[Translation] Gender and Power in "The Terror"

Mike 2021-10-13 13:05:58

[Translation] Gender and Power in "The Horror"
Author: Matthew Cohen Translator: Another

Original Address: http://web.mit.edu/wgs/prize/mc09.html

Hitchcock's classic horror film " "The Terror" (1960) is not only a story about murder and mental illness, it also involves the relationship between gender and power. The protagonist Marion Crane (played by Janet Leigh) and the villain Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins) are set (to use Norman’s words) as "trapped" roles at the beginning of the film, because the two are in their respective gender relations. All are in a disadvantaged position. Marion is completely caught up in the entangled relationship with her boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin). Her boyfriend does not make a promise, and this relationship seems to have no way out. Norman seems to have a deformed love for his authoritarian mother. Marion and Norman's dissatisfaction with their respective relationships induced internal conflicts between the characters, and both struggled with the gender and power relationships in their lives. Hitchcock has set up the Bates Motel as a place for experimentation, where there will be no traditional gender roles in the outside world. Therefore, in such an environment, Marion and Norman can use each other as experimental subjects, and release their inner conflicts respectively.

The theme of gender and power is obvious at the beginning of the film. The first shot we see Marion is that she is lying on the bed in a submissive posture, and Sam is vaguely visible above her, which shows the male dominance. The audience can immediately perceive this traditional gender power structure. Marion looked very distressed. Even though the state of a woman after sex was like this, it was even more because she felt that it was not appropriate to be a woman to cheat. She told her lover Sam that she hated meeting "in such a place", referring to the low-level clock hotel. Although the sexually strong Sam begged Marion to stay, Marion started putting on clothes and regaining his dignified form. Then she declared that she would only meet with Sam under appropriate circumstances. She said: "We can meet, we can eat, but we have to eat decently. For example, go to my house, where there is a picture of my mother on the mantelpiece, and my sister will help us. Fried steak." But the sexually lustful Sam's answer was very different from this simple woman's thinking. He said: "After eating the steak, we will send your sister to the cinema and turn over the picture of your mother on the wall..." Marion Appropriately expressing his disappointment with Sam's trivial answer, then the topic turned to marriage. Marion said that he wanted to live a family life, which is exactly what a typical woman thinks, but Sam clearly expressed his dislike for this idea. In this scene, Marion is portrayed as a model of feminine virtues: obedient, but eager to maintain a dignified form; it's a joke, but he will be determined once he has an idea.

The characters created by Hitchcock in this event also emphasized the traditional gender roles of Marion and Sam. The first scene of this film is set in a hotel bedroom. Sexual hints maximize the difference between gender roles. This setting also implies that Hitchcock will play even more in the next film. Big gender theme. The partial nudity of the bodies of Sam and Marion is also intended to make the audience more aware that the gender roles of the characters are strictly defined. Sam's shirtless upper body highlights his masculinity, while Marion's lace underwear allows us to pay attention to her feminine characteristics. In addition, Marion's white underwear and shirts also represent the qualities of chastity that women should possess. However, in the end, Hitchcock explained in this scene that traditional gender roles are not as harmonious as imagined. Marion, as a typical woman, wants to build a family, while Sam shows the tendency of men to evade promises, two ideas There was a conflict. So the scene ended unhappily, and Marion left Sam to leave the hotel alone. At the beginning of the movie, Hitchcock established the city of Phoenix, which represents the larger world outside the Baytz Motel, where both men and women should conform to traditional typical gender roles and relationships.

The next scene is where Marion works, where the traditional gender class continues to be emphasized. Marion and her colleague Caroline work for the same male boss. In addition, this scene also portrays an extremely confident Mr. Cassidy who flirts with Marion in a condescending manner. The significance of Mr. Cassidy's flirting is not only to compliment Marion, but also to show his love to Marion by showing his economic superiority and power. Marion behaved as expected, dignified and a little shy. However, Janet Leigh's performance allows us to perceive that Marion is getting more and more impatient, because she is once again in the subordinate position of a powerful male. This flirtation was a turning point for Marion.

Marion does not want to always follow the traditional definition of women. Her feminine demeanor drew excessive flirtation from men like Cassidy, and Marion realized that she could not persuade Sam to marry herself. Without the sense of success she had always felt, Marion felt very depressed, so she wanted to get rid of the mask of women and make herself more confident and masculine. This change will begin to appear in the next game, when Marion has stolen Cassidy's money and is packing up. The stealing of money marked a change in Marion's gender role, which is worthy of attention, because money itself symbolizes masculinity. In the previous game, Cassidy wanted to demonstrate his power through strong financial resources, thereby directly linking money to masculinity.

