One of the twentieth-centuries most influential thinkers, Sigmund Freud is considered the father of Psychoanalysis (lep.utm.edu, 2018). The neurologist is responsible for significant psychoanalytic theories including: the construction of the Id, Ego and Super-ego; the Oedipus complex as well as ideas surrounding repression and the unconscious mind. Freud believed that human life is sorely built around tension and pleasure, two elements which the infamous auteur Alfred Hitchcock arguably manipulated into his own filmography. Psychoanalysis and cinema have been extremely influential on each other as both were born during the late nineteenth-century. “The birth of cinema offered a collective sense of what Freud called the uncanny” (the Guardian, 2001) – this theory explores psychological experiences that are strangely familiar, therefore audiences in cinemas were bewildered as “the images on screen were both familiar and somehow strange, alive and yet lifeless, real but illusory” (the Guardian, 2001); consequently portraying the link between both Psychoanalysis and Film which developed and encouraged much deeper thinking. This assignment will be analysing the different types of Psychoanalysis theory that can be found in Hitchcock’s 1960’s horror Psycho, “one of the most influential horror films ever made” (Creed, n.d. p. 140).
Freudian themes are obviously very present within the main protagonist of Hitchcock’s horror – Norman Bates. Freud states that the Id represents the unconscious, it governs our instincts, desires and impulses that obtain us, whilst the Ego is concerned with balancing pleasure and un-pleasure, and this tries to satisfy the Id and Super-ego. Finally the Super-ego is the moral authority; typically expect the obscene madman in this category. The documentary film, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema (2006) discusses the representation of the “three levels of human subjectivity” in Hitchcock’s Psycho. Overall the film guides viewers through some of the greatest cinema creations ever made with philosopher Slavoj Zizek examining the hidden language found within them. Zizek states that in Psycho events take place at three different levels and these are all situated in the mother’s house, specifically the first floor, ground floor and the basement – “It is as if they reproduce the three levels of human subjectivity, the ground floor is ego…first floor is super-ego, maternal super-ego because the dead mother is basically a figure of super-ego, and down in the cellar is the Id – the reservoir of these illicit drives” (The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema, 2006). Therefore on the ground floor is where Norman Bates behaves as a normal son; however whatever remains of his normal ego gets taken over from what is on the first floor - consequently representing the super-ego, where Bates thinks he is talking to his mother. Furthermore Bates decides to carry his mother to the cellar, where he keeps her, thus being the projection of the Id; as the unconscious is a place for repressed fears, anxieties and desires, the cellar reflects this because of his unbreakable bond from his mother. He continues to remain attached because of the desires in his unconscious wanting her to still be alive. It is interesting to note that the bottom floor is where the darkest torments and turmoil’s exist in his mind and this connotes to hell, a place below humanity where the devil dances. These three psychological stages help reinforce and exaggerate the split personality of Bates to the audience.
The Oedipus complex is also explored within Psycho. This theory is based on children’s desires for the opposite sex parent, something which develops during the phallic stage (this being specifically across the ages of 3-6). For example, the male child would develop a desire for the mother which would lead to a rivalry with the father. However, Freud states that eventually there should be a realisation of the mother’s genital difference - a ‘lack’ of penis, when this realisation occurs, rivalry is determined and the male child would inevitably turn to the father. In conclusion, the mother remains a symbol of ‘lack’, but the boy rivals the father once again because of a competitive streak which occurs because the father also has a penis. Freud continues to suggest that if you do not break away from your parents you are deemed homosexual because the attachment to a mother must be broken for ‘normal’ sexual development to inevitably progress. This consequently hints at an underlying theme that perhaps Bates is homosexual as his attachment to his mother has not been broken – “A boy’s best friend is his mother” (Psycho, 1960). It is interesting to note that Anthony Perkins, who played Norman Bates died of complications with AIDS in 1992 (Bright Lights: Film Journal, 2008) and “his performance in Psycho subtly displays traits associated with traditional “feminine” behaviour, hinting that, in fact, Norman is repressing his true desire for a same-sex partner” (Bright Lights: Film Journal, 2008). Perhaps Norman Bates is a “sexually ambiguous figure” (Creed, n.d. p.126) who is stuck within pressures constructed by society and he remains locked in his disturbed world becoming progressively mad.
