ANALYZING ALFRED HITCHCOCKS S FILM PSYCHO 1 A Summary and Analysis of Three Academic Journal Articles Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho Gina Marie Scafoglio Texas Tech University
ANALYZING ALFRED HITCHCOCKS S FILM PSYCHO 2 Introduction Psycho was a horror-thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock that was release in America in 1960. Prior to this film, American culture had never witnessed the grotesque and disturbing images presented through film. Sexuality and violence, especially the combination, was not common to see during the 1960 s, and the common Hollywood film culture was to glamourize characters and create a happy ending. Psycho was the fist film to break the rules of the common Hollywood-type films. Audiences nation-wide panicked in the theatres, and much controversy surrounded Psycho. Many analysis of the film have explained the particular scenes that created shock to audiences. However, the three following articles denote the techniques and ideas, in relation to film itself, to explain why Psycho disturbed American culture. Kendrick (2010) explores Alfred Hitchcock s film Psycho and how the narrative and visual effects impacted society and the film world. The article uses different mass communications theories to analyze the film s semiotics and visuals. The Priming Effects Model analyzes how a person uses previous experiences (long-term memory) to evaluate new stimuli (Psycho). Hitchcock, in creating a plot twist in Psycho, violated the Traditional Hollywood narrative. Viewers of the era were not used to such an extreme shock, and at the time this movie was seen to have poor film construction. However, the strange events related the audience to stories or experiences they have heard about. For the first time, a film depicted a character as vulnerable. Instead of glamorous, invincible, and beauty, a main character was brutally murdered. The audiences of the 1960 s were ill prepared to experience a shower murder in the first 45 minutes of the film. Many people described this scene as one of the most gruesome and bloody things they had ever witnessed. Audiences reportedly ran up and down the theatre isles in horror during the murder scenes.
ANALYZING ALFRED HITCHCOCKS S FILM PSYCHO 3 Recchia (2008) explored a concept, established by Sean O Faolain, in relation to Psycho. The artist must trust us, the reader and viewers to acknowledge Our necessary complicity in artistic illusion (O Faolain 1848). The idea is to create an illusion of reality and make the viewer forget that they are watching a film or reading a novel. Psycho does a phenomenal job of suspending disbelief. In addition to this, Recchia explains his reasoning on why the movie was such a shock to American culture. The first half of Hitchcock s film utilizes traditional film conventions and character behavior. The audience is lured in and adjusted to this standard of convention. The second half of the film inhibits extreme and unexpected acts by characters, as well as filming conventions by Hitchcock, creating a shock. Morris (1996) posits an argument centered around surrealism. Alfred Hitchcock s film Psycho is an allegory of seeing in the figurative sense of understanding --- a dramatization of the necessity for the interpreter to mistake a sign for a signified presence (Morris p.2). In essence, Morris explains that the signs disposed by Hitchcock are consumed and then misinterpreted by viewers for another meaning. In turn, the outcomes and resolutions of character s decisions come as unexpected throughout the film. Psycho provides an extraneous amount of details that directly coincide with the themes and motifs of the film. Although the signs are arbitrary to the common viewer, it forces them to acknowledge the character, of all interpretation - even of the status of director and viewer as sender and recipient of a supposed message of complicity (Morris p.4). Conclusion In conclusion, Psycho contains a very complex set of ideas and themes. It can be considered to be one of the most influential films in American history, because it forever changed the way the storylines were created for film. An illusion of reality no longer had to be
ANALYZING ALFRED HITCHCOCKS S FILM PSYCHO 4 set-in-stone for movies, and Hitchcock created a new means to suspend disbelief. Morris explains that a build up of signs and foreshadow, later to be revealed in a different conclusion can create a surprise to the viewer. Portraying gruesome ideas that Americans already had stored in their long-term memory can also create shock. Although many writers and academics analyze the results of Psycho differently, they all come to the same conclusion. As one of the first horror films created, Psycho disturbed American culture in many ways and will forever influence the film world.
ANALYZING ALFRED HITCHCOCKS S FILM PSYCHO 5 References Kendrick, J. (2010). Disturbing New Pathways: Psycho and the Priming of the Audience. Journal of Popular Film and Television, Spring2010, Vol. 38(Issue 1), P2-9. 8p. 5. Retrieved November 19, 2014, from Ebsco. Morris, C. (1996). Psycho's Allegory of Seeing. Literature Film Quarterly, 1996, Vol. 24(Issue 1), P47. 5p. 1-P47. 5p. 1. Retrieved November 19, 2014, from Ebsco. Recchia, E. (1991). THROUGH A SHOWER CURTAIN DARKLY: REFLEXIVITY AS A DRAMATIC COMPONENT OF PSYCHO. 1991, Vol 19 (Issue 4), P258. 9p.-P258. 9p. Retrieved November 18, 2014, from Ebsco.