In this scene, Hitchcock once again used symbolism to emphasize the gender issue behind it. In the documentary on the production of "The Cry", actress Janet Leigh noticed that Hitchcock deliberately asked Marion to wear a black bra in this scene, to highlight the contrast of the bra color before and after the money was stolen (it was white in the hotel before) , It's black now). In addition, Marion wore a black dress and replaced it with a black wallet, which contrasted with the white of the previous suit. This color change not only represents the transformation of Marion's personality, but also symbolizes that she has lost the pure qualities of a woman and wants to become a more masculine character.

In the following scenes, the audience can find that Marion doesn't feel so comfortable with her new dress. She shows a nervous look when she encounters the boss. At this time, the soundtrack also begins to appear in the film's suspenseful theme music. Then, Marion was followed by a powerful policeman and met a talkative second-hand car salesperson. At this time, she seemed even more nervous. Although Marion eagerly wants to make herself look more determined and confident, these dominant men are undoubtedly a challenge for her. When Marion drove away, the audience heard the conversation in her mind. She imagined everyone was talking about it after they knew the truth, so she seemed extremely nervous and anxious. However, when she imagined Mr. Cassidy's shock after discovering that he had stolen the money, her previously worried expression gradually turned into an imperceptible snicker, which seemed a bit proud. The man who thought he was flirting with him like that before is now being tricked by himself. Thinking of this, Marion regained his confidence in shaping a new gender role.

Just as the regained confidence encouraged Marion, she came to the Baez Motel and then met Norman. On the way here, Marion tried to be firm and confident in front of the other men, but failed, so she and Norman still behaved rather cautiously when they first started talking. However, when she overheard Norman's mother's harsh but powerless reprimand, she realized that Baez Motel did not abide by the traditional gender role relationships in the outside world. Here, women can dominate the relationship between men and women. In addition, Marion also found that Norman was not like the self-righteous men she had met. After realizing this, her words and deeds changed a little, because she understood that Norman and Baez Motel provided an opportunity for herself to be Experiment with the newly developed masculinity.

However, Marion is not the only one who realizes that Bates Motel is a special occasion, Norman himself is caught in the issue of gender and power. Norman often has to follow the orders of his arrogant and overbearing mother, so a woman like Marion who can let her dominate is not something he can often meet. Norman is almost completely isolated from the outside world, and his long-term isolation has prevented him from controlling the traditional gender power structure of men and women. The irony for Marion is that her appearance at Baez Motel also provided Norman with an opportunity to experiment with his inner masculinity.

After Marion overheard Norman's mother's reprimand, Norman returned to Marion's room with the dinner plate. At this time, Marion began to be more confident and positive. Before Norman invited Marion to his room for dinner, but now it is Marion who invites Norman to her room. But Norman realized that Marion had found that he was obedient to his mother, so he didn't agree to go to her room. Instead, he suggested eating in the office, and later said that the rest room behind was better. The process of deciding on the dinner location marked the beginning of the two secretly competing for dominance in the next "dating" scene.

At the beginning of this "date", Norman compared Marion to a bird, which sparked a discussion between the two about taxidermy. This is a hobby of Norman. He explained that he likes bird specimens and hates beast specimens because birds are more submissive by nature. Norman's preference can also be understood as a metaphor for his views on gender: women are born to be submissive, just like birds, and men are born to be active leaders, just like beasts. Norman compares Marion to a bird, and the two are in such a room full of bird specimens. It seems that Norman secretly intends to place Marion in a subordinate position.

Then the topic turned to Norman's mother, when Marion seized the opportunity to re-establish her dominance. She said to Norman: "You know, if anyone dared to speak to me like she did to you...", it implied that her reaction would be more rebellious (more masculine) than Norman. Hearing such comments, Norman immediately reduced his smile. He regarded Marion's words as a challenge to his masculinity. So Norman wanted to defend himself. He said he sometimes wanted to curse his mother, disobey her orders, and even abandon her. But Norman also said that he would not do that because his mother was sick. Norman maintained his reputation in this way. His mother's domination over him did not mean that he was inferior. Although he was angry at this as a powerful male, he did so to show his compassion for his mother. It was himself. Out of sympathy, he chose to obey his mother's orders. Then, Marion offered to send his mother to some institutions, at which time Norman showed his inner anger with masculine majesty. He condemned this thought in a rather frightening tone, which made Marion feel threatened, and his previous dominance was also shaken. However, at the end of this "dating", Marion was still in a position of power. She first stood up and planned to leave, which allowed her to regain control. Norman wanted her to stay for a while, but was refused, and Marion maintained her position of power.

