Thursday, September 22, 2005
Lap Dog Lunacy
I'm OK on Tarantino's films. They're interesting, intriguing, fun, and thoughtful. Not grand masterpieces, but memorable.
But as so often happens, when someone meets or hangs out with his idol, this person stops thinking for himself. This happened when Harry recently professed his unadulterated love for Psycho II. And that's fine. I don't share the opinion, but that's fine. Where I draw the line was when Harry stated he thought Psycho II was better than Hitchcock's original.
Them's fighting words. As I emailed Harry, PII is popcorn schlock. The original is sheer brilliance. Perfection in every frame. To defend my point, then, I present -- didn't I say some time ago I would post a college paper? -- my college paper on the themes of Psycho. Please don't write in saying it's sophomoric. I know. I was a sophomore when I wrote it. It needs work. But then, even in its current state, I think the paper succinctly gives enough firepower to my argument. Without any further ado--
The Themes of Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is often seen as the first true horror film in the genre. It is not difficult to ascertain where this view comes from: the film is famous for its grisly plot, frightening music and shocking shower scene. But to limit the scope of this film to the flimsy genre of horror would be a mistake. That is because few people recognize that Psycho is a solemn moral statement. Hitchcock uses strong symbols to criticize the practice of judging others based upon only visual understanding. In addition, he attacks sex and families' use of money and power. Thematically, Hitchcock proposes that the result of this immorality is that people lead hidden, entrapped lives, where death is the only outcome. By utilizing sharp symbolism and manipulating his viewers, Hitchcock created a truly great work of modern art.
Psycho begins with horizontal lines racing across the screen to form the opening credits. The music sets the tone for the entire movie. It is harsh staccato, and played entirely with string instruments. The lines eventually fade in to the skyline of Phoenix, the city named for the mythical bird that symbolizes sudden, fiery death and then rebirth. The camera focuses on a building, and then seems to pan randomly toward a window. Inside the window there are two lovers who are taking an "extended" lunch break in a hotel room. The audience learns the two cannot get married because the man, Sam Loomis, still has alimony debt to pay off. This is an obvious strain on both Sam and his lover, Marion Crane. Marion then returns to work at a real estate office. As she speaks with a co-worker, her boss, Mr. Lowery, enters with a client. The client, a man named Cassidy, is buying his daughter a house; he pays in cash -- $40,000 (the year is 1960). Marion then leaves early, taking the money with her. But instead of depositing the money at the bank, she flees to California, where Sam lives.
On her way there, Marion stops at the Bates Motel for the night. She meets the innkeeper, Norman Bates, and learns he has a sick, elderly mother. After the two have dinner in his office, Marion retires to her room. The audience then watches Norman spy on Marion as she undresses. As Marion showers, she is brutally stabbed to death by someone who appears to be an old woman. Norman rushes in to find Marion dead. He is shocked, and he agonizes over what he believes his mother has done. Nevertheless, he cleans up the mess, and even goes so far as to sink Marion and her car in the nearby swamp.
A private investigator named Arbogast is hired to find Marion and the money (which is now in the swamp). After speaking with Norman, Arbogast leaves dissatisfied. He later returns to Bates Motel, only to be killed by someone who appears to be an elderly woman. Again, Norman dutifully cleans up the mess. Now Sam and Marion's sister, Lila, take up the search. Posing as man and wife, they check in to Bates Motel. Working on a clue they received from Arbogast, they attempt to speak with Norman's mother. Lila makes it into the house, which is located behind the motel. After a search, and then a struggle with Norman, they find Mrs. Bates, long dead, in the basement.
A psychologist then explains his theory of what happened to Sam, Lila, the police, and the viewers. It seems that ten years prior Norman killed his mother and her lover out of jealousy. Guilt ridden, he recreated his mother in his mind. Since Norman was so jealous of his mother, he assumed she would be just as jealous of him. Therefore, whenever Norman was attracted to a woman (like Marion), the mother half of his brain would go wild with jealousy. The film closes with a look at Norman, where the mother half of his brain has completely taken over.
Since Psycho deals with some very intense topics, Hitchcock uses a piece of imagery to link them all together -- a mirror. As Donald Spoto writes in his book, The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, mirrors are used to symbolize a split personality. They also represent self-awareness and the need for introspection (Spoto 317). Thus, a careful viewing of Psycho reveals mirrors are everywhere. For example: at the beginning of the movie in the hotel, Marion looks at herself in a mirror; at the office she looks at a small make-up mirror; before fleeing with the money, Marion stops at her home, where she again looks at a mirror; driving to California, she looks through the rearview mirror; before arriving at Bates Motel, Marion sells her car, and buys another -- she counts out the car payment in a bathroom with a mirror; at Bates Motel there is a mirror in the lobby and in MarionÂ's room; finally, inside the Bates house, Lila is startled by a mirror in Mrs. Bates's room. These mirrors are not in the film by accident; they serve an important symbolic purpose.
