Current Forum: Session 6: Ideology and Gender	Read 9 times 	
Date: 19-Feb-2001 21:33:41	
Author: GIBSON, JASON M. <jmg0970@garnet.acns.fsu.edu>	
Subject: The Bad Girls of Psycho 	
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       Psycho depicts the duality of "normal"/"authorized" verses "abnormal"/"punishable" in masculinity & femininity by juxtaposing certain relationships and characters. This is further emphasized through the fragmentation of these characters. This theme of fragmentation is first given to us in the title sequence. Each word is created then broken into lines and separated, alluding to the distortions that are later to come. More specifically they point to the dichotomy mentioned above, and the schism that exists in Normans mind. Mulvey comes into play at this point. Marion is truly an object to be objectified and punished. She is not whole, but merely 
fragments to be looked at and consumed. 
       Hitchcock establishes this in the beginning when Marion and Sam are in bed together. The camera first pans and does a cursory review of the city, but then ultimately it intrudes into the hotel room to reveal what is traditionally an intimate moment meant to be private. The first of the two exposed is Marion; she is shot from a low angle with her legs in the foreground, her breasts in the mid-ground, and her face in the background. Marion is not established as an individual human being (usually shown with the face as a prominent and distinct feature), but rather we are asked to look at her legs and breasts (a physical feature common to all women). This first scene elicits the viewer to look upon Marion as being abnormal and something to be corrected, a bad girl who is nothing but sexually charged and open. Further more, the dialogue alludes to this when Marion points out that she wants to have a “normal” respectable relationship with Sam. 
       For most of the time that she appears in the film, Marion is shown in her intimate apparel emphasizing, mainly her breasts. In fact we as the viewers invade her most private spaces. Norman isn’t the first to fetishize Marion, nor is he the first to peek in on her. However, when we are in his realm (the Motel) he directs our attention, at which point, we take a greater leap then he does. We see Marion completely naked (a part at a time, Hitchcock focuses in on individual body parts), and we see her at her death, two moments that are most intimate and which Norman does not see. In fact, it is Norman’s Mother who joins us in this visual venture. Of course this scene marks the end to a women who needs to be fixed or if not, then punished. 
       Marion is setup as being abnormal first, as stated above, through her promiscuity, then through the act of steeling the $40,000. When first given the money she folds it into her purse, an intimate place, private and analogues to own source of gender difference. Rather than accepting that she will just deposit the money, we the viewers already anticipate the theft. This is because of the establishment of her character in the beginning. When she does run her guilt is all the more concluded, ultimately solidified by the presence of the law. Just as her relationship with Tom the “Oil Man,” Marion and the officer are presented in a hierarchal manner. The Officer (and Tom) is above her, the law is sent out to punish (an act that Tom establishes by the hiring of a private eye). Through a shot-reverse-shot we see the nature of there character: Marion scared and suspicious, the Officer calm, cool, and collected. Their eye lines are askew; he is above her, both literally and figuratively. One must remember that Marion is to be investigated and corrected, or eliminated. The males in the film fulfill this role: Tom, the Officer, Arbogast, and Norman. The most notable formal aspect is the shot-reverse-shot, for it establishes these relationships quite succinctly. 
       Each of these men are portrayed as being normal, and better than Marion. Tom, although a bit intoxicated, is the rich father is trying to buy a house for his little girl. The Officer is doing his duty for society. Arbogast is searching for Marion trying to put things back to their normal state. Norman, although deeply disturbed, seeks to fix Marion, an action that he does succeed at. During the parlor scene Norman engages in an interrogation. He seeks answers that will lead him to a resolution. He is set apart from Marion, first in that he doesn’t take part in the earthly delight of eating, and secondly when Hitchcock frames Norman and the stuffed owl together. By 
juxtaposing these two images, Norman is alluded to as being wise. He ultimately succeed in his interrogation, for Marion decides in that instant, that she will return back to Phoenix and make everything right. Here Marion is not the vehicle to redemption, but a male is, Norman. 
       Now, one may ask, what of Norman killing Marion, doesn’t this demonize him? The answer is no, it was Mother who kills Marion; she like Marion is abnormal and can only get salvation through a male character. For Mother, Norman is her salvation; she could not exist without him. Indeed, he is the one who takes care of her and cleans up her transgressions, much in the same manner as the other males do for Marion. This is just a short overview of a basic theme present in the narrative and supported by film form.