Marion became the dominant again, which made Norman quite frustrated, so he sought solace by peeking at Marion to change clothes through a hole in the wall. Voyeurism is a common theme in Hitchcock's films, which makes Norman once again feel dominant in his relationship with Marion. In the process of voyeurism, the voyeur often feels that he is more powerful than the person being voyeurized (objectified).

However, in the end Norman (in his mother's appearance) stabbed Marion to death in that famous bathroom scene, using his power to the limit. Since women are more powerful than men in the Bates Motel, a gender-reversed environment, Norman must change the more powerful side of the adult character—that is, the appearance of his mother—in order to kill Marion. Marion was naked in this scene, which echoes her naked scene in the beginning of the film. In the hotel bedroom, Marion's nudity emphasizes her femininity and symbolizes her return to the traditional female role of obedience. However, unlike the voluntary sexual act at the beginning of the film, the bathroom scene can be understood as a symbolic rape, the most extreme and cruel act of defending power. Marion was violently attacked at the moment when he was least able to fight back, and Norman established his dominant position in this way. When Marion died, he continued to exercise his power, wrapped Marion in a shower curtain and threw it into the trunk of her own car, and the sinking of the car was also symbolic. Like the stolen money, the car is also a sign that Marion uses to show his more masculine side. (She looked firm and confident when she bought and sold a used car salesperson. At the same time, Marion was the only woman driving a car in the film.) Norman sank Marion's car into the swamp, which not only established his dominant position, but also thought of Marion. A humiliation to challenge traditional gender roles.

Although the conflict between Marion and Norman is over, in the final scene of the story, Hitchcock continues to play with the relationship between gender and power. When her mother (in Norman's appearance) left the isolated environment of the Bates Motel, her words and deeds changed dramatically. The traditional gender roles in the outside world are strictly limited, so she realizes that she can only survive by pretending to be gentle and virtuous.

In the last scene of the film, the mother compares herself to Norman's bird specimens, again implying that women should obey this view. She subconsciously presented a more submissive gender role in order to dispel the police's suspicion of herself. However, at the end of the film, the sinister smile of the mother's skull appeared, and Hitchcock revealed that the illusions in the outside world often conceal the truth. The mother’s case proves that people’s naive assumptions about gender and power can sometimes have dangerous consequences.

View more about Psycho reviews

Extended Reading
  • Chesley 2022-03-26 09:01:01

    Not scary (what a ghost label). Thinking of extreme fear is thinking of extreme fear, not horror. Five stars go to five stars, but I don’t feel like I only watched two Xi Pang movies? ? ?

  • Lucie 2022-03-25 09:01:01

    I insisted on seeing the last minute with great reverence. In the end, I can only describe it as disappointment. Is this a classic of film history? Forgive me for not seeing it

Psycho quotes

  • Sam Loomis: You mean the old woman I saw tonight wasn't Mrs. Bates?

    Sheriff Al Chambers: Now wait a minute, Sam, are you *sure* you saw an old woman?

    Sam Loomis: Yes! In the house behind the motel! I called and I pounded, but she just ignored me!

    Sheriff Al Chambers: You mean to tell me you saw Norman Bates' mother?

    Lila Crane: It had to be - because Arbogast said so too. And the young man wouldn't let him see her because she was too ill.

    Sheriff Al Chambers: Well, if the woman up there is Mrs. Bates... who's that woman buried out in Greenlawn Cemetery?

  • California Charlie: I'm in no mood for trouble.

    Marion Crane: What?

    California Charlie: There's an old saying, "First customer of the day is always the trouble!" But like I say, I'm in no mood for it, so I'm gonna treat you so fair and square that you won't have one human reason to give me...

    Marion Crane: Can I trade my car in and take another?

    California Charlie: Do anything you've a mind to. Bein' a woman, you will. That yours?

    Marion Crane: Yes, it's just that - there's nothing wrong with it. I just...

    California Charlie: Sick of the sight of it! Well, why don't you have a look around here and see if there's somethin' that strikes your eyes, and meanwhile I'll have my mechanic give yours the once over. You want some coffee? I was just about...

    Marion Crane: No, thank you. I'm in a hurry. I just want to make a change, and...

    California Charlie: One thing people never oughtta be when they're buyin' used cars, and that's in a hurry. But like I said, it's too nice a day to argue. I'll uh - shoot your car in the garage here.