Why Do Blondes And Cinema Bermuda Hell Triangle

BILKENT UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC ENGLISH PROGRAM
ENGLISH AND COMPOSITION II

HITCHCOCK BLONDES

RESEARCH PAPER

Hitchcock, Blondes and Cinema: Bermuda Hell Triangle

Submitted by Mirac Ethem Özdağ
ID# : 20700401
DPT: MAN
ENG102-94

Submitted to Bengisu T. Akalın

SPRING 2008

HITCHCOCK, BLONDES and CINEMA: HELL TRAINGLE

There are thousands of topics and articles written about Hitchcock films, because of his being undoubtedly one of the greatest directors in our decade. In today’s cinema world, many directors do not hesitate to admit that they are inspired by Hitchcock. Most of the symbols in Hitchcock films have been used by many directors. The most eye-catching symbols in his films are certainly blonde women. He always
worked with blonde actresses. His technique of using blondes in his films rose in popularity in cinema world. Besides his films, Hitchcock himself and his way of treating women also have been discussed and criticized by many. There have been lots of controversies about him using blondes and the way he portrayed women in his films. Whereas some praised him for his outstanding talent, others claimed that he was a kind of psycho or a misogynist since Hitchcock liked to quote the nineteenth-century French playwright Victorian Sardou’s advice, “Torture the women!” Hitchcock says: “The trouble today is we don’t torture women enough.” adding provocatively. He responded to these claims by using his art. His ambition to prove that blonde women in his pictures have always been more effective than those in other pictures, the perfection in the way he filmed his obsession towards blonde women, and his indisputable contribution to the movie industry in terms of setting a trend for including blonde women in pictures, makes Hitchcock an unreachable director.

The way blondes were traditionally portrayed in films became a stereotype, before Hitchcock era. Blonde characters were used in movies in different roles depending on the perspective of the director and how he or she wants to portray them. Generally, blonde characters were chosen to act the dumb and promiscuous in movies. “Because of this, many believed that blondes “are more fun”. Blonde jokes are derogatory based on a “dumb blonde” stereotype of women being unintelligent.” (Clout, 2007, 1). Why is it so? Why and since when blondes are tried to be shown as dumb people? According to a common rumor; back in olden days, when a women needed a husband to make it in this world, the blondes figured out that men like to feel smart. So, the blonde girls acted dumb to make their prospective husbands feel smart. The men were so dumb, in fact that they began to perpetuate the myth that blondes are dumb. This has become a phenomenon which spread over the world and people’s minds. This phenomenon started to become popular in 1950’s. The foremost avant-garde actress, who had the most effective style, was Marilyn Monroe. Besides her appearance, in fact, she was intellectual, extremely clever and also humorous. She played the role of stupid woman in order to take place in film industry, in order to keep up her permanence, but the most important reason was to earn money. She did not care to look like a clever woman. For her stupid blonde image, she said: “To tell you the truth, I did not lie to anyone. I just let people to lie themselves. They did not even try to look for who I really am, but created a new character for me. I did not argue with them. They obviously liked the women of me who am not real. But when the truth shows up, people will accuse me of being a liar.” (Leaming, 1992, pp.64) What we understand from this quotation is that her dumb stupid role was tried to be charged on her in real life. After Marilyn Monroe died, many actresses followed her and tried to look like her. In recent years, in Hollywood; films, which make use of the dumb blonde concept, have been quite popular. There are many examples but the most noticeable ones are surely Legally Blonde by Robert Luketic in 2001. It’s a story about a blonde and her being isolated by her lover’s family, just because she’s blonde.

What makes Hitchcock genius? His ability to scare the audience or his fearless modernism? What about his black humor? No. The right answer is in the way he revolutionized the traditional blonde stereotype in 1950’s when this blonde trend was common. Hitchcock’s using blondes in his films, is a kind of obsession. His obsession with cool blondes began in the 1940s and reached a climax with the troubled, secretive women of Psycho (1960) and Marnie (1964). If we had to separate the world in simplistic terms, it might take on a movie title: the Good, the Bad, and the Blonde. Though all redheads and brunettes are loved, blondes are a special category of human in Hitchcock’s films. “What intrigued him was the hint of uninhibited passion behind the cool façade.” (Kemp, 1999, pp.64-66). He wants to explore the mystery behind blondes and he also wants us, the viewers, to explore the mystery as well. In addition, he wants to show that blondes in his films are not stupid; on the contrary, they are cold, mysterious, sexy and sometimes evil. He thought that this mystery could not lie under a brunette’s face. That is why; he identified the beauty concept with blondes and he also achieved his goal. Having explored and brought blondes in cinema were his keys to success. Hitchcock’s blondes differ from other blondes due to how he thinks of blondes at all. One may ask that Marilyn Monroe or Brigitte Bardot was also blonde, so why did Hitchcock not give them a chance to act in his films? At this point, we are faced with an important question: “What are the differences between Hitchcock blondes and blondes in other pictures?” As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, Hitchcock blondes have different characteristic features such as being mysterious, icy and dangerous. Although blondes seem to be very attractive and cute at the first sight, they change their behaviors all of a sudden whenever they encounter danger and are scared. By showing that, Hitchcock reflects the dark side of the blondes, emphasizing that the blondes cannot be trusted. In addition, apart from their devil features, “Hitchcock’s icy, sexy heroines boast beauty, brains and bravery. They are not afraid to mix it up with the men when times get rough and bullets start flying. They are the ones risking their lives to save the men.” (Draski, 2008, 1). Hitchcock does not only try to show that blondes have bad personality, but also wants us to see that they can be quite conscientious depending on the situation. That is why; Hitchcock thinks that other blondes like Brigitte Bardot or Marilyn Monroe are not suitable for these kinds of characteristic features. “According to Alfred Hitchcock, sex should not be advertised. That is why actresses like Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot are not suitable since they had sex written all over their faces.” (Truffaut, 1986, pp.121). Again, in an interview made by François Truffaut -a French director- Hitchcock says: “An English girl, looking like a school teacher, is apt to get into a cab with you and, to your surprise; she’ll probably pull a man’s pants open.” (Truffaut, 1986, pp.123). This quote emphasizes how a blonde must be, to act in his films. He was looking for femme fatales indeed. He also adds: “You know why I favor sophisticated blondes in my films? We 're after the drawing-room type, the real ladies, who become whores once they 're in the bedroom.” (Truffaut, 1986, pp.123). All these quotations indicate that Hitchcock blondes are completely different from the other blondes. Some of his best-known films, in which blonde features can be strongly seen, are Dial M for Murder (1954), Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960). In Dial M for Murder, our character is a liar. One can easily believe her, but she does not even hesitate to stab you from behind. In Vertigo, Kim Novak is a very mysterious femme fatale. Since the film is a psychological thriller, Kim Novak’s facial expression presents a very mysterious image to us.

