Looking past the mere figure of the murderer, try to identify a monster in this film that isn't immediately obvious. What themes motivate the film? How does the film deal with these themes? How might the film be addressing the "monstrous" outside the simple, murderous cycle of the central killer? In other words, if the killer isn't the only monster in this film, what else are you meant to fear?
Throughout the majority of the film it was believed that Norman Bates mother was the one that was doing the killing, therefore the monstrous name is pinned onto her. Throughout the movie, viewers are being handed clues to suggest that there is something deeper going on. We never see Mrs. Bates, we only hear her talk, and we never see Mrs. Bates and Norman together. When the sheriff comes into the picture and tells Sam and Lila that Mrs. Bates was dead, and that she had killed her lover as well as committed suicide, viewers start to question whether it was Mrs. Bates or another woman who was buried in the cemetery. At the end of the film, we find out that Norman was the one who killed his mother (and her lover), and as a result developed a mental disorder that which in turn made him, “never all ‘Norman’, but her was often ‘Mother’”. I think that this mental disorder was the hidden monster throughout the movie. This condition made Norman kill people that he thought made his mother jealous, and therefore in his mind, it was his mother who was doing the killing, not himself. This mental disorder is what caused Norman to develop the actions of a monster; therefore the mental disorder was the silent monster the whole film. I think that if the killer is not the only monster in the film that the director is trying to get us to fear making bad choices. Marion was killed after steeling 40,000 dollars and the detective was killed after breaking into the house after he was told specifically not to, and we almost see Lila get killed for the same reason before getting saved by Sam.
ReplyDeleteI think the theme of ‘Psycho’ is one questioning their identity. We see people question their identity the whole movie. First with Sam during the opening scene, where is looks at his life and tells Marion that he is in no position to have a wife while he was dealing with his fathers debt and his former wife’s alimony. The next time we see this concept of confused identities is when Marion decides to steal the money. As Marion is driving she is hearing voices from back home. One of those voices is her boss who says something about how ‘after working with someone for ten years you would think you could trust her’. This suggests that Marion is not the type of girl that would steal $40,000, leading us to believe that Marion was in a rough place and did not really know who she was at that point in time. And last, but not least, is Norman Bates identity confusion, not being able to differentiate between his mother’s personality and his own and eventually this confusion causes him to become a psycho murderer without even knowing it. Throughout the movie everyone eventually straightens out his or her identity. We see Sam writing a note to Marion telling her that he does not care about being poor, as long as they are happy. We see Marion come to her senses and decide to go back to Phoenix and right her wrongs, only to be brutally murdered while showering and getting ready to leave, and at the end of the movie a psychologist discovers what is wrong with Norman.
I agree with you that the director is trying to tell us that we should fear making bad decisions that go against us. I also think the director was telling us that we can't trust everyone and that people lie to make themselves feel better. Norman was definitely crazy in the movie and made it seem like his mother was the monster. When I talked about the theme I also said that it dealt with identity. I said it was more of role-playing rather than questioning identity. Norman and Marion both I think had a psychiatric disorder that made them have different identities. They were trying to be too take the roles of many different people and didn't know which role was their true self. I think that at the end of the movie it was good for the director to have everyone straighten their identity out.
DeleteThe thing we think we fear is actually not what turns out to be the monster in the end. So maybe the moral of the movie is that monsters may not be the thing we think we should be afraid of. I was trying to predict the entire movie, to see who was the real "psycho" and in the end I realized monsters can be hidden in plain sight, like Norman Bates was. We all assumed he was innocent, nice and a bit sad from the loss of his mother. But in reality he was the monster all along.
DeleteI definitely agree that the main theme deals with identity crises. Not only are the characters dealing with their own issues and problems, but the audience is also in sort of a crisis. We don't know who to believe is doing the killing. In the beginning, it is thought to be Norman. However, there is then reason to believe Mrs. Bates is the real killer.
Deletei like your reasoning and descriptions of marions situation, it really helps to try and justify her story from her poiunt of view and makes the story even more complex.
