Psycho

Hitchcock

1. What John Fawell is essentially saying is that although the common assumption of Hitchcock is that he is staunchly misogynistic—and often when one says this, the movies Psycho and Frenzy are cited for their scenes of female-oriented violence—he actually, in his majority of films, expresses empathy and compassion towards women, while giving a “sharp critique of the male psyche”. He goes even further, to convey the point that the notorious scenes from the two aforementioned movies may have jaded us all to the facts that he isn’t really that misogynistic after all.

2. Jeff, for some reason or another of which we have no knowledge, has been left with a slightly cynical view of women. As a result, he cannot help but view Lisa Fremont as a pretty face that is fundamentally lacking what he thinks are the necessary qualities of his ideal woman. As he says, he doesn’t want a beauty queen, he wants a woman who will stick with him for the long run. I think that although he has the cynical view of woman he knows deep down that she will love him when he needs her and his—in my opinion—flimsy and transparent rejections of her in the middle of the movie are no more than a test of her devotion.

3. Fawell identifies in the four movies an principal thread of a man who does not at first recognize a woman’s true worth until his rejection of her shows to him “the true measure of her worth”, as well as bringing to light the potential ramifications of placing blame where it need not go. Fawell also refers to this theme as the only theme that Hitchcock could portray with sincerity, implying there was an underlying emotional link that allowed him to place emotional honesty in his films.

4.

(“I always believe of following the advice of the playwright Sardou: ‘Torture the women’…the trouble today is that we don’t torture women enough.”)

(It is true that women suffer in Hitchcock’s films but he reserves his most withering judgment for men.)

I think that maybe Hitchcock was saying these rather outlandish quotes to further his reputation of being a “woman-hater” and at the same time a more notable director (one would assume that they would go hand in hand; if it’s something that makes you more apt to watching his movies and remembering his name it works out just fine for him).