There has been written a lot of this and that about Hitchcock.
Whereas some claimed that he has had great contributions to the film industry in terms of including blondes in his films, others believed that he is a pervert depending on an interview of Hitchcock saying that he kept himself away from sex and he could not have enthusiasm from sex, just because of his weight. Some also claimed that his wife’s being ugly played role on his style. They said that Hitchcock was trying to reflect his secret enthusiasms and he was relieving his drives by giving roles to blondes. Moreover, some people claimed that Hitchcock is a misogynist since he followed Victorien Sardou’s advice that says women must be tortured and also Oscar Wilde’s aphorism: “You ruin what you love”. People also show the facts that Hitchcock blonde’s troubles that they encounter. It’s just plain cruel the way leading ladies are mistreated by the master of suspense: systematically duped and humiliated (Tippi Hedren in Marnie), driven mad (Joan Fontaine in Rebecca), set upon by flocks of supernaturally vicious birds (the unlucky Hedren, again, in The Birds) and ultimately, stabbed over and over in a motel room shower (the late Janet Leigh in Psycho). The most problematic and extreme instance of Hitchcock’s attitude toward his cool blondes was his treatment of Tippi Hedren. Doubtless, this is one of the best-known. “Hitchcock failed to tell Tippi Hedren that he intended to film the attack scene using the real
birds instead of the planned mechanical ones.” (Merritt, 2004, 1). Hedren, in one of her interviews, tells: “I had always heard that his idea was to take a woman – usually a blonde- and break her apart, to see her shyness and reserve broken down.” However, there’s the fact that some of these unusual ladies fight back. Not all of Hitch’s heroine’s end up bloody and lifeless at the hands of a cross-dressing lunatic. Melanie’s (Hedren) fight for her life against the avian nightmare in The Birds and it is Marion’s sister (Vera Miles), not the bungling police or ineffectual boyfriend who ultimately discovers her true, grisly, and faintly ridiculous fate in Psycho. Although all these rumors, one must be sure that Hitchcock and his blondes have had large effects in cinema.
He could never win an Oscar Prize but his films are still amongst the most-watched list. Psycho has been chosen to be the best horror film recently and the shower scene in the film has also been chosen to be the most terrific scene in cinema world. Moreover, there are several remakes of Psycho in Hollywood. Also, in today’s cinema world, many directors use his images in their films. Other effects are that there have been increasingly cassette, CD and DVD sales since technology offers people these kinds of opportunities. DVD Box Set sales are amongst the bestsellers in USA, according to IMDB. To conclude, Hitchcock’s aesthetic over blondes and the way he portrayed them in his films makes Hitchcock still untouchable and unreachable director in movie industry. Whatever some say against, one should never analyze his films without watching them carefully. It is for sure that blonde concept in people’s minds has changed a lot since Hitchcock filmed them. Whatever way these ladies end their days, they will always be among the great female cinematic characters: complex, beautiful, and flawed as we all
are.

Works Cited

1) Clout, L. (2007). Blonde women make men less clever. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/19/sciblonde119.xml 2) Leaming, Barbara. (1998). Marilyn Monroe. (1st Ed.). New York: Crown 3) Kemp, P. (1999). The Icy Blondes. In K.Mogg(Ed.), The Alfred Hitchcock story. (pp.64-66). London: Titan Books Ltd. 4) Draski, L. (2008). The best of Hitchcock blondes. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from http://classicfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_best_of_Hitchcock 5) Truffaut, F. (1986). Hitchcock. (Revised Ed.). London: Grafton Books 6) Merritt, S. (2004). Hitchcock’s revenge on the woman who spurned him. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1227602,00.html