The Male Imagination in Literature and Cinema: Asaf Halet Çelebi's Poem 'Woman' and the Film Don't Worry My Darling

Abstract

This study presents a comparative analysis of Asaf Halet Çelebi's poem Kadıncığım ("My Little Wo-man") and the 2022 film Don't Worry Darling in terms of the patriarchal mindset's desire to idealize and control women. Drawing on Lacan’s famous assertion that “The Woman does not exist,” the analysis posits that women are constructed as projections of male imagination and argues that this perspective frequently appears in literature and cinema. The study explores the historical roots of the male desire to create the ideal woman, beginning with the myth of Pygmalion from Greek mythology. In Kadıncığım, the male subject creates a female figure by "removing his femur" to compensate for his lack. However, this figure is positioned solely as an object that fulfills male desires. Similarly, in Don't Worry Darling, Jack confines his wife, Alice, to a virtual world, transforming her into his ideal spouse. Both works critique a mindset that erases female individuality and reduces women to functional entities serving male dominance. Both works also highlight the unsustainability of patriarchal utopias. In Kadıncığım, the created woman becomes a reflection of the loneliness and cycle of domination inherent in male fantasies, while in Don't Worry Darling, Alice breaks free from her imposed confinement, reclaiming her autonomy. This underscores the inevitable failure of male attempts to control women. The shared theme in both works lies in their critique of power dynamics in gender relations and the destructive societal implications of male fantasies about the "ideal woman." The study argues that women's yearning for freedom will eventually dismantle such oppressive systems. It concludes that these fantasies of ideal womanhood ultimately imprison both men and women, offering a powerful critique of the consequences of patriarchal control in gender relations. © 2025, Ataturk Universitesi. All rights reserved.