DeletePsycho is a movie about a lady that steals $40,000 dollars so that she can marry her lover, but ends up being killed at the hotel she stays at. In the movie the murderer is obviously the monster everyone can pick out. Another monster in the film that isn’t obvious to some views could be Marion. She plays many roles throughout the movie. She is the humble secretary and also the secretive girl that goes and sleeps with her lover Sam on her lunch breaks. Marion could be a viewed as a monster because she steals the $40,000 from her boss’s client to make her life better. Like Norman Bates, Marion’s relationship with her mom is double natured. Marion also adopts a new identity by trading her car for a new car and signs the name of the hotel room with Marie Samuels. During this whole film you can see many characteristics of a monster from her. One of the themes of the film is the changing of identities or role-play. Norman Bates and Marion both change identities at one point or another during the film. Norman’s need to change his identity is explained at the end of the movie by a psychiatrist. Hitchcock, the director, made it easy for us to understand that the idea of role-playing was one of the main themes. Since the killer isn’t the only monster in the film we, the viewers, are meant to fear other things throughout the movie like that you can’t trust people. Throughout this movie many of the characters are lying. They lie about their identity and many other things. From this movie we can think that we are meant to not trust people because they could be lying.
ReplyDeleteI to can see Marion as an example of a monster within the story the things she did just didn't seem like the girl we had met at the beginning. I felt as though even her sleeping around with her lover in hotels as nothing but young love trying to make things work when everything is just so wrong. The ways in which Hitchcock revealed role playing were intriguing because once I found out Norman was the old woman I began having to back track and think of how this could have possibly worked. This identity change was a nice surprise. I also agree with your last statement in my post I also hit on deception.
DeleteI agree when you talk about Marion playing many roles in the movie and when you say there are many characteristics of a monster in Marion. I also agree when you say that another fear is that we as a society cannot trust people because of the characters in the movie lying. People can deceive you in many ways.
DeleteI like how you all identify that it is not the person who is monstrous, but rather their actions.
DeleteI think that Hitchcock does a great job at concerning himself and his art with how a monster should act, rather than what one looks like. There has been an obvious shift from physical monstrosity, to mental monstrosity.
The 1960 movie Psycho starts off following the life of a young woman, Marion, Marion appearing sweet and glamorous is given the task of having to deposit $40,000 as apart of a major business deal. However, she has ulterior motives and takes the cash and runs. Ending up at the Bates Motel is where the hidden monster is revealed. The movie housing multiple crazy characters is driven by the monster deception. This monster is first seen when Marion goes on her lunch break to hook up with her lover, Sam, going a little over the time permitted. Deception is then seen when Marion takes the $40,000 in order to feed into her love life which in return determines her future. Deception also thrives through the blood of Norman, the hotel manager, who flips the script turning out to be a serial killer as well as psychotic. The characters' desire to continue on deceiving others as a result determines their fate cutting their journeys short. A few themes presented in the film that played hand in hand are desire and the obsession to control one's fate. Norman's serial killer ways first developed when he felt as though his feet were being stepped on by his mother's lover. In order to get his life back to normal Norman decided to kill off both his mother and the lover. Marion on the other hand, let Sam's financial issues get the best of her so in order to take control of the future the two were meant to share she decided to steal the money. The audience is made to fear deception, the power of love, and covering the tracks. The power of love for both of the main characters is what ultimately leads to their self-destruction. The characters feel as though if they can just deceive others only for a moment they can cover up the tracks so that they are still viewed in a good light. This movie enforces why we are told "never judge a book by its cover" and "love will make you do crazy things".
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Psycho a character named Marion starts off with a image of being good at first but that all changes throughout the movie. Marion steals a large sum of money which was $40,000 and runs off to go in hiding. Some of the themes in this movie are the sense of being greedy when it comes to money and the addiction or lure of doing wrong. Marion becomes addicted to doing wrong throughout the movie. In the movie Psycho, it is meant for all of us to fear all of society because anyone is capable of snapping and becoming monsterous.
ReplyDeleteI, too, believe it is true when you said, "anyone is capable of snapping and becoming monstrous." I think Hitchcock was trying to prove a point that a monster is not just a deformed creature or the person holding the knife. For example, Marion can be seen as a monster through her lies and deceiving motives. She stole $40,000, and this can definitely be seen as an evil act. We tend to associate monsters with evil actions and intentions, and it is evident that Marion fits that description in this case. We also can associate monsters with strange or deviant behavior. Norman, in a sense, was not the one holding the knife. "Mother" was the slasher. He was just a normal-looking man with some type of mental disorder. Norman acted in ways that seemed very peculiar to others, and we can see this strangeness through the facial expressions of Marion, Arbogast, and Sam. His behavior was off because he was hiding what "Mother" had done. Rather than telling the truth, he tries to brush it off as if nothing horribly gruesome had happened. Because of this, we can see that your average Joe, despite being mentally ill, can just so happen to be a figure you never expected to be horrifically monstrous or that you thought you would fear.
