Hitchcock's Gender Roles: Rear Window by Ben Elliott
Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) builds a distinct view of the world and how, in the director's opinion, men and women fit in it. In his suspense masterpiece, Hitchcock utilizes all of his favorite gender roles for his male and female characters. This movie helped pinpoint some recurring elements about men and women present in all three films that we concentrated on for this exhibit. In all three films, Men are shown as damaged and needing help, while women are shown as care-givers. Men think women are interested in money or status or success, while women are only interested in love. And men are always reluctant to take action, until the desire of the women to solve the mystery presses them into confrontation.
In Rear Window (1954), all of Hitchcock's basic roles for men and women are present. From the very beginning, we are shown women as a sexually appealing object with “Miss Torso” across the courtyard, scantily clad and stretching for the audience to see. Throughout the film, men and women reinforce the idea of the superficial beauty that is to be desired in a woman through the characters' dialogue. But Hitchcock doesn't stop there. He has a natural desire to torment women who dress up, perhaps sending the opposite message, that women should wear less. As Allen, Richard, and Ishii-Gonzalès put it in their book, ““His favored male alter egos – Farley Granger, James Stewart, or Cary Grant – always appeared as sophisticates, whatever their real origins may have been, whereas when the women were dressed up as ladies they were then tormented for it,just as Madeleine Carrol was in “The Thirty-Nine Steps.” (Allen, Richard, and S. Ishii-Gonzalès 19).
The very idea is used to catch the killer in the film. For example, Lisa Fremont says at one point, “A woman going anywhere but to the hospital would never leave home without her makeup.” Women's obsession with beauty and possessions is pivotal to figuring out that Mr. Thorwald killed his wife. The “favorite handbag,” the jewelry, and make-up all lead the characters to believe that his wife never really left the house alive.
The aspect of the “damaged” man needing help from “care-giving” women is perhaps no more prevalent than in Rear Window (1954). Jeff is stuck in a wheelchair because of a broken leg, and has to be helped to do anything . His housekeeper Stella and his girlfriend Lisa become an extension of himself that not only help him around the apartment, but also help him to do anything outside of the apartment. Eventually Lisa even sneaks into Mr. Thorwald's apartment to help solve the mystery for Jeff .
The man as the over-analyzer role is played admirably by Jeff in the film. He attempts to apply logic to his relationship with Lisa. Him being a photographer that travels the world and Lisa being an upper-class rich girl dress designer; he thinks the smart thing to do would be to break it off. Stella, the woman as the care-giver once again, has to advise him to “leave intellect out of it,” and to “use common sense.” She even goes so far as to say “You've got a woman deficiency.” Hitchcock wants to send the message men over-analyzing and applying logic to relationships doesn't work.
Men are also reluctant to be married in Hitchcock's films. In Spellbound (1945), John thinks he's not worth loving. In Psycho (1960), Sam thinks his debt is too much to overcome, and therefore thinks a marriage wouldn't work. But in Rear Window (1954), marriage itself is given a negative connotation. Women are nagging husbands throughout the movie. There is a feeling, on the man's part, of marriage being the end of life. Compounding this feeling is that men in Hitchcock's films think money, status, and success are what women want, when in reality all the women want is love. While Jeff doesn't think he is ready for marriage, or as he views it “the end”, Stella attempts to talk him into marrying Lisa anyway. She tells him “Every man's ready when the right girl comes along.” But Jeff doesn't agree.
Hitchcock's main message about men and women in the film seems to be that men are content to watch other people's happiness rather than concentrate on their own lives, while women are the opposite. Jeff sits and watches everyone out his window while Lisa comes by and chides him for spying on people and always wants to close the blinds so that he will focus on her instead. In Hitchcock: Past and Future the authors comment that“…The bodies of women, matter, or sign, and heterosexuality has been up to now just an alibi for the smooth workings of man's relations with himself.” (Allen, Richard, and S. Ishii-Gonzalès 212). The men of his films are unwilling to change, and while in Rear Window (1954) Lisa wants to think about the future, Jeff is content with the “status quo” and more concerned with what's going on around them right now.
