Family and power in the context of gender: The case of Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth,The Lobster and The Killing of a sacred deer films

This study analyzes Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Killing of A Sacred Deer by Yorgos Lanthimos in terms of gender, family, and power (or political power). According to Foucault, "subjectification" is a mental process which develops as a result of an individual's internalization of definitions provided by power". In an attempt to contribute to alternative chances of "subjectification", this study aims to discuss the ideological functioning of sanctified family institution by patriarchal power and its role in gender construction as well as destabilization of the identity of "subject" created via "discourse" by power holders. In the process of the analysis of the selected films, the concepts of 'gender', 'dualism', 'binary oppositions', 'sexual arrangement', 'family arrangement', 'bio-power', 'micro-power', 'masculinity', 'masculinity crisis', 'oedipal family', 'family ideology', 'abjection', 'narcissism', 'mirror stage', 'symbolic order' and 'imaginary order' have been used. To this end, the method of qualitative film analysis as well as semiotic, psychoanalytic, and feminism criticism have been used. According to this analysis, while Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Killing of A Sacred Deer criticize normative order, they unearth the gender performativity. Lanthimos's films unveiling discourses as to the identity of 'subject' created by bio-political power show that power forms body based on mainly reproduction, supervise them and therefore sanctify oedipal nuclear family by means of discourse of love. Whereas power tries to conceal its oppressive structure by manufacturing consent, family maintains its oedipal characteristics although capitalism seemingly alters the institution. It can be seen that the taboos and laws related to a child's sexual identity as well as the maintenance of heteronormative sexuality by means of micro-power relations within family and incest-like structure of sanctified family institution. Key words: gender, sex, performativity, power, bio-power, micro-power, family ideology, Yorgos Lanthimos, Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Killing of A Sacred Deer