DeleteAlfred Hitchcock's Psycho portrays an obvious monster through the mentally ill character Norman Bates. However, there is another underlying monster within in the film that we are meant to fear. I believe that this second monster is lying and deception. Several characters show this monster within themselves. For example, Marion Crane continuously lies from the beginning of the film to the point of her death. She tells her boss and his client that she would take the $40,000 to the bank when in reality she is going to keep the money for herself and escape to Los Angeles. She lies to her boss about resting all weekend due to her horrible headache, and she lies to the cop about nothing being wrong. When Marion arrives at the hotel, she signs in as Marion Samuels, deceiving Norman about her identity. Her constant lies and deceptive motives, I believe, are her downfall. After discovering that Marion had stole the money, her sister Lila says they must find the missing Marion "before she is in too deep" with what she had done. However, she already was, and before she could get turn it around and realize the error of her ways, it was too late. We see other cases of lying and deception when Norman is talking to detective Arbogast about Marion and when Sam is trying to deceive Norman into telling him the true story about what happened to Marion at his hotel. We see Arbogast using a detective's deceptive skills in order to get Norman to confess the true story of Marion's stay at his hotel, which in turn, causes him to be murdered by "Mother" in fear of him finding out the truth. Norman's lying snowballs into bigger lies, and this causes him to go crazy--perhaps more than he already was. He often turns into his "Mother" form, the obvious monster, and this is his downfall. Sam's deception when talking to Norman also takes its toll in a negative chain of events, for Norman hits him over the head and knocks him unconscious. He becomes his "Mother" form once again, coming close to ending Lila's life.
ReplyDeleteIt is evident that with lying and deception come negative results. For each character, some kind of bad outcome occurs for the one doing the lying and/or deceiving. Marion and Arbogast meet death, Sam and Lila nearly lose their lives, and Norman ends up behind bars. I believe Hitchcock is trying to show that we are meant to fear each other. We are all capable of not telling the truth and deceiving one another. If this is true, how are we to trust anyone? Can we actually trust someone one hundred percent without somewhat doubting their intentions or having second thoughts? With a loss of trust due to lying and deception, nearly anyone can become a monster in our eyes.
I agree that lying and deception is a clear monster in the film. What makes Marion a monster is the way she lied about stealing the money, her headache, where she was going on her lunch breaks...etc. I believe that setting her up in this way, having the audience see her as a lying, cheating, deceiving character, sets up the movie for what is to come. These do end up working against her, like you said. Maybe we as viewers are to think that she couldn't handle this crime?
DeleteI believe a monster in this film that does not immediately jump out at the audience is “guilt” as a monster. Guilt is seen through many different ways throughout the film. Marion shows guilt in the way she suspiciously acts when the police officer finds her sleeping in her car. When she is later driving away from town, there is a scene where she is in her car and she hears her coworkers in the office speaking in her head discussing and figuring out what she really did. You can tell that she somewhat regrets her action and is worried about the consequences. Marion is not the only figure who resembles guilt – you can see a flash of guilt on Norman’s face as he watches Marion’s car sink into the lake. He is especially guilty later when speaking with the private investigator – he might as well have a “guilty” sign attached to his forehead with the way he is nervously conversing with the private investigator. Guilt is a monster because it can mess with your head and cause you to go psychologically insane, and that is what Psycho is trying to get at. Guilt makes anyone go crazy – Norman went crazy because of the guilt of murdering his mother and her beau, and the insanity he plummeted into after this matricide led to Marion’s death and the private investigator’s death as well. Norman’s insanity (schizophrenia) was directly a result of the guilt he felt for murdering his mother and her beau. Because of his illness, he, without regret, continued murdering other people, because guilt is a vicious cycle.
ReplyDeletePsycho is meant to have the audience fear a world in which we cannot control our own minds. The film depicts a man who has lost control not only of his life, but of his own sanity. Norman is not consciously aware of who he is anymore – is he living his own life … his mother’s life? A cultural fear of society today is just that. Look at the way we treat people who must go to a mental institution – they have a bad connotation to them, and we as a society, fear them, because we can lose everything – money, loved ones, but losing your own mind is the pinnacle of fear. People today would rather be dead than lose their minds – what is life if you must live without a functional mind? What is life to Norman while he has to live with half of himself and half of his mother? Through Norman’s illness, Psycho represents the cultural fear of loss of self-function.
Like you, I also believe guilt plays the role of a monster in the film. Marion and Norman both choose to perform acts in their lives that they later regret. As a result of the immense guilt Norman feels for killing his mother and her lover, his mind reacts to make it seem as if it never happened. Norman creates a world for himself where his mother is still alive. Adding to your thoughts on guilt, I believe Norman is so crushed by the idea of being alone and without company, he is forced to create the mentality that his mother never left. Norman's guilty conscious reacts by making up a world in which he can live.
