Lacan- The Mirror Stage

Jacques Lacan formulated his idea on the mirror stage in 1966, stating that when infants see themselves in the mirror, their mind goes through stages. Firstly, believing the image is superior to themselves, and accept it as their ideal, sometimes leading to narcissistic tendencies. They then strive to be like the Ideal, due to them believing they are imperfect, which can cause self-loathing.

The mirror stage can similarly be viewed in terms of cinema. Females often see attractive women on-screen, and therefore this is rooted in their minds as being the ideal, so they look to transform into the superior beings that they see on screen, causing a state of simulacra, where the constructed media (vague reflection of reality) alters someone's perception of reality so they strive to be more like what they see on screen, therefore becoming this vague reflection of themselves. This can also be seen in males with violence, as they see violent males on screen getting women, and therefore become more violent as they believe this will attract more women. In females, however, this can cause body dysmorphia, or eating disorders such as anorexia, because they are striving to become more like their 'ideal', which therefore reinforces Mulvey's idea of the male gaze.

In terms of in cinema, this could relate to a film where someone's identity has been stolen or they look in the mirror and see someone other than themselves staring back at them, such as in Source Code, where Jake Gyllenhaal's character wakes up on a train and checks his ID and looks in the mirror to find someone other than himself. In Unknown, Liam Neeson's character comes out of a coma and his wife doesn't know who he is, but someone else has stolen his identity and his entire life.