Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock's - Term Paper

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The woman, in this type of movie, becomes "isolated, glamorous, on display, sexualised" - which is how not only Miss Torso is presented in Rear Window, but also Lisa

An example of this is Jeff's relationship with Lisa. In the beginning he does not really show any interest in Lisa. He is afraid to commit to her through marriage. Lisa's display of sexuality (a form of exhibitionism accented by her insistence on clothes and jewelry) triggers this sense of fear, the symbol of his castration anxiety, in Jeff, and which he consequently has to try to channel. The female threat has to be eliminated (hence Thorwald's murdering of his wife as Jeff's dream scenario) or neutralized (e.g. By a marriage). Subsequently, Jeff's anxiety for Lisa's sexuality (and exhibitionism) can only diminish when she becomes a part of the world he looks at from his window, when she can be gazed at and controlled like the other objects in his gaze. We can therefore argue that Jeff's submissive gaze at Lisa canalises and neutralises his fear. Lisa only becomes desirable to him (sexually) when she enters the perspective of his window

Taking this analysis one step further, we see that spectators are, moreover, almost forced to identify with Jeff's male gaze objectifying the woman. However, we should also remark that the female spectatorial look works somewhat different from the male look in this situation. On the one hand, she (the female spectator) is described as a passive exhibitionist. Miss Torso is the extreme representation of this exhibitionism as a character in the movie, but Lisa's accent on clothing is also an element contributing to this exhibitionism.

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On the other hand, the female spectator is also able to identify with the gaze of the male hero, which turns her look into a masochistic look (as opposed to the male spectatorial look which is sadistic), at which point she turns into an active voyeur rather than a passive exhibitionist." (Els De Clercq, 2001)

Attempting to reiterate and reword the connection of this role in female spectatorship cannot be more thoroughly and accurately depicted than in this previous description. To the extent by which it is involved and considered, we can see the utter apparent nature it holds through the conveyance of our Rear Window characters.

Yet another interesting concept and undoubtedly present uniqueness found in the cinematic display of Rear Window is the distinct approach of the camera angles used throughout the entire filming of the movie. They convey a distinct sense of immobility and mobility through the confinement of a particular set of positions. As the audience/spectatorship is conditioned by a small number of camera placement angles, which are only elaborated upon in no more than five different occasions, a sense of familiarity is developed in accordance with the constant situated view that becomes somewhat of an entrapping feeling of imprisonment. In essence, this small array of constant camera angles helps to create the uneasy emotion of detained options with space.

In sum, the vast amount of concepts that may be derived from the psychosomatic concepts in the thrill of Rear Window prove to develop a truly exhilarating film......

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