Objectification
“To articulate Varda’s departures from the status quo more clearly, it is necessary first to delineate the dominant cinematic apparatus as well as mainstream narrative’s exploitation of the psychological process inherent in film viewing to relegate the Other to a position of object, outside the sphere of influence in/on the system. Although the analysis holds true for all colonized bodies, I will restrict the following description to the gendered Other, woman, for reasons of space and particularity for Varda’s cinema.” (Hottel 1999).
Varda’s departure from the status quo that Hottel mentions throughout her article is something that can be easily recognizable throughout Easy Rider as well with their attempt to journey beyond what is safe and what is to be expected by society. She mentions that Mona’s character takes on this title of the “Other” in which she is viewed as the object of other’s interest although does not allow herself to be influences by the outside forces that are looking in. Commonly when others whom she encounters ask her to stay, ask if they can take care of her, it is not something that she is interested in, being tied to one place and one person. She does use them for temporary comfort, company, food, or money but it is unlikely that she reveals anything about herself or life to those who may want to know more about her and her journey of solitude. By doing this she puts herself in the position of the object in which she is not connected or bound to anything or anyone and does not allow others to get a glimpse of who Mona really is. This could simply be a result of the insecurities she feels in not knowing who her true character is and therefore does not want anyone to try and define her.
In Easy Rider this is also shown with both main characters in which there is a constant interaction with those individuals that they may come in contact with but the conversation involves talking around the issues and not actually about them. They have embarked on this journey in a way to find out more about others and what changes may be happening outside the walls of the mainstream rather than discovering the core of themselves. In doing this they like Mona allow themselves to be seen and treated as objects by those around them. As I afore mentioned characters in Vagabond such as the environmentalist wish to take care of Mona, to protect her although she does not wish to be kept nor does she wish to protect herself. When thinking about Varda’s cinematic style in creating Mona as an object there is immediate foreshadowing to her death in the end and we are able to see a direct connection with Easy Rider. These characters in a sense are viewed by themselves and others as objects although in Vagabond Varda interviewed other characters to suggest that those that she came into contact with possessed some sort of concern of her well being in Easy Rider the majority of those that the two men come in contact with do not wish to be involved in their quest to find America and are therefore considered disposable.