Once again in Hitchcock's films the role of the suspicious investigator is filled by a male character, this time by Det. Thomas Doyle. He questions guilt and innocence and motives of each character with his dialogue. While a big fuss has been made of “women's intuition" to this point in the film, Det. Thomas Doyle completely degrades the theory that women know anything with, "I've wasted enough time following leads based on female intuition." But it is not the Detective who ends up getting to the bottom of the mystery. Just as in the other films we focused on, it is the women who want to actually go as far as needed to discover the truth. Their desire to solve the mystery leads to the eventual confrontation of the male characters in the film, culminating with Thorwald throwing Jeff out the window and being arrested.
quoted critic source:
http://eng3122.wordpress.com/group-3-main/gender-roles/hitchcocks-gender-roles-rear-window/
The similarities and differences between personal and commentary opinions:
In short, the commentary thinks this is a Hitchcocks Kirk arranged his favorite gender status setting film. The male image is incomplete, misunderstanding of women, and timid to act, while the female image is caring, loyal to love, and bold in action.
First of all, the comment believes that the film shows the difference in the first impression of the gender image through the shaping of the character image. For example, Miss Torso's body is exposed and stretched in the film, and there is also a mature and sophisticated appearance bias in the male casting.
Second, the commentary believes that the film uses plot arrangement (the role of the role to promote the plot) to highlight the difference in gender thinking ability. For example, let Lisa obtain the key clues to solve the case through female intuitive thinking (women's emphasis on makeup) (it is inferred that Mrs. Thorwald never left the apartment alive); while Detective Doyle ignores this clue and indirectly leads to the occurrence of the crisis.
Thirdly, the comment believes that the film uses the character set to show the difference in gender action ability. For example, in the film, Jeff has a broken leg in a reclining chair, and it is difficult to walk, while Stella and Lisa are able to move freely as an extension of Jeff's limbs to achieve the purpose of solving the case.
Then, the commentary believes that the film expresses the identity of female thinking by setting the male and female protagonists to judge the relationship between the two parties. For example, Jeff likes to use logical analysis, leading to misunderstandings, while Lisa reveals his faithfulness to love through actions, and the two finally agree.
Then, the comment thinks that the film presents men's resistance to marriage by arranging the behavior of the characters. For example, in the interaction between partners in the film, women are often the annoying party. Jeff declares that he is not prepared for marriage and denies Stella's identification with his relationship with Lisa.
Finally, the commentary believes that the main message conveyed by the film is to describe the differences in focusing on others (this behavior itself) through roles, reflecting the differences between the two sexes. For example, Jeff is happy to take pleasure from prying eyes, while Lisa is more concerned about the safety of others' lives; Jeff tends to focus on what is happening now, while Lisa looks more at the future.
The above are all views of the comments. I generally agree with them, but I think that the criticism of men in this film is much higher than that described in the comments.
1. Clothing. In this film, Lisa wears a total of 6 elegant and generous outfits, one of which is brighter than the other; Jeff only wears casual pajamas throughout the film.
2. Initiative. The film begins with Lisa's idea of leading the case to be solved by Jeff, and then deduces the key clues to solve the case; Jeff is assigned to investigate Mr. Thorwald and deliver the note. Later, when digging the garden mud, Lisa and Stella offered to go there, and then Later, Lisa broke through Jeff’s command of them and boarded the apartment by himself and went into the dangerous place. Lisa began to work hard to gain Jeff’s approval. At the end Lisa put down Jeff’s men’s magazine and picked up her own women’s fashion magazine; the last shot of the film is first Aim at Jeff's face and move to his plastered legs, indicating that he is further incapacitated, and then moved to Lisa's healthy and beautiful legs, and then her bright and beautiful image.
3. Character image. The images of male characters are not without flaws: Jeff's crippled body, difficult personality and voyeuristic habit, Detective Doyle's arrogance and slowness, the composer has been frustrated, the newlyweds have disappointed his wife, and Mr. Thorwald's cruel and cunning. , The male guests in the apartment opposite are only visiting for lust, Miss Torso’s boyfriend is thin and short, and so on. On the other hand, the image of female characters is tolerant, considerate, loyal, decent, and courageous, which can be seen in Stella, Lisa, Miss Torso, Miss Lonelyhearts.
In addition, I am here to put forward a reckless conjecture. This film actually describes a process of turning male symbols from incompleteness to incompleteness in all aspects. This is the second time I have watched "Rear Window". I did not read the content related to this conjecture before stating the following conjecture. Please correct me for any omissions.
