is continuously lurking.

                                                                       Works Cited

Petit, Michael. "Psychoanalytic Analysis." The University of Toronto at Scarborough. The University

     of Toronto at Scarborough, Scarborough, ON. 22 Oct 2013. Lecture.

Yourveins. "Phantom Lady - The Jazz Band Scene (1944)." Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube,

     4 Sept. 2008. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.