It is interesting to examine that she wants to be an actress. Someone who is still looked to for physical beauty, however she is unsuccessful. Even though she is successful in bedding men using her sexuality, she can not seem to be successful in finding an acting job. When her sexuality is in your face and Bree is naked with her clients, she is successful. But when she tries to be subtly sexual, she is unsuccessful.
Bree could’ve been a multitude of other careers but the decision to make her an aspiring actress says a lot about how different types of sexuality is viewed. She wants to work in a male dominated field where she will constantly be judge for her looks by men but in that field has much less control over her role. The scene when she is auditioning for an ad of some sort and the casting directors simply brush her over for having odd hands struck me. One girl was turned away for being “too pretty.” We never see the casting director’s face in this entire scene. He is simply looking down on all these women. Here the male has successfully dominated these women by being able to look them over quickly and dismiss them.
This film is incredibly subversive. When Bree is challenged in that male dominated world, she creates her own world where her sexuality is her own and no man is equal to her.
I agree with you, Kathleen. I actually wrote my paper on this scene. I think this scene is very powerful in demonstrating the ridiculous standards set on women. Even the “perfectly balanced” woman is sent away because they “need a new face.” The women are sent away like cattle and a dozen more women come marching in, ready to be judged on their appearances. What I found most compelling was the imagery behind the women during this scene. There are three pictures of a woman’s face covered in crystals on the wall. I think they symbolize this idea of a physically perfect woman- one that is seen as an object, a beautiful crystal. It is interesting to note that the woman judge wears a necklace identical to the woman’s necklace in the picture. When the actress gets judged as being “too beautiful” the woman judge pulls her necklace from her body, almost as a sign of self defense.