I noted that one of the symbolic meanings of mirrors was the presence of a split personality. This is not to say that everyone who looks into a mirror has a split personality. But it does suggest that people have split minds. There is evidence to prove this. Marion is indecisive on whether she should take the money; this is seen as she paces nervously in her home. She does take the money, but during dinner with Norman, she changes her mind (she decides to return to Phoenix and give back the money). Norman is the character best represented by the mirrors because he truly does have a split personality. But the most interesting person whose mind is split is not even in the movie -- the viewer. As viewers, we know stealing is wrong, yet we want Marion to get away with it. We are frightened by the killing of Marion; but when Norman is sinking her car in the swamp, we desperately want it to sink all the way. By manipulating his audience's trust, Hitchcock has effectively split our own personality; the irony of it is that most of us (at least upon the first viewing of Psycho) don't even realize it.
Previously I stated that mirrors represent self-awareness and the need for introspection. This suggests a split mind is the result of unclear vision. There are three points in the film where faulty perception is attacked. The first is after Marion and Norman finish dinner. Marion's room at Bates Motel is adjacent to Norman's study. As she prepares for her shower, Norman spies on her through a peephole, which is covered by a picture. As Mr. Spoto keenly notices, the picture covering the peephole is of a biblical story, "Susanna and the Elders" from Daniel, chapter 13 (Spoto 322). The story's moral is on the deadly nature of voyeurism (sexual gratification received by looking at sexual objects). So Norman removes the symbol of sin, and then engages in it. In a surprising twist, Hitchcock then shows the audience the peephole. In doing this he has manipulated the viewers again by forcing us to become voyeurs. The second attack on faulty perception is more subtle; Arbogast is killed by being stabbed in the eye. The final attack on misperceptions directly involves a mirror. As Lila Crane searches the Bates house, she is startled by a mirror in Mrs. Bates's room. She is actually disturbed by the double reflection of herself. She sees this double image -- this split person -- and is frightened.
The mirrors and the stress on faulty perceptions state the classical immoral theme of perception based solely on vision. To show the result of a world where sight rules perceptions, Hitchcock has every character hide something. Marion hides money. Her coworker hid tranquilizers on her wedding day. Lowery hides a bottle of whiskey in his desk. Cassidy doesn't declare all his assets. Bates Motel is said to have looked as if it was "hiding from the world" (it was off the main highway). Norman hides his mother. In this dark and confused world, no one can be trusted. Perceptions based on sight mean nothing because nothing is what it seems; face value is merely a facet.
In addition to hiding something, many characters in Psycho find themselves trapped. Perhaps this is a form of retribution for the characters' actions. Norman laments to Marion that he couldn't ever leave his mother and the motel. Sam is trapped by his ex-wife's alimony payments. Marion gets into a trap by stealing the money. Norman even remarks on how people get caught up in their "private traps". He says this while in the parlor, surrounded by his stuffed birds, who are, as Robin Wood notes, forever caught in a trap (Wood 116). Just as importantly, Marion's last name is Crane, and her fate is the same as Norman's birds.
With the stress on faulty perception, Hitchcock attacks two other concepts: the use of familial power and money and the effects of sex. The power and money of families abound in Psycho. Marion's coworker has a prying mother. Cassidy purchases a house to buy off his daughter's unhappiness. This dependence on money eventually leads to death. The familial power of Mrs. Bates is the strongest. At the end of the film she is the dominant, and only, personality within Norman. Sex is also attacked in Psycho. Marion's relationship with Sam leads her to steal the money. Later, she is killed because Norman is attracted to her. Norman's mother built the motel because of a "hotel man from the East who could have tricked her into anything." Their relationship eventually pushed Norman to kill them; this act then forces him into madness. Power and sex are two concepts these characters take for granted, and which eventually lead to trouble.
The result of all this immorality is death. In this, Hitchcock leaves no doubt; that is why this film is so powerful. The moral tone and message are backed up by a completely uncompromising ending. Death is obvious in the two murder scenes: the shower scene is one of the most shocking in film history, and the death of Arbogast was equally unsettling. But the most important focus of death is at the end. The final shot is of Norman, whose personality has been annihilated. In place of him is the mother personality -- the mother who has been dead for ten years. In this world Hitchcock has created, death is the only victor.
Psycho is a film that excels in all categories -- it was a critical and financial success. Over thirty-five years after production, it is still studied in film schools. What stands out in this film is its dark tone and powerful message. More importantly, this message is not confined to the plot of Psycho, but is meant for everyone. In the beginning of the film the camera pans as if it is choosing a window -- as if it could choose any window. This suggests that under the shadow of normalcy, we are all immoral, and anyone could suffer the consequences of this immorality. Never has any "horror" film been so deeply layered with symbols decrying sin. Never has a mainstream film been so strong in its conviction that death is triumphant.
