Surveillance In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

A man sits in his chair, staring beyond his room; peering into the lives of others. He watches as a couple argue, a man plays on the piano, and a barely dressed woman unknowingly gives him a private show. He ends his phone call and blissfully relieves himself of his itch. What Jefferies might view as harmless entertainment actually demonstrates the insidious nature of government surveillance.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) highlights the unequal division of power between genders. This is shown by Jefferies treatment of Lisa and Stella along with their involvement with helping him, and the violence that takes place against women within the film as a way of showing that the world of surveillance is a male dominated sphere that can be

Throughout the film Jefferies is quick to lash out in his words either by asking Stella to make him a sandwich or telling Lisa to shut up multiple times when they argue. Jeff does this because he feels vulnerable due to his injury and he’s unable to leave the situation. In this way he can’t really avoid the conversations; only tune in on another window from outside. Telling Lisa to “Shut up” is similar to trying to switch channels or turn off a program you don’t like which is why he tends to ignore her. He also considers her “too perfect”, but what Jefferies is truly afraid of is that she’s better than him since he views himself as flawed because the gender roles have been switched. Instead of being the man that provides, he has two women taking care of him. Lisa scares him more however because of her strong character, but also because she is much wealthier than him and can buy him gifts. Jeff especially feels threatened at the thought of living with Lisa in the city since Lisa would be the

As Jeff drags Stella and Lisa into his desire of proving Thorwald murdered his wife they undergo a change where at first they were disgusted at Jefferies constantly watching his neighbors, but they soon join in on spying on Thorwald along with the lives of others. The justification behind them transitioning from anti-surveillance to pro-surveillance could be there desire to prove Thorwald is the murder, but that wouldn’t explain why they repeatedly watch the other neighbors. The reason for this is the feeling of empowerment from being able to watch and judge others. In the beginning Lisa desired to turn on the lights because she wasn’t afraid of people looking at her, but as the story progresses she stops turning on the light because she wants to see, but not be seen. Since people can’t see her they can’t judge her, but she can peer into the secret lives of others like a person with higher authority. Stella and Lisa feel free from a world that constantly judges women based on their looks and mannerisms, but it also gives them a false sense of power. It’s a false sense because they can’t make any direct impact on the lives of others from Jeff’s apartment, and when they do try to have a direct impact on Thorwald by invading his apartment Lisa