The Ideology Of Patriarchy In Film

Patriarchy is a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. It is called “the dominant ideology of patriarchy.” A system where men continually play the dominant or masculine role. Past generations argued that people who speak against feminism are scared of change. They believed one gender should have control over the other and were scared that everyone should be treated the same. The idea that one gender is inferior to another in any aspects is absurd and damaging. Each human being has its own special talents and skills that they can choose to help society, and if we start to embrace those abilities without prejudice and without controlling people with stereotypical gender roles, then

we can dig into resources that have been greatly suppressed. Feminism also involves political and sociological theories as well as philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference, in addition to a movement that advocates gender equality for women and campaigns for women's rights and interests.
In many of Hitchcock’s films we are shown an unreal and obsessive quality that Hitchcock has with blonde women. He does not present us women as who they are, but as how he wished them to be. His views of women during his films were extremely stereotypical. Hitchcock always made sure the female character were the perfect blonde. He sees women as precious objects to be placed on a pedestal. One of Hitchcock’s most psychological masterpieces, Vertigo (1958) represents its characters and their gender in a way that is not stereotypically expected from a director of his greatness. Although the movie evolves around the character Scottie, an ex-policeman who wanted to become a lawyer and becomes afraid of heights due to the loss of a fellow policeman during a rooftop chase in the first scene of the movie. The two women portrayed in this film show how Hitchcock uses them to show two different circumstances between women. First the kind hearted, loving friend Midge and the strong, sexy, and powerful character of Madeline.
In Vertigo, Scottie, the main character is perceived to be a weak man during the 50’s. Due to his physical and psychological injuries we consider him a man to sympathize for. Vertigo, the reason why Scottie can no longer be a policeman makes him feel ineffectual. He feels feminized because he now wears a corset which is something women wear. Later we see that Scottie wants to feel more masculine, and he does that by his obsessive nature when making Judy become the idealized woman he saw in Madeline.
As we analyze the character of Midge we see how the film is putting an image in our heads that Midge is the more genuine, practical and knowledgeable kind of woman.

Midge also has this maternal side of her, where she wants the best for Scottie and is willingly to comfort him when he is in need. She cares about Scottie and is concerned with his acrophobia. In many scenes, we see that Midge is trying to bring Scottie to his senses and most importantly she is trying to cure his acrophobia by telling him to climb a ladder and slowly look up and down. In Hitchcock’s WOMEN by Susan Jhirad, Susan describes how Hitchcock’s love life with his wife is relatable to Scottie and Midge because of the confusion they portrayed between being a wife and mother as shown on the scene where Scottie is in the hospital and Midge is taking care of him as a mother would. We as viewers have to sympathize with Midge since we know Scottie would rather choose Madeline instead of her. Knowing that Midge is the more practical woman, one also feels as if she is just another woman one can find in one’s lifetime, but Scottie seeing how much more flamed Madeline can get, and how she was able to arise in him, then we can see why he fell in love with her instead of Midge. This was not Midge’s fault though; Scottie does not realize what a perfect woman Midge is, for he does not have full control of his personality or

sexuality.
In Madeline’s case, she represents the ideal woman. The one Hitchcock always dreams of. In the case of the movie Vertigo, Madeline is the more powerful character in the film. She is able to use Scottie’s weaknesses and insecurities to her advantage and sets the perfect plan for a murder. The fact that Madeline was an imaginary person; shows that a strong woman as her is inconceivable. Being able to carry out her plan was magnificent for any woman of that period.
Judy, Madeline’s other personality is completely different. Judy is described as completely submissive. Judy essentially does whatever it takes to please Scottie. She goes over and beyond giving everything up for him and living a lie about being someone she is not. “This masochism of Judy is however a quality that Mulvey sees as complimenting the voyeuristic and sadistic side of Scottie.” (Mulvey 24).
Overall, Vertigo speaks to every woman of the 50’s through the eyes of Midge, Madeline, and Judy as well as Scottie did to men. We can see that men are capable and have the power to change the world, while women seem to be more passive and defenseless. During the film we can see that it brought to our attention that women of the time should be treated to sanity, or as a sexual object. On the other hand, Scottie is proclaimed to be the hero of the film but fails to rescue Madeline off the tower, showing us that women can be the downfall of men. Scottie is also your typical hard working male of the time and we are shown that he is still capable of loving someone after being put through his weaknesses which relates to us as humans. Although most of the emphasis of the film shows that women create anxiety and are an object to be obsessive about, it takes the focus away from showing us how manipulative the nature of Scottie really is.
Hitchcock in Vertigo exhibits a confusion of the female lead characters that make it impossible for the film analyst to discount them as sexist portrayals of women. Indeed, even Robert Phillip Kolker, author of “Women as Genre,” has to admit that even though Hitchcock is “a misogynist at his core … [this] was part of a greater misanthropy,” and the director is aware of, and also questions, his characters’ mistakes; an elaboration which reviewers often misinterpret (Kolker 140).
This misinterpretation can be traced back to the complexity and diversity of the representation of women in Hitchcock’s films; we could probably assume that Hitchcock’s intentions lie in as a greater critic of gender roles in general. The examination of the film gives reason to believe that the male scrutiny and its related gender relationship is one that the female characters are not only aware of, but it should not just be stigmatized as mere misogynistic portrayal of women, but rather an appraiser on these gender outlined roles.
The diversity of women’s portrayal in Hitchcock’s films is evident in Vertigo, as the film has been analyzed by feminist theorist. One may observe a clear definition and format of the representation of women contrasting the usual femme-fatale, and the personification of the male sexual desire, with independent and intellectually superior women, whose intelligence is usually not recognized by men. For example, Scottie’s ex-fiancée Midge, whose motherly advice is put down and misused by Scottie, and Madeleine, Scottie’s personified desire. These misogynistic typecasts, shows that Hitchcock must have been aware of this, suggesting the need for an assessment on the clarification of these gender roles.
While it was perhaps not in Hitchcock’s purposes to make a feminist statement with his films, this is something it has to be accounted for, female characters need interpretation on a deeper level, where psychoanalytic explanations are supported by Hitchcock’s technical mastery, and most likely by his wife Alma Reville’s input. The 1950s, in which two of his most influential films were produced, was a time of extreme decline of women in film, with the decreasing popularity of musicals and “women’s films,” leading straight to the emergence of the “buddy films” in the ’70s, which had no need for major female roles (Lincoln 615). With films like Vertigo, it would be easy to reject Hitchcock’s work as simple misogynistic illustrations of women. One may conclude that Hitchcock did not pick attractive performers to merely play an unexciting passive personality, but rather complicated individuals who possibly will need a second or third look in order to see their significance with regard to the plot and the film’s analysis.