Analysing 'Olly Murs - Trouble Maker' using Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory

This video in particular both follows and breaks the rules and conventions of Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory. Having listened to the song and having watched the video, it is clear that the subject of the lyrics in this song is of the female gender. The female is referred to as a troublemaker, alike to the song title. This song title would be alarming to the audience and many people would automatically be interested in listening to the song based on its title. The female in this video is often seen to be subverting from the male gaze theory, however there are still glimpses of Mulvey's theory throughout the video, that I have noticed.

The song begins with split screens of different types of male characters shaking their heads. Disapproval is the idea that the audience receive at this moment of the video. The song reads in the background 'you're a troublemaker' implying to the audience that the men are disapproving of the female character. Subverting from the theory, this happens immediately and therefore the audience would automatically not view the female character in the way the Mulvey implies they do. Olly Murs, the male singer of the song, then appears on screen along with the female in a separate location and he too is pulling disapproving facial expressions. As the female is in the middle of these facial expressions the audience can assume that they are focused upon her.

Edgy and daring is the impression that the audience receive from the costume of the female character, when she is first seen wearing a leather jacket with a bright pink top. She appears to be confident, vibrant and happy: all of which make the audience view her in a curious way when also listening to the lyrics and taking into account the narrative that shows the other characters. 'you had me up again from the minute you sat down' this shows how she is an alarming and a 'head turning' type of person. She is given the power as she is the main focus of the song, the subject of the video and she has the attraction of the singer Olly.

However, the next scene in the café opens with a quick mid-shot. It happens very quick in order to show that people assume that this character is presented in a form that is to bring pleasure to the male audience members: when in fact this character is, in her mind, the opposite. The shot shows only her waist and she is wearing a skirt as she is clearly the café waitress. Looking at the shot closely, you can see a male character leaning over and going out of his way to look at the females behind. This would suggest that she is representable of the male gaze theory in the fact that some viewers would receive pleasure from the viewing of this particular shot of the video. The lyrics then refer to the singer Olly liking the way that the female bites her lip. This is a rather sexual reference and conforms to Mulvey's theory. However, the power is then given to the female by the lyrics reading 'I was putty in your hands': although this power is temporary as before this he says 'after a drink or two'. This reflects how it is only a matter of time before a video where by a female is an object, presented for the pleasure of men, is made.

The character is often seen fighting back, almost as if she wishes to go against Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory. The male character slaps her behind in a vial and degrading form , so she pours ice cold water over him as if she is the better person and simply walks away. The camera shot shows her to be of a high angle; giving her the superiority, and him of a lower angle which would degrade his status in society when compared to the woman.

Beginning the chorus is 'why does it feel so good but hurts so bad' this could be interpreted as how the male characters feel. They like viewing women in pleasurable ways but they know that it is wrong very demoralizing: even though some videos do show the females to be enjoying the attention. In the café scene the female is serving the majority of men, showing how she is a possession and is under control of the males.

Compared to other videos, the main character of this one is not seen to be dancing is a sexual way and she is not trying to grab any male attention, in fact she is shown to be avoiding it - this subverts from the theory. In contrast to this, the featuring singer Flo Rida is shown in the video to be surrounded by two girls who appear to be in his car. They are wearing gold skimpy bikinis. Alike to other videos, this colour symbolizes the fact that these women, in the eyes of men, are seen as prizes. These two females show how the main character is not presented for the pleasure of men and they only enhance this fact. Whenever the main girl sees Olly, the singer, her facial expressions turns bitter and she huffs and puffs at him.

Concluding this, I think that this video overall does not fully support Mulvey's male gaze theory and in fact disproves her beliefs.