MADELEINE MADELEINE

Godard’s decision to make Madeleine a pop singer content with the repetitive, uncreative songs her producers tell her to sing shows that he uses Madeleine, the female character, as an outlet for his critiques of capitalist society. This makes for an ineffective critique of patriarchal capitalism – Godard critiques capitalism at the expense of a female character and fails to provide Madeleine with any depth that would help him properly carry out mimesis and make his argument more effective. up to see Madeleine enter. He is look at her reflection in a compact objectified immediately by Paul’s gaze.

While Paul prefers classical music, Madeleine works as a pop singer; this serves as a point of contention in their relationship. Paul clearly sees her music, and all mainstream pop music, as distasteful, but his pretentious comments do not change the fact that Madeleine finds success and operates as a successful capitalist while Paul does not.

The film opens with Cléo’s tarot reader stating the lines: “A young lover influenced your career…as a result, you met a kind and generous man. He made your artistic career possible.” Already, Varda pokes fun at the patriarchal idea that women can only find success in their career through the help of men.