DeleteI think that you make a really good point when you say that guilt plays a monstrous role in the movie. It is kind of a hidden monster throughout the movie. You also point out really good evidence to back this claim up. I think one of the main reasons that guilt is a monster in this film is because it almost always wins. Even though Norman feels guilty, he still precedes to watch the car go deeper and deeper into the lake, and even though Marion feels guilty after the cop is following her, she still precedes to drive away knowing what she is doing. I also think you make a good point when you say that we as a society fear people who are in mental institution, because we know if something like that were to happen to us, like you said, we would have no control over our minds, and that is something that everyone fears.
DeleteI believe that the true "monster" of Psycho doesn't necessarily manifest itself in human form.I think the attempt to create another identity is punished by society through indirect means. My belief is much like Cohen's thesis regarding a monster being something that polices the borders provided by society. Though metaphysical, the monster in Psycho takes form in the main characters' consequences throughout the film. The betrayal of norms is the main theme of Psycho. Marion's theft as well as Norman's murders are both frowned upon by society, and so they are punished for violating cultural norms (which in essence is a monster, though is this case more of a sentinel). Betrayal of cultural norms is what should truly be feared, especially if killer Michael Myers is around.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I alike how you worded this and how you broke it down. There is not one single monster, the monster is spread out between a couple of characters. The movie, in my opinion, is just telling the public not to be greedy, harm others, or sleep around. It is trying to say something like, "Take this as a lesson and don't do this." Movies reflect the time that they were made and I think this film does a good job depicting the 1950s and 60s culture and morals.
Delete***SPOILER ALERT***
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick another monster in the movie it would be Marion. She could represent adultery and greed. Adultery because she used her lunch break to sleep with Sam and obviously greed because she stole $40,000 on a whim. Greed is one of the main themes that really pushed the film forward. When Marion stole the money that was out of greed, that gave the film its initial plot. In hindsight a theme that is crucial to the story would be mental health. His mental disorder give the film a memorable twist at the end and I personally think why people still like it 50 years later. I suppose that the film could be telling us that if we steal or sleep around bad things could happen to us and just telling us again that we shouldn't do those kind of things.
I believe greed in a main theme as well and is very prevalent in today's society.Sometimes it seems like the goal in life is just to make as much money as you can. Unfortunately, this leads to people who are more obsessed with money than people. I guess in a way you could compare it to drugs because once people have a taste of it, it seems like they are never satisfied. There is never enough money in the world and they say if I had this much money, I would...ect. Therefore, I agree that greed can be a monster.
DeleteWhen I was watching Psycho, I tried to pin the term Psycho to every character who seemed a bit deranged. Because of the tite, I spent the entire film trying to predict the movie and base my judgement of a Psycho on the most physically-appearing Psycho. In the end I found out there were so many clues in the film that should have led me to see that the most innocent and nicest man in the movie turned out to be deranged. But Norman Bates was only a monster because of things that happened to him in his past. He was haunted by the monster of his mother, who we assume was strict and clingy. Although it is not right to use this as an excuse, Norman was only psycho because his mother drove him to be. The real monster here was the mother who mistreated Norman, and the horrible guilt she left him with.
ReplyDeleteI too said that it was Norman's mother that was the underlying monster throughout the film because Norman was not born this way. There were factors in his life that caused him to become what he is. I think that if a person is a murderer then the real people that need to be questioned are the people that they grew up with, because they are the ones that are responsible for the ways that that person lives their life in some ways.
DeleteIn Psycho, the monster that is not portrayed right away is Norman’s mother. Since Norman has developed a split personality that takes the place of his mother, it leads one to believe that Norman’s real mother must have traumatized him in a very big way. She was the real monster throughout this movie even though she never was there in a physical sense because since she treated her son in a bad and damaging way it caused him to turn into a murderous psycho. A theme that is present throughout the movie is that there is an attraction to doing evil in order to get what you think will benefit others. Marion steals the $40,000 so that she can help out Sam with his finances when really she is only doing harm to more people than she is helping. Norman kills people in order to keep him “mother” happy when in reality she does not really exist. The film addresses that there is more to a murder than simply who the murderer is. The people who surround the murderer are usually the ones who lead the person down the path that ends with that person killing others. Norman became what he is because of his mother. Marion steals because she is under the illusion that it will only help Sam and has no other consequence. I think that all these monsters in the film are meant to lead us to fear what people are really capable of doing. People are good at putting on acts. They are good at manipulating how others see them. The fear is that you will begin to believe that someone is good but in reality they are nothing more than a murderer.
