Objectification in Masculinity (Reading Response 3)

In the Bozzola article, he discusses how Warren Beatty's offscreen persona is somewhat autobiographically portrayed in the film Shampoo. Beatty was notorious for being a playboy even before he was a movie star, and this film gives some insight into his playboy lifestyle. Furthermore, Beatty's character in the film represents a new kind of masculinity, one in which the male serves as an object for women , rather than the other way around.

The character of George is presented from the beginning as being quite a man about town. Everyone seems to know him and, those who are female, all want to sleep with him. George's atypical job as a hairdress puts him in a unique postion of power because he is able to be around women all day long so he knows what they want. He is contrasted with the character of Lester, who despite having money and a wife and daughter, seems to have no idea about how or why women do what they do. Furthermore, he is entirely clueless to what is happening around him, including the fact that his mistress, wife, and daughter, are all sleeping with George, whom he wants to invest in. Lester's cluelessness is perpetuated to the very end when he still wants to invest in George, despite knowing that George has slept with all of the women in his life. However, it can be read that Lester wins out in the situation, seeing as he ends up with Jackie, the one true object of George's desire.

Throughout the film, George is presented as being objectified to women. The camera constantly focuses the gaze on him and his body, rather than the bodies of the women who surround him. Furthermore, George is a passive agent in his relationship with women. They throw themselves at him and he happily goes along with it. His relationships are also determined by women, for example, Jill is desperate to be with George and only George, but dumps him as soon as she finds him sleeping with her best friend. Rather than being convinced by George's charm, she represents a new form of feminism arising during the 60s where women call the shots. George does not seem to care much about anything happening around him until the end when he begs Jackie to stay with him. Despite his knowledege of women and his good looks, he eventually loses out on the one woman he really wants because he does not have the means to take care of her the way she wants.

Beatty's image in this film redefines older versions of masculinity. In the old John Ford films, masculinity is identified as being strong, aggressive, and always getting what you want by being the active force in a relationship. Here, Beatty demonstrates a playboy sleeping his way through life and allowing women to dictate his relationships. however, since Beatty loses out on the girl in the end, the film does make the statement that in order to truly be happy and get what one wants, the male must be active in his pursuit of the woman. By allowing himself to be objectificed and gazed at for so long, George lost all control and therefore ends up alone, watching the woman he loves run away with another man.