What are the problems with viewing and voyeurism in cinema? The intention of this essay is to discuss both films (The Truman Show, 1998 and Rear Window, 1954) alongside established theoretical criticism (Laura Mulvey and Norman K. Denzin) in an attempt to demonstrate how the problems of vision and voyeurism, as seen in mainstream Hollywood cinema today, engages and entices the viewer and pushes them to see how the definition of voyeur has changed. Before delving into a discussion of voyeurism in Rear Window and The Truman Show, it is necessary to attempt to understand what is meant by the "dynamics of voyeurism" in cinema. The dictionary definition of voyeur is: (1) a person who derives sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity, and/or (2) a person who enjoys seeing the pain or distress of others. Voyeurism is initially noted for the investigation of the woman, demystifying the mystery, however I think this definition is a small interpretation of the word voyeur. So the intention of this essay is to further explore the meaning of voyeurism by looking at two adjacent films, two critics with contrasting opinions on what voyeurism is depicted in the film. But to understand what voyeurism means we must look at the cinematic gaze and two types of gazes; scopophilia and narcissism. Scopophilia takes other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze allowing the viewer to look into a secret diegetic world, a projection of desire onto the former. For example, Peeping Tom (1960) stimulates a direct connection with the viewer between eye and phallus, through the form of a camera wielded by protagonist and serial killer Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm). It is equipped...... half of the document ......988).Nichols, Bill., 'Film and Methods' An Anthology, Volume 1 (University of California Press: 1985).Sadar, Ziauddin ed. , 'The Rise Of The Voyeur' (The New Statesman Essay: 06 November 2000). Sluyter, Dean 1st ed., 'Lessons on Enlightenment Cinema Nirvana from the Movies' (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2005). Stam, Robert & Pearson, Robertson., 'Hitchcock's Rear Window: Backflow and the Critique of Voyeurism' in Deutelbaum, Marshall & Poague, Leland A. ed., A Hitchcock Reader (John Wiley & Sons: 2009). Filmography Peeping Tom. Director: Michael Powell (Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors, 1960) Rear Window. Director: Alfred Hitchcock. (Paramount Pictures, 1954)The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Director: Andrew Dominik (Warner Bros. Pictures, 2007)The Truman Show. Director: Peter Weir. (Paramount Pictures, 1998)