ReplyDeleteYour idea about how Norman's mother is the monster is interesting because I would assume most people would not feel sympathy in such a way for Norman. However, if you think about it, Norman is just a victim of his own mental disorder. He did not even know that "Mother" was the killer.
DeleteThe 1960’s Film, Psycho, By Hitchcock There Were Many Twists And Turns But Who Was The Real Monster? It’s Obvious That The Monster Is The Person That Kills Marion But There Is More Than One Person That Can Be Considered The Monster. Innocent Marion Takes Money In Order To Marry Her True Love But Scandals Appear Throughout Her Journey. In The Beginning Of The Film, Marion Is Portrayed As The Innocent, Sweet Bank Teller. Marion Is Given A Job To Put $40,000.00 In Cash In The Safety Deposit Box At A Bank. Instead, Marion Runs Off With The Money For Herself And Uses The Money To Her Likings. Marion Could Be Considered As A Monster Also. She Has Lied And Stolen Her Way To What She Thinks Is Freedom. With Her Greed, Fear (Fear Of Being Caught So She Must Lie), Lies, And Bad Decisions Had Luck Not In Her Favor. She Ends Up Being Killed At The Hotel That She Stayed In. A Theme Could Be That A Monstrous Act Doesn’t Have To Be With Someone Who Looks Like A Monster. It Can Be An Innocent And Normal Looking By Standard. And If You Do Bad Things Or Wrongs, Karma Will Return The Favor. Maybe Society’s Idea Of Being Happy Is To Be Wealthy Has Corrupted The Minds Of People Into Doing Whatever They Can To Achieve That Happiness.
ReplyDeleteI think that what you claim to be the theme is relevant. The film portrays that monstrous acts can, in fact, be done by anyone. The least obvious of people can do the dirtiest deeds. This ties in with my idea of identity being the secret monster. In the film, monstrosity is played out by means of identity, and identity is what keeps the viewer on their toes.
DeleteThis movie, apart from the murder, is all about deception and identity. $40,000 is stolen, someone is murdered by an unknown suspect, and role playing occurs with one of the characters, Marion. The obvious monster is the murder suspect, but the plot of the story incorporates a less obvious monster that acts as a sort of pathway for the story to glide on. The secret monster here is identity. It is identity that acts as a catalyst for embezzlement, for the Marion's role-play and secrecy, and the murder. Throughout the movie we are forced to discover the identity of the murderer, but are also faced with the secret identities of the main characters.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the movie, the same, obvious monsters are present. In the beginning, the audience is led to believe that Norman is the primary monster. Mrs. Bates is also portrayed as a monster as the audience begins to question whether she is doing the killing or not. The underlying monster not apparent right away is the deception. For instance, Marion Crane is a pathological liar. She will lie about anything and everything. She lied about the $40,000 and kept it for herself. She lied about her last name when she signed in at the hotel. She also lied about her reasoning for missing work. There really isn't anything she is not willing to lie about. She will deceive anyone she needs to in order to get ahead.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the main theme of the movie revolves around identity crisis. In the very beginning, Sam is forced to evaluate his life and come to the conclusion that he is not in a position to have a wife. Marion also runs into a crisis of sorts when stealing the money. She hears her boss's voice talking about trust, and she begins to question who she is becoming.
I agree with your idea that the real monster in the film is portrayed as Marion. When we think Mrs.Bates is the murderer there is no evidence, however, the whole story points out all the bad things that Marion has done. When Marion is murdered I got the feeling that there is no way she could be the monster, that it was Mrs.Bates, but after watching the whole film it is the actions of Marion that are monstrous.
DeleteI think one of the monsters that Hitchcock meant for the audience to fear was the fear of the unknown. Throughout the movie, the audience is made to believe that Norman's mother is the killer, but there is suspicion that there is something else that we aren't seeing or understanding, such as with the fact that we never actually see "Mother." We continue to try to figure out what it is that we don't know and what the ending is going to be. When it is revealed that Norman was actually the killer the whole time, the audience is shocked and terrified that they had no idea who the killer was when he was there all along. Another notable example of the fear of the unknown in Psycho is the fact that even Norman did not know that he was the murderer. His condition caused him to believe that his mother was really alive. I don't think anything is scarier than not knowing if even you are a killer.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Psych has many hidden monsters. I believe one of the hidden monsters in this movie is fear of accepting death. Norman can not accept the death of his mother and so creates a fictional version of her. Even worse, he cannot accept that he killed her. The monster in this example is the fear of accepting a fate that can be very sad. Obviously, everyone is going to die sometime but we do not like to think about it. When we are young, we think death is so far away until we hear about someone younger passing away. Norman creates his mom because he cannot accept that she is dead by his hand. Normal wants to imagine she is still there even at the end. Throughout the movie, he continually makes excuses for his mothers absence. This could be perceived as him trying to avoid rationalizing that she really is not there. Therefore, Psych plays with the idea that people cannot accept death and that can turn them into a monster.
