Psycho Movie Post
Wow. I had not seen Psycho before, nor any of Hitchcock's previous films, so I did not know what to expect from the bona fide "Master of Suspense" himself. That being said, this movie definitely kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, especially during the brutal killing scenes.
One part of this movie that piqued my interest was all the "clichés" present throughout the film. From Marion's very nervous behavior when stopped by the police, to Norman's very "informative" talk about his strange passion for taxidermy, there were many times in the movie that I literally felt that the plot was becoming super obvious. Only after I finished the end of the film did I realize that these "clichés" in thrillers were probably pioneered or started during the era of this film, so what I considered to be dead give-aways would probably have been novel to 1960's audiences.
This realization made me think about how the impact of evidence can change over time and within different cultures. Specifically, the manner by which the movie presents evidence must be something novel to the times; the reveal that truly caught me off-guard was Norman's split personality with his "Mother", for very few mystery shows I had seen before made the main antagonist somewhat of a tragic villain. Unlike the psychopathic killers we see in shows today, Norman really was at the mercy of his mental affliction.
Norman's specific disorder, which can most accurately be diagnosed as DID, or Dissociative Identity Disorder, would have also been new during the 1960s. Under actions by President Kennedy, mental health was starting to be taken as an important issue by the United States, and since 1957, DID itself was become more publicized due to contemporary media exploring the subject (1) (2). Therefore, this movie's use of mental health evidence to support the notion that Norman is mentally unstable finds the common ground of being novel enough to be interesting and, at the same time, not something that would be completely unheard of in the general US population.
(1)"Our History." Mental Health America. January 31, 2017. Accessed November 21, 2017. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/our-history.
(2) "Sleep, Social Cues, and Dissociative Disorders." Association for Psychological Science. Accessed November 21, 2017. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/sleep-social-cues-and-dissociative-disorders.html.
One part of this movie that piqued my interest was all the "clichés" present throughout the film. From Marion's very nervous behavior when stopped by the police, to Norman's very "informative" talk about his strange passion for taxidermy, there were many times in the movie that I literally felt that the plot was becoming super obvious. Only after I finished the end of the film did I realize that these "clichés" in thrillers were probably pioneered or started during the era of this film, so what I considered to be dead give-aways would probably have been novel to 1960's audiences.
This realization made me think about how the impact of evidence can change over time and within different cultures. Specifically, the manner by which the movie presents evidence must be something novel to the times; the reveal that truly caught me off-guard was Norman's split personality with his "Mother", for very few mystery shows I had seen before made the main antagonist somewhat of a tragic villain. Unlike the psychopathic killers we see in shows today, Norman really was at the mercy of his mental affliction.
Norman's specific disorder, which can most accurately be diagnosed as DID, or Dissociative Identity Disorder, would have also been new during the 1960s. Under actions by President Kennedy, mental health was starting to be taken as an important issue by the United States, and since 1957, DID itself was become more publicized due to contemporary media exploring the subject (1) (2). Therefore, this movie's use of mental health evidence to support the notion that Norman is mentally unstable finds the common ground of being novel enough to be interesting and, at the same time, not something that would be completely unheard of in the general US population.
(1)"Our History." Mental Health America. January 31, 2017. Accessed November 21, 2017. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/our-history.
(2) "Sleep, Social Cues, and Dissociative Disorders." Association for Psychological Science. Accessed November 21, 2017. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/sleep-social-cues-and-dissociative-disorders.html.
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