Was Hitchcock one of the greatest directors, or a misoginist using his power?

Laura Mulvey Theory: Vertigo

Laura Mulvey, a feminist and a film theorist argues that, in Classic Hollywood cinema, viewers are encouraged to identify with the protagonist of the film; who tends to be a man. Whereas female characters are, according to Mulvey coded with ‘’to-be-looked-at-ness’’. Mulvey argues that, the male is an active onlooker, whereas the woman is always a passive object. Mulvey proposed the ‘male gaze’ theory. This theory suggests that the women within films are viewed through three different perspectives. Firstly by the director (and other crew members who are predominantly male), then by the camera, which is argued to be a representation of men and patriarchy within society due to its phallic shape, the camera lingers on the female, focusing of certain aspects of her body, this definitely appeals to the voyeuristic tendencies of the male audience. Mulvey, argues that in classic Hollywood films, the mise-en-scene along with the cinematography contribute to the construction of a male dominated world, where the woman is an object of men’s desires, her body can be fragmented and used to pleasure men. It is possible to use Mulvey’s theory when trying to explain Vertigo. Scottie represents the male gaze, in the beginning of the film, Scottie is waiting to see Madeleine for the first time; he is shown sitting at the bar already looking to his side waiting for the beautiful Madeleine to appear. This scene indicates that, Scottie is an active onlooker waiting to be visually pleasured by Madeleine. Madeleine’s face on the other hand is not shown; instead the audience are presented with an image of her bare back which is half covered by her emerald green gown. The music begins to play and the camera slowly zooms in.

 It is clear to the audience that, Madeleine is somehow ‘special’ or different. She stands out the crowd, in fact Madeleine is the only blonde there, and also most of the women are wearing neutral colours, whereas Madeleine’s gown is almost metallic. The dreamy music also adds to Madeleine’s beauty, especially when she finally leaves her table and walks towards the camera. It is possible to argue that, the audience are anticipating to finally see her face. The long shot of her back followed by a slow, continuous close up was somehow preparing the audience for the moment when she ‘finally’ reveals her beauty. It is possible to say that, this particular scene sums up Hitchcock as a whole. The scene reveals Hitchcock’s voyeuristic tendencies and his idea of the ‘ideal’ woman. Madeleine is the representation of Hitchcock’s ideal beauty. The audience are exposed to her beautiful face in a close up; it is possible to argue that Madeleine represents or even is a work of art. When Madeleine turns to her left side, the camera zooms in, Madeleine’s profile almost looks flat in this angle; suggesting she’s a portrait and the audience have the ability to linger on her and admire her beauty. 

 Although, the construction of the film’s narrative is aimed to make the men into dominant and confident characters, in the restaurant scene the audience are able to see that Scottie seems to be attracted to Madeleine, but at the same time he is reluctant to look are her, perhaps her beauty is too overwhelming for Scottie. When Madeleine leaves the restaurant, the audience are able to see that her eerier green gown makes her look like she’s almost floating; this contributes to the ‘ghostly’ persona that Hitchcock was trying to create. It is definitely true to say that Hitchcock takes fascination with an image through scopophilic eroticism as the subject of the film. In Vertigo and many other Hitchcock’s films, the look is central to the plot. Vertigo, in particular focuses on voyeurism, from the start of the film the audience are almost forced to be voyeurs. 

When Scottie begins to follow Madeleine, the audience are taken on a journey with him. It is possible to say that, the audience may feel uncomfortable accompanying Scottie. This scene really heightens the tensions within the audience, the music adds to the overall viewing and the continuous exchange of shots of Scottie driving and Madeleine, who is unaware of the fact that someone is following her contribute to the audience anticipating to see what happens next. The audience are once again voyeurs, however in this particular scene the camera not only lingers on Madeleine, but also on Scottie as the audience are exposed to a mid-close up of Scottie when he is driving. Scottie’s face expressions, indicate that he is intrigued by Madeleine and he is eager to find out more about this mystic and enigmatically beautiful woman. It is possible to say, that apart from the flashbacks that Judy has, there aren’t any scenes where the audience are exposed to the film through a female point of view.

The image of femininity in Vertigo is shown as a male construct. However, the film is not only about the construction of femininity, but it is also about the construction, or in fact, the illusion of the male identity. The narrative of the film reveals that men desire to own, control and manipulate women to their own liking. Scottie constructs his ideal beauty through giving Judy a ‘Madeleine makeover’, however, the audience may be able to see that, in fact Judy appears to be more feminine that Madeleine ever was. When the audience first see Judy, she is shown wearing visible make up and colourful clothing, however this does not make her more desirable, in fact Scottie makes it very clear that this is not what he is looking for in his ‘ideal beauty’. After Judy has her makeover, she appears less feminine as she is wearing a grey suit; Scottie even tells her to put her hair up, the audience may question why Scottie is behaving like this. 

Firstly, the audience are exposed to a hyper feminine icy blonde who is wearing a green gown, but then, gradually, as the film progresses Madeleine become less feminine in her choice of costumes. Perhaps, Scottie’s irrational need to ‘remake’ Judy into Madeleine indicates that he is constructing his own masculinity through his women.

The audience are able to see that Scottie’s relationships with women are not straight forward. He desires Madeleine, but on the other hand he finds comfort and happiness within Midge. Midge appears to be the motherly figure within Vertigo. This indicates that , there is a clear divide within women; they can be categorised as hyper feminine, desirable and sexual, or they can be boring motherly figures. Midge definitely is the ‘mother’.

 She helps Scottie understand women, and when she tries to become the object of men’s desires (painting her portrait) her attempts are mocked. It is possible to use Freud’s explanations of the Oedipus complex, to try to understand Scottie’s and Midge’s relationship. They had a relationship in the past, however it didn’t work out, but they have managed to remain close friends (the audience may even say that Midge is still in love with Scottie).Freud would argue that, their past relationship represents the relationship a young boy has with his own mother. Young boys are said to be in love with their own mothers and they see their fathers as enemies, however because the young boy cannot ‘consume’ the relationship in a romantic way, he has to overcome his complex and this results in him finding a woman who is similar to his own mother. This can explain why Scottie and Midge eventually broke up, but Midge still supports Scottie.

Within Vertigo, women fall into distinctive categories (mother/objects of desire) however men are also divided. Scottie may appear masculine at the first glance, but Hitchcock manages to develop his character in a distinctive way that indicates he is a confused man. When Scottie visits his ex-boss, Gavin Elster the audience are able to see the contrast between Scottie and the dominant, alpha male that Elster is, the mise en scene (dark, manly furniture, formal clothing etc.) contribute to the audience understanding of his character. Often, Scottie is shown as vulnerable, Elster is shown as the one having some power over Scottie as he is the one standing up , whereas Scottie is found sitting down most of the time. This indicates that, not only there are differences in the male hierarchy, but there are also differences in masculinity as men can be categorised into men who have gained their masculinity and men who haven’t.

In conclusion, it is fair to say that Laura Mulvey correctly points out the passive roles of women within classic Hollywood cinema. Many people claim that Vertigo is the representation of Hitchcock. Through the film, Hitchcock is trying to deal with his own issues, surrounding the ideal beauty, masculinity and gender. The audience definitely take pleasure from viewing Madeleine. Perhaps we can argue that, film directors such as Hitchcock, contribute to the misrepresentation of women and the growth of patriarchy within society.

Anna Gaszkowska