Subjects act while objects are acted upon, and, in the case of “sexual subjects” and “sex objects”, most people living in the 21st century and under the scope of modern feminism would define themselves as, or at least hope to become, the former rather than the latter.  However, the film Lila dit ça actually narrates a reverse trajectory from sexual subject to sex object in the case of Lila. 

In order to understand the matter of “sex object” vs. “sexual subject”, it is important to comprehend the system in which this issue exists.  Within Lacan theory, there exists the concept of “symbolic order”, where, within the social world of linguistic communication, inter-subjective relations, knowledge of ideological conventions and the acceptance of the law, only once a person enters into language and accepts the rules that dictate society, are they able to interact and connect with others.  As a result, that person becomes a “subject”. Working within the scheme of Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory of the symbolic order,American art historian and critical theorist, Kaja Silverman, claims, “while human bodies exist prior to discourse, it is only through discourse that they arrive at the condition of being ‘male’ or ‘female’” (324).  What Silverman means by this is that we remain “objects” until we enter the symbolic order and ourselves become the subject of discourse (or, in other words, become the subject of the language we engage in within the symbolic order); in other words, only when we engage in conversation about ourselves can we attain the status of a “subject” – and this makes sense, especially in light of the term “subjectivity”, which is defined as“the quality of existing in someone’s mind rather than the external world”.  It is also important to note that discourse requires a “speaking position” and a “spoken subject” – a person to speak and a person to be spoken about. In a world where language, discourse, discussion – other people– dictates how we shape our identity and what we become, how can we expect anyone to consider us and for us to consider ourselves as subjects, especially sexual subjects, without becoming the subject of a conversation first? And so, if it is only through discourse that a person can arrive at the condition of being “male” or “female”, then the female body cannot be seen as existing outside discourse since it is precisely with that body that discourse, and thus that subjectivity, begins. 

In the film, Lila is a beautiful blonde 16-year-old who moves in with her superstitious aunt in a rundown, mostly Arab neighborhood in Marseille. Throughout the film, however, her life is filtered through the eyes and narrated by the voice of Chimo, a 19-year-old dark-haired and what Lila will call “olive oil” skinned Muslimwho lives with his mother and spends his time hanging out with his trouble-making friends. Their relationship begins almost immediately, with Lila asking Chimo to admire her blue eyes and blonde hair, and inviting him to look up her skirt as she rides a playground swing – this marks the beginning of Lila’s subjectivity. According to Silverman, due to his gender, the Chimo naturally has the privilege of engaging in any discourse, and is thus able to define himself according to a particular discourse – allowing him to become both the speaking and the spoken subject.  Due to her gender, Lila, on the other hand, is naturally excluded from all forms of discourse.  And so,“ the structuration of the female subject beings not with her entry into language, but with the organization of her body.” (325). Therefore, Lila becomes less of sex object as she maps out and territorializes her body by becoming increasingly explicit in her sexual desires; however, her subjectivity is only legitimized because her body is made to bear meaning through Chimo’s discourse, even if this meaning is apprehended by both Lila and Chimo as an internal condition (or a product of her own essence).  Thus, the moment that Lila becomes a subject of Chimo’s discourse is also the moment that she becomes a sexual subject, and since she is a subject of his discourse from the very beginning of the film, it is possible to consider that Lila starts the film as a sexual subject. 

Throughout the film, Chimo and Lila’s physical contact is minimal and considerably innocent, partly because Lila seems to flaunt her sexuality with intense confidence, and that spirit stuns Chimo – or at least that is how it appears at first.Much of the drama in the film actually comes from ambiguities in Lila’s character, which ultimately makes Chimo question her character, and thus makes the audience question her character as well (as her character is subjectified through Chimo’s eyes).  As the story progresses, and we are further engrossed in Lila’s character, Chimo’s uncertainty brings up questions concerning her true nature: Is she really in control of herself? Does she mean what she says? Does she understand the effect she has on the people around her?  Has she thought about the possible consequences of her actions? 

What we learn by the end of the film is that, ultimately, Lila does not have the agency to remaina sexual subject throughout the story, even though she gave the impression that she does. She is not really in control of herself– of her sexuality–, she does not mean what she says, she does not understand the effect she has on the people around her, and she does not think about the consequences of her actions.  The fact that she was a virgin (due to the bloodstains left on the bed sheets after she was raped) reveals that Chimo’s discourse reflected his subjective fantasies, not Lila’s true character.  And though this does not revoke her ability to be asexual subject, it does undermine whatever sexual subjectivity she gained throughout the film, and thus her ability to be her own sexual subject, or a sexual subject true to her character, is lost in the Chimo’s projections onto her. 

A consequence of Lila’s subjective expression of Chimo’s fantasies, however, is the development of severe discomfort for her male counterparts, which ultimately manifests into sexual violence.  Chimo’s friends, in particular Mouloud, the leader of their pack, interpret Lila’s every gesture, including giving them the cold shoulder, as a teasing come-on. Given Lila’s subjective expression of Chimo’s fantasies and her paradoxical true nature, the moment Lila becomes the victim of sexual violence she becomes a “sex object”; and the fact that this occurred towards the very end of the film illustrates Lila’s reverse trajectory towards disempowerment.  

In the film Lila dit ça, the Lila’s subjective expression of Chimo’s fantasies and her becoming a victim of sexual violence contribute to Lila’s devolution from “sexual subject” to “sexual object”.  Perhaps the point of her reverse trajectory was to illustrate that women are not capable of having any sense of (sexual) agency – that they have no say in whether they are sexual subjects or sex objects –, that a women’s identity is created by the language of men and by a level of discourse that they are not allowed in.  So, like Lila, perhaps no women can actually possesses conscious experiences, such as perspectives, feelings, beliefs, and desires, that are not a projection or reflection of thee male gaze.

References

Lila dit ça.  Dir. Ziad Doueiri.  Prefs. Vahina Giocante, Moa Khouas, Karim Ben Haddou, Lotfi Chakri, Hamid Dkhissi, Edmonde Franchi, Carmen Lebbos & Ghandi Assad. Pyramide Distribution, 2004.

Silverman, Kaja. “Histoire d’O: The Construction of a Female Subject”. Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality. Ed. Carole Vance. London:Pandora Press, 1989. PDF.

“subjectivity”. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 5 Apr. 2017. <Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/subjectivity>.