Paper Title
Desire as Overbearing – Problematizing the Ethics of Cinematic Viewership

Abstract
In his analysis of the scene in David Lynch’s film Wild at Heart, in which Lula is abused by a gangster, Zizek argues that what transpires in the sequence is symbolic rape of Lula in the course of which she grows conscious of her split subjectivity and that the gangster, Peru, acts as the rude (psycho)analyst who brings about this realization in her and subsequently helps her calm down. This paper attempts to further develop Zizek’s arguments to show how we as viewers of cinemaare ambushed by Lula’s desire and to underline our complicity in her objectification. Keywords - Cinema Viewership, Ethics of Viewership, Objectification of Women in Cinema, Male Gaze, Psychoanalysis.