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ReplyDeleteAfter viewing Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, I found the underlying, imperceptible monster to be loneliness. The fear of separation and solitude is a theme that arises throughout the film arising first in the opening scene of the film, when Marion expresses anxiety over awaiting her marriage to Sam. Marion is tired of waiting for Sam to square away his divorce and yearns to make Sam hers. However, she knows money is the only factor keeping them from marrying. Marion’s concern of being without Sam pushes her to steal money from her workplace to aid in her pursuit to marry Sam.
ReplyDeleteFear of isolation surfaces again when the psychologist reveals Norman Bates’ family life growing up. Following his father’s death, Norman becomes extremely close to his mother. Norman reacts negatively to his mother bringing another man into their lives. Norman’s fear of his closest friend, his mother, isolating and forgetting him over a new man in the house drives him to commit murder. The fear of being alone and forgotten consumes Norman and after murdering his only company, he is forced to reincarnate his mother through himself. It is in this way that Psycho captures the human reaction to the fear of solitude and being alone and the fear of losing a loved one and how it can affect one’s mentality. Just as a monster can cause recklessness and damage, loneliness and fear of isolation can harm the individual and their psychological state of being all the same.
You make a very good point. Looking through the other posts it seems nobody else seemes to pick up on this fear--the fear of isolation. I think it's fair to say being alone can cause insanity. We also see this theme in the novel I Am Legend. It makes you wonder how that story may have gone differently if Neville was alone longer. We already see him talking to himself. Is that the start of a mental illness like we find in Norman after his many hardships?
DeleteI feel like the fear of isolation was forced on him by his mother due to her own fear of loneliness. She raised him in a relationship where every source of interaction was between them,Norman's brain comes to understand that relationship as the norm of society. Everyone behaved this was with their mom but when she finds someone else to interact with then Norman is left all alon in the world. Without any healthy methods of coping, his mind re-creates the relationship he had with his mother in the best possible way it can. It splits his own consciousness and then makes the other half of Norman his mother.
DeleteThere are so many different monsters in the movie Psycho, some more obvious than others. Of course we see the murderer as a monster and maybe even Marion for the things she does. The list of less obvious monsters could go on forever, mostly because it just depends how far you read into the plot. There's the mental illnessof Norman, the lying and decieving of pretty much everyone in the film,the "sins behind the scenes" (stealing and adultry) and of course the unknown. Along the lines of fearing the unknown comes the fear that you may be a monster yourself and not know. That is one of the scariest of the latent monsters. There sould be a monster in each of us and that's how this movie is so relatable.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the movie Psycho, I believe the true monster was the fear of the unknown. Throughout the movie, there are numerous things that we don't know for example who stole the forty thousand dollars, who was the murderer, and why we never saw Mrs. Bates, only heard her. Throughout history no matter what culture you look at people have always had a fear of the unknown. Whether it be something as simple as riding a roller coaster for the first time. Many people are scared of it because they don't know what to expect. We also saw this in the movie "District 9" when the alien ship first appeared over South Africa. The people of South Africa had no idea who the aliens were so they were scared of them and separated themselves from them. This is why I believe the movie represents societies fear of the unknown.
ReplyDeleteI think in some ways I interpreted the theme of the "fear of the unknown" in the same ways that you did. I took the idea and I related it back to people and how this fear could be related to anything. In your example it was a mild fear of not knowing where a roller coaster will lead you. In more severe cases, its not knowing who's killing people.
