Norman Bates - Psycho
Norman Bates is a character created by writer Robert Bloch, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the primary antagonist of the 1960 film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Bates suffered from an identity disorder and psychotic behaviour, believing that he was his controlling mother. At the same time he suffered from visual and auditory hallucinations, in which his mother apparently convinced him to commit violent acts. When the ‘Mother’ personality took over, Bates would transform into murderous rages, targeting women who aroused him.
Bates manifests the fact that horror in the 1960s followed themes that were more psychological and had ‘slasher’ elements, as his character is based around the development of the understanding of the psyche, and how it affects audiences. Also, from technological advancements horror moved from being gothic, in the 1950’s, to following more contemporary concerns, making the scenes from Psycho seem more likely to happen, and therefore more frightening to audiences.
Norman Bates is a character created by writer Robert Bloch, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the primary antagonist of the 1960 film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Bates suffered from an identity disorder and psychotic behaviour, believing that he was his controlling mother. At the same time he suffered from visual and auditory hallucinations, in which his mother apparently convinced him to commit violent acts. When the ‘Mother’ personality took over, Bates would transform into murderous rages, targeting women who aroused him.
Bates manifests the fact that horror in the 1960s followed themes that were more psychological and had ‘slasher’ elements, as his character is based around the development of the understanding of the psyche, and how it affects audiences. Also, from technological advancements horror moved from being gothic, in the 1950’s, to following more contemporary concerns, making the scenes from Psycho seem more likely to happen, and therefore more frightening to audiences.
When the film, with the character
was released in 1960, common gothic motifs for horror included violence, fears
of the devil and the role of the female threat. The character of Bates embodies
these motifs as he had violent outbursts which resulted in him murdering women,
as he saw them as a threat, which stems from his mothers manipulative and
controlling nature. The motif of ‘fears of the devil’ is shown through his
belief that sexuality is a sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment