Gender Confusion in Hitchcock's Film, Vertigo

Gender Confusion in Hitchcock's Film, Vertigo

Post World War II America was a society full of anxiety. In the late 1950s Americans were deeply troubled by so many social shifts. Major changes were occurring both internally and externally. They were in the midst of the Cold War, and were vastly approaching the atomic age. There was a communist scare and fear of Russian expansion. Joseph McCarthy was hunting down major celebrities for their communist involvement and the 'Red Influence' seemed to be everywhere. The move toward suburbia and the growth of multinational corporations were flourishing. People seemed to be pulled in every direction. Another change that would have a major impact on society for years to come was the re-identification of gender roles. In Robert Kolker's book, Film, Form and Culture, he states that, "During the time of the Cold War, the political and the personal, the power of the state, the workplace, the family and the sexual all became confused and self contradictory" (Kolker, 83). The gender confusion of the time would cause major conflicts and can be seen in many forms of popular culture from the mid-to-late fifties, from magazines to movies. By the time Alfred Hitchcock was starting production on his forty-fifth film Vertigo, gender had become a major issue. This is obvious through watching the film and looking at the main characters, both male and female. In Hitchcock's Vertigo, the struggle for socially recognized gender roles is acted out, mostly through a battle for sexual domination between Scottie and Madeline/Judy. The film also supports the idea of the submissive domestic female, through the character of Midge. This film is definitely a marker of its time.

The loss of male identity and sexu...

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...wer struggle for sexual domination through the characters of Scottie and Madeline, and also with the use of certain colors. Vertigo shows the loss of masculinity or the impotent male because of a lack of female submissiveness. The main image of the film is that of a downward spiral. This image perfectly illustrates the idea of women as man's downfall that is stressed throughout the entire film. Vertigo also tries to support gender norms for women with some of the female characters. This film is an ideal example of the sexual confusion and anxiety felt by much of American society at this time, proving that film is a cultural product.

Works Cited

Kolker, Robert. Film, Form and Culture. Boston: McGraw-Hill College 1999.

LaVallee, Andrew W. A. "'Can't You See?": Women and Aura in Hitchcock's Vertigo. http://nextdch.mty.itesm.mx/~plopezg/Kaplan/essays/aura.html