"Psycho" and Voyeurism

Voyeurism is not always a subject most films touch on. It is a very controversial topic, which is not always discussed because it considered creepy, disturbing, or unsettling to viewers. In Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” he shows that voyeurism can be done by the audience.  It tells the story about a woman named Marion who steals forty thousand dollars, and runs away with it. She stops at a motel owned the Bates family. She then meets the owner, Norman, who eventually gets to know her and after getting betrayed by her, kills her. Marion’s sister and boyfriend then have to try to figure out what happened on her last days on Earth. In this film, Hitchcock decides to change points of view to show that the audience is a voyeur also, not just the characters themselves. Hitchcock uses Norman Bates point of view perspectives to show how psychotic he really is in this film.

            When Norman spies on Marion when she is taking a shower after she deceives him, this is essentially the first sequence we see the focalization switch from Marion to Norman. In this scene, it is right after Marion and Norman talked to each other, but Marion reveals that she is not the person she check-in as. After, Norman realizes this we see a close-up of his face with a maniacal look. This shows that he is dangerous, and wants to hurt Marion. Later, in this film we find out that he is the “Psycho.” This scene was just the beginning of his dangerous and villainous way he lives. In most Hollywood films, we would see the point of view of Marion. By thinking that Marion is getting haunted by something. Instead, Hitchcock wanted the audience to be a voyeur also, other than Norman, so in this scene he does that for us. By showing us where Norman looks through and the close-up of his eye and then Marion’s eye, he gives us a way of jumping into this film with Norman. We almost want to see for ourselves what Norman is looking at because people like danger, and trouble, especially in films.  This scene is a beginning of what Hitchcock wants us to see as a voyeur in this film.

            When Norman takes Marion’s body, and sinks her car, it is another sequence of how Norman is the point of focus. Essentially, after Marion dies Norman becomes the main character. He has to get rid of the body, clean up the bathroom, and get rid of the body and car. When he sinks the car, it is at night so it is obviously dark. After it sinks, we see close-up of Norman’s face that is smiling. The close-up is very dark and we can almost only see his smiling face. He looks dark and ominous just like his plan of disposing the body, the car, and basically Marion’s life. We see Norman as this dark figure because we see him as the villain. This scene shows how the audience is watching this scene and we are fickle enough to want to the car sink because we are like Norman’s partner in crime regardless that he was the foe before.

            When Arbogast is interviewing Norman about what happened to Marion, is an additional sequence of Norman is the point of emphasis. Arbogast is a private investigator and he has been going from motel to motel trying to figure out what happened to Marion, this was done by a montage sequence. Arbogast realizes that this was the right motel after talking to Norman. Arbogast confronts Norman at the motel. He pesters him with questions about Marion and Norman is obviously nervous. He asks him what she looked like, what she did while she was here, did he like her etc. The close-ups of their faces in this scene show how intense this scene was. This was obviously an incredibly important scene because it showed how Arbogast was almost there in finding out what happened to Marion. Also, we see Norman acting as if, he is guilty. Then after, the perspective switches to Arbogast. Norman was incredibly nervous because he realizes he has been caught. Also, the lighting in this scene was very important. Norman’s face was half light and dark. This shows that he has two ways of dealing with the situation, lying or telling the truth. Also, it shows how Norman feels guilty but also wants to get away with what he has done. He looks guilty but he is still the crazy person we have seen in past scenes and he wants to make sure he gets off Scott free. Hitchcock deals with guilt in this film a lot mainly because most of the characters were at fault but felt guilty at the same time. This sequence shows that Norman is crazy, and psychotic, and outlandish but he has some humility left in him because he did care about Marion.

            This film really shows how an audience can really become apart of the film they are watching. This film is about voyeurism and how a person can become obsessed with somebody. Norman was one of the main characters of this film and we really saw his transformation throughout this film. At first it seemed like he was, incredibly sweet, and was just taking care of his sick, demented, crazy mother. Then we realize that it is actually Norman who is the sick, demented, crazy one. Hitchcock really shows that the audience plays a big part in making a film because the audience emotion can and will change throughout a film and also be a fly on the wall in every scene.