There are three levels of the male gaze theory: male characters watch the female characters, the camera follows the male character watching the female one and that the audience see the female character from the POV of the mae through the camera.
The use of camera is important in this theory as Mulvey suggests that the camera lingers on the curves of the female body in order to sexualise the woman. This also contributes to the objectification of women, viewing them as objects rather than people, something else that Laura Mulvey picks up on in this theory. This is exhibited through the use of camera control. Certain movements of the camera also help to percieve the woman in an idealistic way.
Mulvey also mentions that events which occur to women are presented as bigger than how a man sees these events. Another thing that is mentioned is that the narrative and mise-en-scene are equally as male orientated as the actual presentation of the female.
Mulvey mentions visual pleasure as part of this theory in which she states that the female in the narrative has two functions, one is to be an erotic object for characters within the narrative and the other is to be an erotic object for the audience to view.
Laura Mulvey's theory links to scopophilia which is that the person gazed at is objectified and treated as an object whose sole value is to be enjoyed or possessed by the voyeur. The voyeur derves sexual pleasure from watching the objectified character who tends to be in the state of undress. This devalues the importance of the person who is being watched as they are viewed solely as a sexual object.
This theory further relates to Goodwin's theory in which he references that a convention of music videos is the frequent reference to notion of looking. This may include looking through a telescope, binoculars or mirrors, however, more often than not, the notion of looking objectifies women and creates a voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
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