Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power 2022

“Startling and thought-provoking, Brainwashed is poised to transform how audiences perceive film. As noted by IndieWire, it inspires not only a fresh way of looking but also a revolutionary approach to seeing.”

For decades, feminist film theorists have delved into the complexities and consequences of the “male gaze.” Initially coined in 1975 by Laura Mulvey—who appears as a pivotal interviewee in Brainwashed—the discussion remains relevant as ever, with the hashtag #malegaze amassing over 300 million views on TikTok. Lena Wilson, a film reviewer for Playlist and TikTok, emphasizes the film’s urgent message: “You may think that on-screen sexism is a thing of the past, or that it can’t possibly affect our society… Menkes is here to tell you, emphatically, that you are wrong.”

Brainwashed builds on the foundational work of Mulvey alongside other prominent feminist thinkers such as Judith Butler, bell hooks, and Angela Carter. Through a combination of interviews with 21 distinguished women and nonbinary experts (and even one man!), along with nearly 200 iconic film clips dating from 1896 to the present, independent filmmaker Nina Menkes meticulously uncovers how elements of shot design—including POV, framing, camera movement, lighting, and sound—have ingrained the sexist binary within cinematic history. The film adeptly links these gendered “laws” of visual language to the pervasive issues of sexual harassment and assault, as well as gender discrimination in the workplace.

By deconstructing societal perceptions of who women are versus the identities they are permitted to embody, Brainwashed equips viewers with the necessary tools to challenge their understanding of traditional filmmaking and its profound repercussions in real life.