The “critical apartment scene” is the most confronting and shocking in Blue Velvet as it pushes the audience’s desire to ‘look’ past the threshold of normality into the realm of sexual perversion. Dorothy’s apartment is shrouded in darkness and Creed believes that the atmosphere of the room is marked by a ‘masculine’ desire, in that it is active and aggressive. As Jeffrey hides in the dark closet, the camera intercuts between the room and the closet to emphasize Jeffrey’s voyeuristic look. As he peeps through the slats of the cupboard door at Dorothy undressing, her body is not presented to the spectator in any way enhanced by the usual conventions of cinematic eroticism. As she talks on the phone she represents the vulnerable mother figure which visually contradicts her semi naked body on display. Whilst watching her from the cupboard Jeffrey is in control of the ‘gaze’ and has the power of looking. Yet Lynch allows his female character to subvert the dominant masculine power by taking control of the situation. When Dorothy discovers Jeffrey, his voyeuristic look is turned against him and he becomes the object of a woman’s aggressive desire. Threatening him with a knife she asks him, “Do you sneak into girls’ apartments to see them undress?” Here the audience feels as if they too have been caught watching Dorothy undress and are placed in an alien and uncomfortable situation. At this point Dorothy controls the gaze, the knife and the key to a man’s pleasure. “Jeffrey is rendered totally vulnerable, his voyeuristic gaze deflected, his concern directed towards the threat and pleasure offered by the woman.” She reverses the balance of power by forbidding him to look at her while she investigates his body, his sexual organs. Mulvey believes “the eroticism to which she initiates Jeffrey is perverse; she teaches him the sadistic sexuality that is associated with Frank.” Yet this subversion of male power does not last in the apartment scene due to Frank’s entrance and subsequent domination over both Dorothy and Jeffrey.

Whilst representing opposite ideals in Jeffrey’s eyes, both Dorothy and Sandy embody the objectified and passive woman in the film. Dorothy epitomizes the dark and evil underworld that Jeffrey is so drawn to, whereas Sandy represents all that is good and innocent. Despite Dorothy’s mysterious nature and powerful presence, she is an ill-fated woman who must endure Frank’s rape and abuse in the hope of being reunited with her family. The audience first sees Dorothy in the Slow Club where she provocatively sings the song ‘Blue Velvet’. She is introduced as ‘The Blue Lady’ which emphasizes her status as a sexual object as she is given no name or identity. The close up shots of her mouth and closed eyes are clear techniques used to heighten the sexual arousal of the audience. Placed on stage, Dorothy

Some topics in this essay:
Blue Velvet, Dorothy Jeffrey, According Freud, Dorothy Frank’s, Annette Kuhn, Velvet Mulvey, Lynch’s Freudian, Slow Club, Similar Jeffrey, Dorothy Sandy, blue velvet, mulvey believes, female characters, dorothy jeffrey, male characters, male gaze, world hidden beneath, ‘to looked, mother figure, feminine realm, dorothy sandy, looking private world, characters blue velvet,