It should be mentioned first that I think there are reasons to doubt the authenticity of the plot of the film, that is, I suspect that the whole plot of the film's ups and downs is the imagination of the protagonist Jeff. According to the following:
A. One shot in the film completes a real-time description of the Thorwald couple going out while Jeff falls asleep.
B. Only Mr. Thorwald and Jeff have seen Mr. Thorwald appear in the film.
C. Mr. Thorwald's threatening words and deeds were only witnessed by Jeff alone.
D. It is reasonable to infer that the scenery outside the window is illusory, which is actually a psychological projection of Jeff's real life.
I thought that Miss Torso was Jeff’s imaginary private life of Lisa. At the beginning, I guessed that Lisa’s upper life was expressed as Miss Torso’s family, and had a close meeting with male guests. Later, I identified Lisa as the return of Miss Torso’s military boyfriend. (Jeff once mentioned to Lisa that he was wearing a military uniform).
The composer’s family is a true portrayal of Jeff’s family. Someone from the composer’s house visits, and someone from Jeff’s family must come; if the composer is frustrated, Jeff must be lost; in the end, Jeff returns to stability and the composer welcomes Bole.
The family of Miss Lonelyhearts is Jeff's beautiful ideal for a partnership. At first Ms. L was courteous and considerate to the air, and Jeff even raised a glass to correspond with her. Later, Ms. L invited a male guest, and the male guest dared to make affection with him, but she strongly refused for no reason. It is estimated that it was Jeff himself. Imagine venting Detective Doyle’s anger about Lisa’s coveted beauty; later, Ms. L actually took up a long section of the film at a critical juncture, and he was calm and no longer worrying about gains and losses. Shi Shiran dropped the blinds, indicating that Jeff had a sensation on Lisa. Agree, and at the same time Lisa has the initiative in Jeff’s mind, and hinted that Jeff predicts that the relationship between Lisa and him (the relationship between Jeff and Ms. L is to watch and be watched) will be blocked, and Lisa is likely to be in danger .
The newlyweds are a true portrayal of the relationship between Jeff and Lisa. It has been accompanied by the ups and downs of Jeff's emotions towards Lisa.
Thorwald's family is Jeff's conjecture about the conflicting relationship between him and Lisa. It is worth noting that both Mr. Thorwald and Jeff are silver-haired, and they are identical in image, implying that they are actually one person. The disharmony of the Thorwalds was initially manifested in the wife's dissatisfaction with her husband's service and chattering, pointing directly to the relationship between Jeff and Lisa that Jeff had originally envisioned, which contrasted with Ms. L's thoughtfulness.
Later, as Lisa's initiative gradually escalated, Jeff increasingly wanted to prove that Mr. Thorwald took care of his wife, made Mr. Thorwald's brutal face huge, and completed the brutal conquest of women in his imagination; at the same time, it was Jeff gradually guides Lisa into Thorwald's apartment, causing him to be hurt (Mr. Thorwald's brutal behavior towards Lisa can be understood as anger at the burglars). After Lisa came back from the first risk (send note), Jeff even reported with an intriguing smile (the teacher specifically pointed out this setting, the above is my personal understanding).
At the climax of the film, Mr. Thorwald came to Jeff's house, which was a manifestation of Jeff's desire to conquer overly arrogant to the point of uncontrollable, and the intrusion of illusion (window scene) into reality (Jeff's house). In the fight between Mr. Thorwald and Jeff, they did not use weapons to harm each other, especially Mr. Thorwald did not change his coping strategy after being repeatedly stimulated by lights. This move is worth paying attention to. Finally, Mr. Thorwald used the way of pushing Jeff out of the window with the intention of causing harm to Jeff. In fact, it alluded to Jeff's desire to conquer to introduce Jeff from reality (Jeff's house) into illusion (window scene).
The film first presents an image of a physically disabled male, endowed with a harsh, cowardly, low-moral personality, and then further enlarges his desire for female lust and conquest in a deformed way, and finally loses control, causing his physical disabilities to become more severe. Deepen (break one more leg), attitude towards the opposite sex also tends to surrender (refer to the ending of Miss Torso, the sculptor changed from naked to neatly dressed ending image and Lisa ending image), both mobility and spiritual power Break down. Lisa finally escaped and saved Jeff's life, which is really a bitter irony.
This conjecture implies that when the interruption cannot be fully established, it is just a bold conjecture.
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