ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes cinematic (re)production of gender roles in El orfanato / The Orphanage and Mama, specifically the representation of the mother figure, as both feature films bring female characters to the center stage. Women in these texts perform maternity, serving simultaneously as heroines and victims in order to, eventually, conform to patriarchal expectations of the nuclear family and to reinforce the functional usage of the female imagery dictated by social conventions and stereotypes regarding motherhood. It argues that the (re)presentations of the mother in the films are reifications and (re)productions of female monstrosity through the male lens as a means to convey and maintain a patriarchal discourse. Historically, the camera has been by default the tool for the male gaze, evidenced by statistics in the film industry. In the case of Spanish film industry, Barbara Zecchi presents in her book Desenfocadas a well-documented history of discrimination and exclusion of women directors.
