Power of Phallocentrism
Within the first few minutes of the film Marianne is controlled my phallocentrism when being completely exposed while riding a horse. Although the film does put a woman in the driver's seat on the road, it is anything but liberating for women. When reflecting on the plot, narrative, and cinematic techniques it is quite easy to recognize that it was created through a male gaze. The entire story line is focused around a woman having no say or control of what she wants. With almost all of Marianne’s dialogue being thoughts in her head centered on what the men in her life think it makes me wonder if she knows who she is or what she wants out of life.
Marianne is not s strong independent women that viewers look up to. She marries who husband out of fear of being alone and lets the man she is having an affair with control her every thought. In almost all of the scenes, even when she is riding and supposedly taking control, Marianne is only seen as a sex object and is fetishized by men and appears to like it. Through Marianne’s flashbacks it almost seems like she will gain some type of control over her life when she gets married, but out of fear of losing her, or "castration" as theory shows, her lover gives her a motorcycle as a wedding gift and again regains all control.
Girl on a Motorcycle could never be viewed as liberating with Marianne wanting a man to control her, just as she tells her husband on their ski trip. Even when Marianne rebels and leaves her husband to go after what she wants she lets another man control her thoughts and eventually end her life. Girl on a Motorcycle does not portray a women taking on the road, but instead shows a women losing all control due to the power of phallocentrism while on the road.