[Subject/Course]
[Submission Date]
In his movies, The Birds (1963) and Psycho (1960), Alfred Hitchcock has been able to successfully depict how dysfunctional families are responsible for giving birth to a personality that is not one that can align with the normal people in the society. In The Birds, Alfred has terrifyingly depicted how the birds could take on the characteristics of human. He revealed their ability to commit such acts that were both violent and destructive in nature. The audience could see that the birds were shown to do brutal things to the power imbalance problem solved. It can be said that Alfred Hitchcock was able to make the birds a terrifying symbol by portraying them to possess tendencies and capabilities of human beings who belong to dysfunctional families (Norden). Melanie who is the main character in the film has been shown as an independent, controlling and quick-witted human being. Thus, her personality has been represented to the audience in such a manner that they can easily understand how she could be resembled to birds as a free creature. The abnormal family functioning is the other definition of family dysfunction that is a result of the impaired and depressive scenarios and experiences endured by the whole family. In the similar fashion, The Birds represent a dysfunctional manner that can be related to the mentioned problem.
As far as Psycho is concerned, the lead character Norman Bates has been shown as a human monster as a result of the family dysfunction. He has been shown as the part of a stressful family due to which he chronically inherits the characteristics that were abnormal. As a child, he did not have his needs met for the reason that he belonged to a dysfunctional family. The behavior of his parents was based on negative patterns which remained dominant in Norman’s life. As a consequence, Norman being a psycho displayed taboos related to society and sexuality. Keeping things a secret is a taboo and Norman’s dual personality is portrayed to make things obvious for the audience that family dysfunction may hinder normal development of a person’s mental patterns. It is not incorrect to state that the dysfunctional family was the main reason why Norman had a dual personality especially the fact that he was his mama’s boy. He was being dominated by his arrogant and domineering mother.
The fact that Norman was under her eyes all the time turned out to be the major cause why his maturity stunted and left him to act like a child all through his life. The most important thing to mention here is that Alfred has given something to the audience to ponder over. Both his movies mentioned above are a message for the viewers that they should look at their behaviors as a family and stop being dominating as their dysfunction can impede the growth of their children’s mental level especially their sexual behavior. Norman is shown to stutter while speaking to the girl he likes. He is also shown to watch her getting out of her clothes in a voyeuristic manner for the reason that he knew in his heart that even though he liked the lady, he was not courageous enough to express his feelings in a social or sexual way.
References
Norden, M. F. The Changing Face of Evil in Film and Television. New York: Rodopi, 2007. Print.
