Anyone who has viewed Alfred Hitchcock’s films will agree that through his directing style he expertly manipulates suspense and distorts reality. In Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window, Hitchcock goes against the societal expectations of men and women. From a young age stereotypical gender roles are enforced on to children in the form of gender specific colors and toys. These gender roles also carry over into most films. For instance, men are portrayed as brave heroes, while the women are seen as attractive and helpless.
In the film Psycho (1960), Marion Crane steals money from her employer in order to run away with her significant other, Sam Loomis, who is in an immense amount of debt. Straight away the gender norm is being defied. This opposes the stereotype that men are the financially independent caretakers that support women. In Hitchcock’s work, men are generally more helpless and passive, while women are driven and proactive. Marion stealing the money shows how she takes charge, which is not apart of the usual gender roles for women during that time period. Another example of a strong female character in this movie is…show more content… He is bound to a wheelchair with a broken leg and spends his days watching his neighbors from his window. The two main female characters are Stella, his nurse, and Lisa, his girlfriend. Throughout the film, he is consistently seen as helpless and relies on the two women. When he suspects that one of his neighbors has killed their wife, Jeff obsessively observes him with his camera. yet never acts on his suspicions. Lisa and Stella act on his suspicions and go out into the courtyard to investigate. First Stella is seen digging through the garden to see if there is any evidence of the wife’s murder, when nothing is found Lisa takes charge and climbs up the fire escape and sneaks into the neighbor’s apartment. There she finds the evidence that was needed to confirm Jeff’s
