Alfred Hitchcock Gender Roles

there is a scene with the hotel’s disturbing proprietor Norman Bates that challenges gender roles and shows the weak positions of power that Hitchcock gives each character in the film. Marion begins the scene by listening in as Norman fights with his mother. She peers out her window at the menacing house and hears the loud voices coming from it. Afterwards Norman brings some food down to Marion. They settle in his parlor, surrounded by a collection of stuffed birds. Norman alludes to the connection between his birds and his mother, establishing a fetish of control, stemming from his general lack of control in life. The editing of the scene shows a divide between the characters. Only once during the conversation are both characters in the same
shot, from then on they are presented in p.o.v. shots of the opposite character. Norman’s weak nature stays steady throughout the scene until Marion suggests that his mother be put into an asylum, at which point his character takes on a whole new level of power. Through Norman’s subtle shift into madness he takes complete control of the scene and pushes Marion into a weak position. The lighting of the scene maintains a darkness that is much stronger than the opening hotel scene. Though three-point lighting is employed, the fill and back lights are both kept at a low level maintaining a contrast on the character’s faces. Marion is shot from a level prospective putting her right in the middle of the screen but Norman is shot from below, presenting him as higher than Marion. This allows his monologue to seem even more powerful. During the course of the scene Marion decides to return to Phoenix and face the consequences of her actions. After she leaves the audience is once again given a voyeuristic moment when Norman spies on her through peephole in his parlor. This scene establishes that she, as a woman, can still in some ways be swayed by even the weakest of men.