By positioning Norman as a transgender character, my aim is to highlight his gender identity, rather than his sexuality, as it is constructed in Psycho. Transgender encompasses “many gender identities of those who do not identify or exclusively identify with their sex assigned at birth” (“LGBTQ+”). Thus, I use the term transgender, which more specifically refers to gender identity. However, the term queer is too broad, conflating gender and sexuality within one terminology.
not fitting into current understandings of normative straightness” (157).
“Queer” functions as a broad umbrella term meaning someone who is “not clearly identified as homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, while also. Norman Bates: Disruptive ForceĪlexander Doty argues that understanding Norman through a queer lens frees him from binary constructs. Mainly, I will argue that Lila and the psychiatrist function to normalize Norman and to contain his non-normativity. Using film studies and queer studies, I will examine Norman as a transgender character, Lila as an embodiment of the Law, and the psychiatrist at the end as a repressing force.
#PSYCHO 1998 BACK MOVIE#
In this article, I will argue that Psycho promotes a transphobic rendering of its main villain, Norman Bates, in order to understand how the movie tries to contain Norman’s transgender identity. Norman’s gender bending, expressed by dressing and living as his mother, threatens gender binaries and thus creates a veritable monster. In Psycho, Norman Bates is portrayed as the weakling son, overpowered by his mother, who murders people. Philips further argues that this film perpetuates the fear and demonization of transsexuality in our cultural imaginary by using it as stand-in for “castration, madness, murder and monstrosity” (17 85). According to John Phillips, Psycho “ the original model of the mentally disturbed cross-dressed murderer” (87) by equating cross-dressing with a form of mental illness so severe that its only logical manifestation is violence. While this movie was the precursor of many trends, such as the slasher horror genre, it has not escaped controversy. At the end, it is revealed that Norman dresses up as his mother and kills the women who happen to stay at the motel. Lila Crane (Vera Miles) carries out the investigation into her sister Marion’s disappearance. Marion is soon brutally murdered by the Mother in the famous shower scene. While on the run, she stops at the eerie Bates Motel, where she meets Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), its lonely keeper. In the film, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) steals forty thousand dollars in order to marry her lover, Sam Loomis (John Gavin). Whether in the field of film studies, psychoanalysis or queer studies, Psycho has proven to lend itself to various frameworks of analysis. One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most well-known movies, Psycho (1960) continues to instigate debate and academic scholarship. In this article, I will argue that Psycho promotes a transphobic rendering of its main villain, Norman Bates, in order to understand how the movie tries to contain Norman’s transgender identity. Norman’s gender bending, expressed by dressing and living as his mother, threatens gender binaries, and thus creates a veritable monster. According to John Phillips, Psycho “ the original model of the mentally disturbed cross-dressed murderer” (87) by equating cross-dressing with a form of mental illness so severe that its only logical manifestation is violence. One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most well-known movies, Psycho (1960) continues to instigate debate and academic scholarship.
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