Psycho ~ The Violence and the
Violence and sexuality are usually the theme for action movies. In Hitchcock's Psycho, violence is brought out as a substitute for sexuality. Norman Bates uses violence to release his sexual frustration. Two clues in the movie to support such an idea are: taxidermy and the shower murder. To most people, taxidermy is a hobby; in Norman's case, stuffing birds can be viewed as a sign of violence and sexuality. Hobbies are usually regarded as innocent activities of casual interest, designed to help pass the time. Stuffing birds in a way is a cruel treatment to animals for it involves killing and suffering. The Oxford English Dictionary defines taxidermy as "the act of preparing and preserving the skins of animals, and stuffing and mounting them so as to present the appearance, attitude, etc. of the living animal." Norman enjoys doing such thing in order to keep the creatures in his possession. People who like stuffing birds are not all necessary violent, or have the tendency that Norman does. Norman grows up in a single parent family His mother is a controlling and demanding woman who takes away his chance of socializing and disconnects him from society. Thus, we can imagine how little association Norman has had with
In other words, Norman is looking forward to being himself and making decisions for his own life. As we learn from the mother's dialog, "No, I will not have you bringing some strange young girl in for supper. It proves that Norman's sexual desire toward Marion can only be displayed through the slaughter because of his sexual inability. Norman is longing for independence from his mother and the freedom of running away from the mother's possession. Norman's masculinity is replaced by a horrendous and power-obsessed femininity. The mother side of Norman also fears her power over Norman will eventually be take over by the existence of Marion. The resemblance between birds and women tells us the way Norman's ideal woman is viewed in his social life. He chooses to stuff birds to express his dissatisfaction with his social life. In conclusion, Hitchcock uses taxidermy to present the protagonist's hidden violence and further implicates that his violence is a substitute for sexuality. Marion is a complete woman, while Norman is an incomplete man whose body is possessed by both masculine (Norman) and feminine(the mother) personalities. In Norman's world, women as well as birds could be described as "passive" objects. He can watch Marion undress, can displace the sexual act through stuffing birds, but he cannot have sex with her. His sexual inability which hosted by the violent mother side makes him a murderer instead of a rapist. It can be argued that Norman murders Marion out of jealousy and because of the instability his masculinity.
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