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Importance of observation
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As the credits roll we see the blinds of a three-pane window slowly being lifted up, after they finish the camera moves forward revealing to our gaze the reality on the other side of the open window. It faces the back of many other buildings, the courtyard they enclose, and a sliver view of the backstreet. More importantly, it faces many other windows just like it. Behind each one of those there are people, going about their day, doing mundane tasks, unaware of being observed. In his 1954 movie “Rear Window” Alfred Hitchcock invites us to engage in the guilt free observation of the lives of others. The main character, photographer L. B. Jefferies, is home stuck with a broken leg encased in a cast that goes all the way to his hip, providing the perfect excuse for him to amuse himself in this hot Manhattan summer by engaging in the seemly harmless act of looking into the many windows he can see from his back apartment. Casual, harmless, voyeurism has been part of the human behavior for ages but in the sixty years since the movie was released it has gained increasing traction. Reality television, Movies, TV shows, YouTube, blogging, Instagram and Facebook are examples of modern tools that allow us to engage in the observation of others while remaining protectively hidden from their returning gaze. In its essence the casual voyeuristic actions we engage in while observing others when using these new media tools follows the same pattern of behavior described in the movie, with the same positive and negative consequences. Casual voyeurism distinguishes itself from pathological voyeurism, which is characterized by a preference in obtaining sexual gratification only from spying others, by the removal of the sexual component from the equat... ... middle of paper ... ...ericana de Psicopatologia Fundamental 8.1 (2005): 1-13. Dumas, Chris. "The Žižekian Thing: A Disciplinary Blind Spot." Critical Inquiry 37.2 (2011): 245-264. Gartenberg, Jon. "An Eye on Film: The Photographer as Voyeur." MoMA 2.4 (1990): 5+22. Metzl, Jonathan M. "Voyeur Nation? Changing Definitions of Voyeurism, 1950–2004." Harvard Review Psychiatry 12 (2004): 127-131. Nabi, Robin L., et al. "Reality-Based Television Programming and the Psychology of Its Appeal." Media Psychology 5 (2003): 303-330. Ohi, Kevin. "Voyeurism and Annunciation in Almodovar's "Talk to Her"." Criticism 51.4 (2009): 521-557. Rowe, Lawrence. "Through the Looking Glass: Reflexivity, Reciprocality, and Defenestration in Hitchcock's"Rear Window"." College Literature 35.1 (2008): 16-37. Toles, George E. "Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window as Critical Allegory." Boundary 16.2/3 (1989): 225-245.
The film Rear Window is classified as a suspenseful, mystery thriller that focuses on solving the murder of a woman in the main character, Jeffrey’s neighbourhood from his window. However, another topic is prevalent throughout the film, and that is the theme of marriage and relationships. In this scene, the theme of marriage is first showcased, and the audience is introduced to both positive and negative views of marriage that will change throughout the film. The narrative function of this scene in Rear Window is to set up these contrasting views of marriage that run throughout the film. This is shown through the scene’s narrative, as well as the editing, the use of cinematography, the scene’s acting and diegetic sound.
Rear Window and the works of Hopper are both required with confinement. Disregarding its blended utilize land setting, Early Sunday Morning does not pass on a warm, fluffy feeling of group. In like manner, in Rear Window, the inhabitants of the lofts are confined from each other. Apartment Houses is additionally for the most part viewed as another antecedent to Rear Window. Large portions of Hopper's night settings portray scenes from New York City and Night Windows is no special case. The lady in this work of art is totally unconscious of the stage she is on and the front line situate its eyewitness involves. Its semi-sexual story is resounded in Rear Window, and it catches strikingly the experience of living in New York: the a large number
As the paradigm in which this curiosity is exposed inhabit the human being, that voyeurism that uncounted of us have inside. Hitchcock is able to use this element to catch the spectator, building a devilish and fascinating tale of suspense set in a microcosm. In which there reflects the intimate and daily life of the current man, where the protagonist observes from his window. The viewer sees what Jeff (the protagonist) observes, has the sensation of being the protagonist, observing through his window.
For this paper I chose to explore Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho because it has remained the only horror movie I’ve seen to date. I went into a couple others but immediately left; let’s just say horror is not my favorite genre of film. People may or may not always call Psycho a horror film, it may be more of a thriller to people nowadays, but I still believe the correct genre analysis is horror because it should always refer to the genre at the time the film was created and released. I chose Psycho because I spent multiple weeks in high school studying Hitchcock, and Psycho specifically, so I feel comfortable writing on it. I also thoroughly enjoy the film, its backstory, and the character development. Plus, it’s been roughly adapted into one of my favorite shows: Bates Motel, which I will also briefly explore.