DeleteMany of the monsters we have talked about have caused fears of the unknown. Norman seems to be the obvious murderer in the film; however, the fear that his character causes in Marion may be another monster. The fear of not knowing whom someone is and/or what he or she is capable of can be shown through Marion’s oblivious trusting in Bates and the horrific consequences she endured. One of the themes that motivate the movie is that of identity. Marion has a separate clandestine life with Sam, as well as Norman when he takes on the role of his deceased mother. The fear Marion had of getting caught caused her to try to hide her separate life, even signing in under a false name at the hotel and buying a new car to disguise herself. In the film at first I did not feel as though Marion had anything to be afraid of but once she started running away it seemed like she was in danger. The murder in this case could represent the consequences of all Marion’s wrongdoings to Sam, her mom and sister, and her boss’s client. The film does not really portray Norman as a monster; the police even give him a blanket when he asks. I felt like it was Marion’s actions that were “monstrofied”.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we all have a fear of the unknown. It is also a good point that you made about how other fears can drive us to lose our identity and maybe that is why Marion and Norman lost themselves. Maybe Norman couldn't handle the truth that he had murdered so many people and so he took on his mother's identity and the blame was all on her. Marion became so desperate for money that she stole it, but couldn't even use her own name when spending the money because that action was not like the old her. I would have to disagree and say that I believe Norman and his mental disability combined was the monster; thought and action follow through.
DeleteIn the film Psycho, Hitchcock shows both obvious and hidden monsters in his characters. The obvious monster is Norman Bates who brutally murders several innocent people. In the beginning, it was believed that his mother killed her lover and then committed suicide, but that is not what we later find out. It turns out that it was in fact Norman who killed both of them. This is when we start to see how crazy he really is. His mental disorder becomes more developed as the film goes on. He kills all of these people, but claims it is his mother who is actually doing the killing. He takes on the role of his mother and kills anyone who makes her jealous. In his mind he has done no wrong. This isn't the only account of identity disorder. The character Marion Crane is poor, but wants to marry her lover Sam. She acts like another person and steals money from her boss/ client, runs away with it, and checks into a hotel under the name Marion Samuels. She lies, steals, and leads a life of deception. throughout the film, these actions or traits are what led to people being killed. I think Hitchcock was trying to make a point with his theme that a person's identity is never fully known and we should fear that. Also that doing horrific things will lead to consequences in the future. I think the monster is Norman himself for committing the actions, but also his mental disability for driving him to do so. We all have a side in us that could come out at any time just like Norman. That is something we fear: becoming a monster.
ReplyDeleteYou make an interesting point. No one really knows the power of the mind or what we are completely capable of. Most people go day by day, acting through the motions, trying to be normal, beating down any and all dangerous desires. This movie shows what happens when a person, so overcome with emotions and instability, cracks. The frightening thing is, this can theoretically happen to anyone. Even Marion, as you said, goes against all of her preconceived moral codes and breaks laws she normally would have been appalled to do. She was overrun with her desire that she was lead to lies, deception, and stealing. These facts make everyone in the audience wonder whether the monster isn't just Norman for his murders, but rather each and everyone's inner selves.
Deletethere are many times in the film where we dont quite seem to know whats going on, and as a result are afraid of it. so one of the greatest fears in the movie is that of the unknown. this shows in multiple scenes, some of which being by whom the money was stolen, or complexities and dead ends as to who the killer was. i think lust and the punishment for it is s a huge theme as every thing marion does is driven by it from her lunch break escapades to her stealing all then money, and as a result in the film is killed by norman for her punishment and to teach viewers they'll pay for such actions. it seems that the director is trying to make the audience more fearful of and accountable for their actions by showing them the reprocussions afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your claim about the film showing us what happens to people when they do unspeakable deeds and always get their comeuppances.
DeleteIn Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, at the surface, it may appear as a just a "slasher flick". However, I think once you look further into it there are many themes presented that move the film. Hitchcock utilizes these themes to make the viewer fear more than just the killer. For example, the idea that we fear what we do not know. This idea I believe is felt by people everyday in numerous ways. For example, one might fear the fact that they do not know what their life will be in however many years. The way this is presented in the film is by using an unknown killer who is presumably Norman's mother. This unknown killer and this fear of who it might be I believe pushes the film forward and retains the viewer's attention.
ReplyDeleteMy second thought on this film pertains to what is actually monstrous in the film. I think it quite obvious that killing someone is monstrous, but I think what fuels this monstrous behavior is often overlooked. I believe that guilt is proven to be monstrous, and this is what fuels Norman to be crazy. He was already an unstable character after the death of his father but I do not believe he felt guilt from this. I think his life began to spiral downhill after he murdered his mother and her lover. From this point on, he developed a severe multiple personality disorder that all stemmed from the guilt of his actions. We can see how bad his condition was obviously from him killing people but also the fact that his personality became more of his mother than his actual self.
