"Rebellion is the only thing that keeps you alive!" ...Right.
Girl on a Motorcycle does a fabulous job of giving the impression it is a film showing a liberated woman, as Rebecca seems to independently take to the road with her motorcycle, on a journey of her choosing. However, as her past is revealed, we see that her journey and her motivations for it are tied to a male presence—even her motorcycle is tied to her lover—and the film is anything but liberating, particularly as Rebecca is subjected to the male gaze throughout the film. From her dream of being stripped by ringmaster Daniel in a circus ring to the glances she receives at the bar, the audience is frequently put in the position of watching men watch Rebecca—or even watching Rebecca through the men’s eyes—the persistent shots of men looking at her body and seeing her as a sexual object subjugate her rather than liberate her. Indeed, Rebecca’s life revolves around her desire to be with Daniel, much as the film centers on men’s views of her, and the pleasure they gain from watching her. The scopophilic behavior is indicative of the phallocentrism in the film—while men enjoy watching Rebecca, she is surrounded by phallic symbols that remind her and us of the power men have in her life as she is torn between her husband and her lover. Her motorcycle is the most obvious phallic stand-in, as several shots throughout the driving montage suggest. The gas station attendant’s very deliberate insertion of nozzle into gas tank is a ridiculously overt suggestion of intercourse, and only serves to reinforce what the rest of the film tells us—Daniel possesses the phallus, the power, and Rebecca is subject to his power, recklessly abandoning her married life for the less-than-guaranteed future with a man who shows little interest in anything but using her body.