Another branch of Psychoanalysis which is worth mentioning is Voyeurism. This is the examination of the viewer-screen relationship and how they create a sense of unity. The viewer identifies with the camera-projector which links to the mirror stage; this is when a child would see itself as whole for the first time in the mirror, “the self is constructed in a moment of recognition and misrecognition, thus, the self is split” (Creed, 1998, p. 80). Therefore the screen as mirror proposes that either the viewer identifies with the characters on screen or perhaps that this is a mirror for their own suppressed desires. There are two types of voyeurism and examples exist within Psycho. Covert is the predatory act of watching those who are unaware. For example, during the shower scene in Psycho Norman Bates is watching Marion through the shower curtain and she is unaware of it. But Bates is unaware we are watching him – consequently linking to the layers of watching. Another example of this is when Bates watches Marion through the small hole in the wall and we watch him watch her without her knowing. Secondly there is Collusive, those being watched are aware of it; in the final scene of the film when Bates is locked up in the cell, the camera progressively shifts forward, as though we are creeping up on him whilst he is looking down, we hold no power as an audience member, we have no choice but to follow the camera until we become disturbingly close to our protagonist. There is something eerie about this, as an audience member we sense that he knows of our presence and when he looks up and breaks the fourth wall he clarifies his madness by catching us out.
Finally, Freud suggested that repression was linked to anxieties and this caused fear, displeasure, trauma, unacceptability and inappropriateness – these repressions remain in our conscious mind and can be represented in the genre of horror. Horror appeals because of its engagement with human fears and anxieties. These films circle that fear and pleasure which makes watching a horror film so enjoyable because of the rushes of adrenaline – a trick Hitchcock manages to tease us with in many of his horrors, especially Psycho. The don’t-run-into-the-house-but-we-want-to-see-what’s-inside feeling he delivers to his audiences effortlessly, this is because the audience holds a desire to “meet the monster” (Cherry, 2009, p. 101). The genre of horror “forces confrontations with monsters who overturn the natural order…They depict vivid threats to our values, concepts, and our very bodily and mental integrity” (Freeland, 2000, p. 273). The monstrous-feminine is significant, not only to Psycho but to a lot of horror films, because it breaks the patriarchal view of the female-as-victim stereotype (Creed, 2002). This theory explores the monster as different female roles including: an archaic or monstrous mother (which is exampled in Psycho) – “Mrs Bates is a grim, frightening figure” (Creed, n.d. p. 149); vampires, witches or the monstrous womb. Although the archaic mother is self-explanatory in Hitchcock’s film, a more ambiguous approach involves vagina dentata, which means ‘vagina with teeth’ – “is the threat of castration that women are seen to pose on men as a result of the woman’s penis envy” (Offscreen.com, 2005). Perhaps when applying this to Psycho instead of the homosexual undertones Norman Bates conjures, maybe the bond with his mother has not been broken down because she castrated him and left him with a lack of masculinity because of his mother’s ‘penis envy’ and she therefore is the monstrous-feminine because her “son feels threatened, physically and psychically, by the maternal figure” (Creed, n.d, p. 140).
In conclusion, Psycho is an excellent example of a film with lingering Psychoanalytic themes and undertones. We have established how Freud’s Id, Ego and Super-ego reflect the split personality of Norman Bates, however on the other hand the Oedipus complex connotes homosexual references to the character. Voyeurism and the relationship between viewer and screen have been exampled in Hitchcock’s classic to illustrate the different layers of watching; and finally the importance of the horror genre and how it can reflect our own fears and anxieties. Not only does Psycho prove that these psychoanalytical theories are woven into film, but it demonstrates how significant the film is to the genre, and movie making industry all together – the master of suspense really is a genius.
Bibliography:
Lep.utm.edu. (2018). Freud, Sigmund | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [online] Available at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].
the Guardian. (2001). The influence of Freud on the movies. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jun/17/features.review [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].
Creed, B. (n.d.). The monstrous-feminine. p. 126-149
Psycho. (1960). [film] Universal Pictures.
The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema. (2006). [film].
Bright Lights: Film Journal. (2008). Psycho: Queering Hitchcock’s Classic. [online] Available at: http://brightlightsfilm.com/psychoqueering-hitchcocks-classic-queering-hitchcocks-classic/#.WmS-v6hl_IU [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].
Creed, B. (2002). Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection. In Jancovich (ed.), Horror, The Film Reader. London: Routledge, p.67-76.
Cherry, B. (2009). Horror. London: Routledge.
Freeland, C. (2000) The Naked and the Undead: Evil and the Appeal of Horror. Oxford: Westview Press.
Offscreen.com. (2005). Psychoanalysis in Bringing up Baby and Vertigo. [online]. Available at: http://offscreen.com/view/baby_vertigo [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].
