Spectacularizing trauma: the function of costume design and makeup in character construction in Kika (1993)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24310/fotocinema.31.2025.21476Keywords:
Almodovar, costume design, makeup, characters, spectacularizationAbstract
This research analyzes how wardrobe and makeup contribute to character construction in Kika (1993) by Pedro Almodóvar, emphasizing how these resources highlight the subjectivity and internal conflict of each figure. A qualitative methodology was employed, based on viewing the film and sequentially classifying (1) the characters' changes in clothing and (2) variations in makeup and special effects, such as hairstyle changes, stains, sweat, cosmetic touch-ups, and scars. The results show that spectacularization operates in different ways: (A) as a device for surveillance and exposure of violence in the media discourse, (B) as a way to showcase the film’s creative talents, and (C) as a mode of creation where the studied elements have narrative purposes related to identity conflicts, experienced traumas, and the discourses generated by each character. An opposition and convergence of roles is observed between the female characters, caught between victimization and regeneration, and the male characters, who represent a controlling gaze through a phantasmagorical institutionalization. These differences highlight the tensions between public and private discourse according to the televisual apparatus, the fashion system, and beauty models, while problematizing the boundaries between spectacularization and invisibilization.
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