The film Psycho is meant to bring chills and sharp shrills. It's one of the first slasher movies and as a result is legendary. To most people, the reason for it being so horrifying would be because of the serial murders that ensue throughout, but when dissected, other instances can be seen under the surface causing their own fears. One of the main themes of the film is the issue of identity crisis. One of the main characters Marion experiences this first hand. She is in love with a man who is unable to commit himself to her, causing her to go against her morals when she's with him. Her strong desire to be married and be an honest woman causes her to commit an extremely non-honest act. Marion goes against her lay-abiding morals, steps away from her role as dutiful secretary, and steals 40,000 dollars from her work. Her desire encompasses her virtue and she is forced to go on the run. In the end, she pays for sins by being murdered at her hideout.
ReplyDeleteThe other main example of role-reversal is that of Norman Bates and his mother. Growing up, it had just been the two of them. They lived in their own solitary world and this allowed Norman's mental troubles to be contained. This was disrupted when Norman's mother met a man. Norman was so enraged and jealous of this breach of his solitary bubble that he killed his mother and her lover. Norman couldn't handle this. He loved his mother and was unhealthily attached to her. When she was gone, he was left alone. To compensate for this, Norman's mind took on another personalty, one of his mother. He was now split in two and had found away to rid himself of his loneliness and bring his mother back. Unfortunately, when he brought in his mother, he also brought in her own jealousies. Whenever Norman found himself attracted to a woman, his mother half of himself felt the same jealous rage that he had felt, and as a result, the mother in him killed these women. When you analyze the film, you find that you're not so afraid of the brutal murders, but rather how frightening the mind can. Anyone can go through change, and its scary to think just how the mind and unbridled desires can control oneself.
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ReplyDeleteA monster that jumps out at me is the subconscious. The movie’s plot was driven by Marion stealing the $40,000. Her paranoia kept her gripped in fear and her focus and concentration low. Nothing could motivate her to “not feel fear” in the face of the police officer. Or when she was getting the new car, she could have calmly made the transaction but her mind was overpowering her judgment. This is just a basal example of the power of the monster that is the subconscious. Norman’s mind manages to separate itself into two functioning and separate personalities. Not only that but it was the personality of the mother that he murdered, he wears her clothing and even speaks like she would. Only a monster could force someone to dress, act, and feel like the mother one took the life off. Only a true monster could kill their mother right? Well when the power of the decision is left in the part of the mind that one has no surveillance or control over, then yes a monster is the result. A being capable of gross and vicious acts like dressing up and stabbing a woman in the shower and having no mental repercussions is a monster.
ReplyDeleteA monster that is not immediately obvious would be someone who acts a bit more irrationally innocent than any normal person would seem innocent. Throughout most of the film, when Marion starts seeing some people looking at her with scornful expressions it leads to her feeling like she might be surrounded by monsters. The general theme that the film is trying to convey is that things aren't always as they seem; like the expression of not judging a book by its cover. One good example of this kind of theme from Psycho can also be found in the 1980 slasher film Friday The 13th where near the end of the film we meet Mrs. Voorhees who is later revealed to be the killer. In Friday The 13th when we first meet Mrs. Voorhees, we at first assume that she is just an innocent-looking passing bystander (like Norman Bates in Psycho), but how we observe her innocence is a bit irrational of how she reacts when she sees the dead-body in the cabin. Much like how we saw Norman Bates' reaction from Marion's dead-body or supposed reaction. The main idea that the film is trying to tell is that villainy wears many masks. In other words, we can never tell who someone really is from the outside.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the connection you created between those two horror films. It must illustrate the idea that Psych is indeed a foundation from which other directors or artists draw their information from.
DeleteI think a monster that is never directly mentioned in the movie but is present is a birds. It is interesting that birds that often appear are during a conversation when he talks about his mother. I also thought it eerie that each shot of Marion standing before leaving the parlor has the stuffed crow's beak pointing right at her neck. The womens last name is also “crane” and taxidermy is mentioned in the movie as well. These birds seem to always appear when something bad is about to happen, so they have lots of symbolism. Another appearance of birds is the placement of two framed prints of small birds outside of Marion's bathroom; one is knocked off when Norman finds her body. This most likely represents the “falling” of the bird, or Mrs. Crane. This monster is never mentioned fully in the film, but it is always there and lurking in various scences.
ReplyDeleteI think that the obvious monster in Psycho is the unconscious thought. It is clear that Norman had sever social issues, as is seen in his interaction with Ms. Crane, but a bigger problem is brought to light at the end of this film when the audience discovers that he and his mother are the same person.
ReplyDeleteThis was a bit of a shock to me because the film did not bother to go into depth about how his disorder came to be, it simply "was". This leads one to question exactly who killed miss Crane. Was it Norman, or his mother? Identifying which entity committed the crime could help us identify monstrous behavior, but the real monster here lies in Normans mind. I'm his unconscious thought. In his psychological disorder.