One Hour Photo

After reading about the gaze and voyeurism, I instantly thought of the movie One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams. Williams plays a film developer at a local convenience store. He is obsessive, in particular a family which he has been following since their child was born. Through his multiple cameras, he stalks them and their daily lives. He knows where they live, what they do, what they eat, when they sleep, all because of the snapshot.

Williams' character says, "According to the Oxford English dictionary, the word snapshot was originally a hunting term." And that is precisely what he does to this family, hunt them down.

I remember one distinct scene in which he goes in on the couple having sex, and he makes them act out certain feelings and make them do what he wants them to do.

This is voyeurism and the concept of gaze at its finest. Williams feels he is a part of their lives because he has no life for himself. In a way, he livs through the pictures that he develops. He ruins it all when he crosses the barrier and actually uses his knowledge to invade the family's privacy.