Our Bodies Film Analysis

While the woman possesses to-be-looked-at-ness, men are portrayed as bearers of the look. The man’s role between the spectacle and narrative gives him the ability to control the film and be the character to move the story forward. As the audience identifies with the male spectator in the film, they indulge in their perspective, giving that male control of what is perceived as an object, and in the case of a woman, how that woman is periodically portrayed. Laura Mulvey suggests that the female figure also has a deeper problem. “Her lack of a penis, implying a threat of castration and hence unpleasure.” The sexual difference between male and female is what makes the woman an icon, giving the male a gaze of something foreign to them, provoking

The shot changes to Marion in a bra taking her clothes off while the edges of the peep hole are still seen. This shot makes the audience aware of their senses by viewing in Norman’s perspective and becoming the objectifying scopophiliac. Marion removing her clothes illustrates sexuality to the audience, while at the same time it suggests vulnerability to women for the next scene to follow. Women under the male gaze are considered sexy and provoking a man’s desire while they undress, but at the same time this shot has the same actions make a women vulnerable and weaker to a man. The next shot is a close up of Norman’s eye looking through the hole. Hitchcock not only has a peeping tom moment in his film, he shows the audience it is happening. While there have been many voyeuristic scenes throughout this film, the audience was not focused on the voyeurism and scopophilia that Laura Mulvey discusses, however in these scene they are shown it

When they arrive, we see Norman watching them out of his window in his house. As he greets them and sets them up with the room, Sam demands to sign in and questions the oddity that Norman did not charge them. They decide that Sam was going to distract Norman while Lila sneaks into the house to find answers. Sam and Norman talk and the sternness Sam has with Norman intimidates him and makes him vulnerable and emasculated, while at the same time we see shots of Lila in his room and all of his feminine like materials. After clubbing Sam over the head he runs to the house to find Lila in the basement who just discovered the skeleton of the mother. We now see Norman dressed as the mother with a wig and dress while holding a similar knife he murdered Marion with, however Sam was able to stop him. From the murder scene to the last scene, Norman has disintegrated from the bearer of the look, to the object of the male gaze. His hysteria increases more and more as the film continues, as well as his feminine like qualities. These actions symbolize how he continued to lose his personality in his head to his mother’s throughout the film. His hysteria and split personalities made him the subject to watch, and focused on