Citizens of Oceania are led to believe that every thought or action is under constant scrutiny by the Party, and that, if a crime is committed, the Party will become aware immediately. “You had to live – did live, from the habit that became instinct – in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.” (3). The party is able to survey its citizens through the use of a device called a telescreen, and these telescreens are what makes the Party a nearly omniscient entity, and its citizens are aware of the Party’s omniscience. Consequently, the citizens will censor their thoughts and body language in an attempt to avoid allowing the Party to be aware of these things if they are unorthodoxy (Yeo 53). This type of surveillance is known as panoptical surveillance. However, it is not the only type that is employed by the party. If the party were to make its citizens believe that it is totally omniscient, it would never be able to find a citizen who is in a natural state of being. Therefore, the party allows for some instances in which the citizens believe that they are in complete, unobserved, privacy, and this allows the party to catch citizens who engage in unorthodoxy actions or thoughts (Yeo
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film Rear Window is truly a masterpiece, as it uses fascinating cinematic elements to carry the story and also convey the meaning of voyeurism. Throughout the film we are in one room, yet that does not limit the story. This causes the viewer to feel trapped, similar to the main character, while also adding suspense to the detective story. The opening scene itself, draws the viewer in. In just five minutes and 27 shots, the viewer is given an introduction to the main character, his lifestyle, his condition, and his neighborhood. The lighting, the costumes, and the set are all presented in a way to catch the viewers eye, compelling them to crave more. Combining vivid lighting, edgy cinematography, and unique set design, Rear Window, proves why Hitchcock is still remembered as one of the greatest and most influential directors of all time.
Silet, Charles L. P. "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of a Film Culture." MysteryNet. n.pag. Online. Internet. 2 Nov. 1999. Available: www.mysterynet.com/hitchcock/silet.shtml.
Surveillance is two fold, meaning it can be from peers and from the state. This can be seen with government spying on citizens to a mother listening in on her child’s conversation with a friend. Surveillance comes in many different forms as is seen throughout history. By watching one’s activities from video to listening to a conversation with a wire, there are many mediums of collecting information orally and visually. However, social control, in the form of surveillance, can lead to restricting the flow of truth. When one has the knowledge of being watched, this can lead to a person not acting how they normally would. This idea of being observed can lead to not only people not acting natural, but not showing the truth. Therefore,when one has
What makes voyeurism such a powerful aesthetic strategy is its violation of the taboo of privacy, its denial of a condition that we take for granted as our right - namely, not to be observed in certain places, at certain times, doing certain things. 17
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a true testament of the masterful skill possessed by one of cinema’s most influential directors. The film solidifies Hitchcock’s title as a genuine auteur as he guides the audience through an experience that leaves us on the edge of our seats, biting our nails in anticipation. For a film that incites such a reaction, it is surprising that the entire plot takes place in the protagonist’s apartment. L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) is a traveling photographer who recently broke his leg at an auto race, trying to capture the perfect photograph. The accident has left the rolling stone stuck in a wheelchair with his leg in a cast and the only way he keeps himself entertained is by staring out of the rear window of
The narration that accompanies the scene is allowing our voyeuristic desires to enter into the
Alfred Hitchcock, the incredible director who brilliantly integrated sex, humor and suspense in his movies passed away over three decades ago. Despite the thirty years since his death, the legacy of films he made continues. His work has influenced many of the great directors today, and inspired the foundation of the spin off television series Bates Motel. To better interpret the films he created, it is essential to understand the creator of them and examine how his past life traumas and deep inner-thoughts in reality transpired through the fictitious worlds that he created on the big screen. Hitchcock, whether consciously or subconsciously, portrayed his frustrations, fears, and fantasies with the opposite sex through his leading actors and films. This ultimatley allows us to take a look at his past.
Over the past decades, media has constructed and manipulated women into being the main form of sexual pleasure for the male viewer. Pleasure in looking, scopophilia, is one of many possible types of pleasure that media presents. Scopophilia does not only present looking as a source of pleasure, but also the pleasure in being looked upon. Freud explains in his book, the three essays on the theory of sexuality (1905) that one of the main instincts of sexuality is scopophilia, and that scopophilia should be isolated as an independent source of pleasure because it does not depend on the erotogenic zones. Freud further demonstrates that “he associated scopophilia with taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze” (Mulvey, 1975, p. 16.). As such, the theory of scopophilia does not only involve pleasure in being looked at and the pleasure in looking, but also the pleasure of looking at someone as an object. Freud ties scopophilia to the curiosity children show considering the human body and other people’s genitals. The media pleases the primitive lust of looking, while developing a narcissistic form of scopophilia in the audience (KILDE.
A. “Reality TV Offers an Amoral Message.” Reality TV. Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford, Ph.D. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2008, 32-37. Print.
Classical cinema motivates the desire to look by incorporating structures of voyeurism and narcissism into the story.