Voyeuristic Audience

The audience can be voyeuristic when it comes to the medium of the characters. It is the sense of viewing something that is private form the audience. In that case, we become part of the medium or narrative as well. Two examples that prove a voyeuristic audience is Rear Window(film) and “It had to be Murder” (short story). In Rear Window, the main character is on house rest due to a broken leg. We learn that he has taken to watching his neighbors, the plot is the same for the short story. Each character is watching and taking part in others lives without actually interfering. As an audience, we are the same because we don’t interfere with the narrative, but watch and comment. The audience in both mediums recognizes the voyeuristic nature. It’s translated into the audience and the outside world, and the window acts as a second lens. The window is our lenses to people watching. It creates a barrier between the performer and the audience. The illusion is that you are watching entertainment. The window in both mediums is a video camera, without the recording. When we watch movies or television, it’s encased in a square like frame almost like a window. So it gives the same principles to people watching through windows. The voyeuristic nature of the audience is reflected like everyday life.