The Symbolism Of Birds In The Film Psycho
Jeremy Windisch
Mr. Bessey
RoC
18 September 2014
The symbolism of birds from the film Psycho Psycho (Paramount Pictures 1960) is Alfred Hitchcock’s introduction in what would begin horror films to come. After Psycho came out, Psycho set a new level of acceptability of violence, deviant behavior and sexuality in American films. Critical symbolisms of birds between Marian Crane (Janet Leigh) and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) foreshadowed tension between the two throughout the film. Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film, Psycho, opens tentatively in a seedy motel room with Marian Crane and Sam Loomis (John Gavin) making love and talking about their future together in (FS). As the story progressed with Crane stealing the money from her employer, she meets Norman Bates at the Bates Motel off …show more content…
the highway.
From here, the use of bird symbolism starts to take shape of tension between the two. You can see that the highest amount of bird symbolism takes place in the parlor scene while Marion is eating and Norman watching her eat. A couple of inference can be drawn by looking around the parlor, with the type of birds being shown between the conversations. During the conversation, Norman quotes to Marion, “you eat like a bird,” referencing that she seems innocent and would not harm a fly. This is shown by her picking at the one piece of bread for practically the whole conversation. As you can see when the smaller birds are shown, they symbolize the conflict with not only between him and his mother, but also between him and all women- that they are better dead and nonresponsive. This shows that when he places his hand on the small bird affectionately, showing how much he accepts his hobby. Also, as it is shown, that each close-up of Marion standing in the parlor before she left, it shows the crows beak pointing directly towards her neck,
later insinuating in her unfortunate death. The last meaningful reference of bird symbolism is between Norman and his mother. As the camera panned up to a close up, you hear Norman’s mother quote, “ And in the end he intended to tell them I killed those girls and that man, as if I could do anything except just sit and stare like one of his stuffed birds.” This symbolic reference of birds insinuates that Alfred Hitchcock planned to have Norman’s mother feel like she was one of Norman’s stuffed birds.
Works Cited
Psycho. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles. Paramount, 1960. DVD.
Mr. Bessey
RoC
18 September 2014
The symbolism of birds from the film Psycho Psycho (Paramount Pictures 1960) is Alfred Hitchcock’s introduction in what would begin horror films to come. After Psycho came out, Psycho set a new level of acceptability of violence, deviant behavior and sexuality in American films. Critical symbolisms of birds between Marian Crane (Janet Leigh) and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) foreshadowed tension between the two throughout the film. Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film, Psycho, opens tentatively in a seedy motel room with Marian Crane and Sam Loomis (John Gavin) making love and talking about their future together in (FS). As the story progressed with Crane stealing the money from her employer, she meets Norman Bates at the Bates Motel off …show more content…
the highway.
From here, the use of bird symbolism starts to take shape of tension between the two. You can see that the highest amount of bird symbolism takes place in the parlor scene while Marion is eating and Norman watching her eat. A couple of inference can be drawn by looking around the parlor, with the type of birds being shown between the conversations. During the conversation, Norman quotes to Marion, “you eat like a bird,” referencing that she seems innocent and would not harm a fly. This is shown by her picking at the one piece of bread for practically the whole conversation. As you can see when the smaller birds are shown, they symbolize the conflict with not only between him and his mother, but also between him and all women- that they are better dead and nonresponsive. This shows that when he places his hand on the small bird affectionately, showing how much he accepts his hobby. Also, as it is shown, that each close-up of Marion standing in the parlor before she left, it shows the crows beak pointing directly towards her neck,
later insinuating in her unfortunate death. The last meaningful reference of bird symbolism is between Norman and his mother. As the camera panned up to a close up, you hear Norman’s mother quote, “ And in the end he intended to tell them I killed those girls and that man, as if I could do anything except just sit and stare like one of his stuffed birds.” This symbolic reference of birds insinuates that Alfred Hitchcock planned to have Norman’s mother feel like she was one of Norman’s stuffed birds.
Works Cited
Psycho. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles. Paramount, 1960. DVD.