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  • Essay / The portrayal of Pygmalion and Galatea in Mannequin, a film by Michael Gottlieb

    The film Mannequin was directed by Michael Gottlieb and was released in 1987. The film follows the love story of an artist named Jonathan Switcher and Emmy. , a mannequin created by Jonathan himself for use in the windows of a retail store called Prince and Company.[1] The film Mannequin is a precise and accurate retelling of the story of Pygmalion and Galatea written by Ovid, in which you can see how societal behaviors have changed perceptions of women's beauty and courtly rituals. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay The story of Pygmalion and Galatea appears in volume ten of the epic poem “Metamorphoses” written by the Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso, commonly called Ovid, in 8 BC[2]. Pygmalion was a young artist who, despite his admiration for women, chose not to take a wife. Instead of taking a wife, Pygmalion created Galatea, an ivory statue of a woman to whom he "gave greater beauty than any girl could have." satisfaction he didn't want from other women. In addition to developing a sexual relationship, Pygmalion showers Galatea with compliments, gives her beautiful jewelry and clothes, and even prepares a place for her to sleep. Completely fascinated by Galatea, Pygmalion prays to Venus, the Roman goddess of love and sex, to give him a wife “like [his] ivory daughter”[4]. Hearing her prayers, Venus animates Galatea's body and blesses their marriage. Model, Jonathan Switcher is a faithful incarnation of the artist Pygmalion. Jonathan Switcher is an artist who works in a mannequin factory that produces mannequins for retail stores. When Jonathan is fired from his job for spending too much time perfecting his creations, he is separated from his most perfect creation, Emmy, and they are never reunited until he finds her in the store window. a retail store called Prince and Company. . Before Emmy is animated, Jonathan can be seen caressing her and developing a physically sexual relationship with his creation, just as Pygmalion developed with Galatea. When Jonathan was hired at Prince and Company, he became the store's window designer. So, he dresses Emmy in jewelry and fine clothes, just like a Pygmalion. Both Pygmalion and Jonathan are artists who desire a perfectly beautiful woman whom they cannot find among the women of their societies. This beauty can ultimately only be found in the animation of their perfect creations. One of the biggest differences between Ovid's account of Pygmalion and Galatea and Mannequin is the reasons why Emmy and Galatea were animated. While Galatea was animated as a gift to Pygmalion, the gods animated Emmy in response to her own prayers. When we first meet Emmy, she is praying to the gods to help her escape her life in Edfu, Egypt, circa 2514 BC.[5] In the opening scene, Emmy's mother pressures her to marry a camel dung salesman as a last attempt to find a suitor for Emmy after rejecting all other possible suitors. In response to her prayers, the gods cause an earthquake which results in Emmy's disappearance. Emmy continues to be animated several times in different bodies until she is finally animated in Jonathan's mannequin body. When Emmy is first animated, she tells Jonathan that he "created this body so she could come to life." » [6] Therefore, in Mannequin, Emmy is not animated in response to the prayers of her body's creator, but.