Introduction
In terms of spectatorship, Vertigo by Hitchcock (1958) is different from many other movies by male directors. To some extent, male spectatorship in Vertigo involves the departure from the tradition of glorifying masculinity and the presence of “fascination with femininity” (Thomas, 1989, p. 41). The discussed movie tells a story about love and obsession with a mysterious woman from the position of a male character. In some scenes after the death of Madeleine, Scotty’s attempts to find this perfect woman in another person are depicted in a detailed and expressive way (Hitchcock, 1958). Madeleine and Judy that turn out to be the same person possess conventional attractiveness, and an emphasis is placed on the ways of how their behaviors affect Scotty and his mental condition.
Main body
Male spectatorship might affect the way that female characters are perceived by impacting the degree to which the viewer identifies with them. As Keane (1986) highlights, despite being “possessing, brandishing, and relishing a position of active power,” Scotty suffers throughout the movie (p. 236). In the scene at Muir Woods, Madeleine demonstrates her suicidal and depressive thoughts to Scottie without considering the effect that her words might have on him (Hitchcock, 1958). Because of male spectatorship, the viewer might see Madeleine’s behaviors as the reason for Scottie’s suffering, thus creating a desire to blame her.
Scotty possesses a range of psychological traits that are typical for men, such as the desire to control the situation, but his behavior resembles the feminine one from time to time. For instance, when exploring his fear of heights with Midge Wood, he suddenly faints and resembles a damsel in distress that is vulnerable and needs a supportive person nearby (Hitchcock, 1958). Scotty does not necessarily understand his weaknesses as feminine qualities, but he tries to respond to his flaws by inventing some rather unsuccessful ways to overcome the fear. His unsuccessful attempts to rationalize the fear enable Midge to demonstrate her best qualities, including compassion and carefulness. As for Judy, Scottie’s poor responses to his overwhelming fear work in her favor and enable her to play Madeleine’s role perfectly.
Due to an ongoing trend for male characters to be softer and depart from aggressive masculinity, if the film was contemporary, Scotty would be unlikely to claim to be emasculated by Judy’s behaviors. In the movie, Judy’s good acting skills and the resulting wholeness of Madeleine’s image make Scottie vulnerable to the living representation of his dream (Hitchcock, 1958). In many contemporary films about love, there is a tendency to depict male characters’ vulnerability and openness in relationships as the unobvious side of their strength, and softer masculinity is increasingly popular among women.
A final shift in the film’s point of view can be seen in the closing scene when Scottie brings Judy to the crime scene. Prior to that, Scottie used to be a victim of others’ manipulations and lies and suffered because of his obsession with something that never existed (Hitchcock, 1958). In the final scene, his assertiveness and determination to finish what he has started are indicative of his ability to regain strength after being deeply traumatized and stop being in a passive position.
As for me, Hitchcock waits to inform the audience of Mr. Elster’s plan to kill his wife in order to emphasize Judy’s wonderful acting skills. The viewer discovers that Judy has played Madeleine as part of a murder plan after Scottie meets Judy. The difference between Judy as Madeleine and Judy as herself is tremendous, including appearance, speaking style, and intonation patterns. The viewer’s sudden discovery that they are the same person allows making the audience fascinated by Judy’s self-possession that helps her to keep her secret safe.
Scopophilia is understood as the tendency to feel sexual pleasure due to looking at another person and may find reflection in objectification (Keane, 1986). To me, the claims of Modleski and Mulvey regarding Scottie’s scopophilia have credibility and sound well-supported since Scottie’s fixation on Madeleine’s looks is shown in multiple scenes. First of all, Scottie falls in love with Judy as Madeleine after “saving” the woman’s life and seeing her naked (Hitchcock, 1958). Next, after being convinced that Madeleine is dead, he starts seeing her features in other women instead of, for instance, focusing on thinking about the things that she loved. Finally, Scottie’s attempts to make Judy recreate Madeleine’s looks imply that he might have mistaken the pleasure of enjoying that woman’s beauty for real love.
Conclusion
Finally, if Vertigo was a modern film, Hitchcock would probably be considered misogynistic toward women for telling the story from the perspective of a man that falls in love with beauty. Even though Hitchcock’s female characters are allowed to be rational and intelligent, an emphasis is often placed on Judy’s appearance and attractive looks. After realizing her feelings, Judy changes herself to deserve Scottie’s love and approval, which does not align with the feminist ideals of women. Also, the scenes where Scottie follows women would probably cause criticism since the director does not depict such behaviors as something obviously negative.
References
Hitchcock, A. J. (1958). Vertigo [Film]. Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions.
Keane, M. E. (1986). A closer look at scopophilia: Mulvey, Hitchcock, and Vertigo. In M. Deutelbaum & L. A. Poague (Eds.), A Hitchcock reader (pp. 231-248). Iowa State University Press.
Thomas, P. (1989). Review: [Untitled]. Film Quarterly, 42(4), 40-42.