Cyborg gaze in the 21st century cinema: The case of Julia Ducournau’s Titane

Abstract

The article examines the cyborg’s identity in the 21^st century cinema. The French-Belgian film Titane (2020) by Julia Ducournau is taken for analysis as an example of the cyborg gaze. The phenomenon of “gaze” (English “aze”, French “le regard”) is used as a method. The first section of the article describes the specifics of the cyborg concept theorized in A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway, as well as in feminist and posthuman studies. A cyborg as a human/ machine hybrid is a creature that connects various oppositions: natural/ technological and male/female. Situated knowledge and affinity with others through difference are the features of the cyborg identity. The second section of the article explores the rationale for the use of the gaze theory in film studies. Adopting Jacques Lacan’s mirror stage, cinema theorists draw a connection between the gaze and the identification of spectators, film creators and characters in the film domain. In particular, Laura Mulvey theorizes that classical Hollywood cinema is shot from the male subject perspective and comes to the conclusion that female characters have passive role as objects of the male desire. The third section of the article determines the specifics of the cyborg gaze in the body horror Titane (2020). The heroine Alexia has cyborg corporeality, which is manifested in androgyny, as well as sexual and genetic connection with machine. The heroine’s finding of a family (‘kin’), her inhuman ethics and her caring practices are the characteristics that define her cyborg identity. Fear in body horror films is caused by extreme physical transformation, and in the motion picture under study fear stems from replicating the visual apparatus of the cyborg subject.