"The Queen of the Road"
Mona thumbs her nose at both the conservative work/home ethic and the liberal sixties alternative.
Throughout the movie Vagabond Mona is no longer seen through the male gaze. Although this film starts off gazing over Mona's cold and dirty soulless body, it does not continue with this type of gaze. As we see in the film Mona is a "true" punk of her time. She does not care or want to find home, work, friends or comfort. She simply chooses to drift. One way this movie disrupts the male gaze and phallocentrism is by men not being able to control what she does. The man at the farm tries to provide work and help for Mona but Mona chooses not to work. Her uncaring mindset makes her show distaste in receiving help. This disrupts what would have shown a male figure assisting in improving in her life and would have changed the story completely if she would have agreed. If you were to compare the farmer’s wife to Mona there is much difference. The farmer’s wife seems stuck. She has little freedom and many duties. She is seen as controlled by a man. She can only alter her life in little ways and could never be on the road. Mona on the other hand is the opposite. She has nothing holding her back. She has nowhere to be, yet she chooses to go nowhere. Her choice to go nowhere seems frustrating but is extremely powerful. Mona shows that her decision to do nothing and be careless IS actually a decision which WAS made and is now being followed through. Mona IS “The Queen of the Road�. Mona seems to not care about any outcomes in the end of this expedition. She is in full control of herself and her actions. Mona would rather sleep in her freezing tent, in midwinter, than receive assistance from any male figure. This road film is more about Mona than about the road. Her punk character is the story of the play, rather than the plot also disrupts the phallocentrism that could occur. Her destination is unknown. Throughout the film the characters are more concerned with making sense of her aimlessness rather than thinking of her as a poor, homeless, female. Her refusal for a “home� and assistance take away from the male gaze. In the brief moments of actual gaze, it is done by a woman whom wishes to be free and held like Mona is. Mona is the queen of the aimless road.