The theory goes that because mental illness was historically seen as the work of the devil, psychology by association was considered diabolical; and in an irreverent display of defiance, psychologists adopted the trident pitchfork shape as their official symbol.
You know—taxidermy. He's referring most directly to the stuffed birds in his office. But unbeknownst to Marion, the most impressive example of Norman's taxidermy skillz is his mother's corpse, which is sitting in the window of his house. The stuffed birds, then, are a symbol of Norman's mother.
The bare bathroom and water at first represent Marion's newfound relief, but after her death they come to symbolise the theme of repression in Mother's domination of Norman. The Bates house overshadows much of the action in Psycho, but Hitchcock only offers the audience glances of the interior throughout the film.
The eye is personified in a goddess, Wadjet. Similarly, eyes in other cultures, like the Eye of Providence, represent the all-seeing God, or some else powerful deities. From this aspect, the eye of repeated occurrence in Psycho may imply the imbalance of power between the two conflicting characters.
Because the money itself is initially framed as a temptation that makes the normally trustworthy Marion become a criminal, the act of drowning the money, aka the root of all evil, signals to the audience that they are about to experience a new type of horror.
In an interview with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock explains that the birds were mostly to establish Norman's skill with taxidermy, and that birds are a somewhat of a voyeuristic species, which is characteristic of Norman Bates. If anything, they're a symbol of the dead mother, who is also "full of sawdust".
Hitchcock often used movement down the stairs to show murder or an attempt of doing so. Since in his opinion the movement of falling down represents the length, or the process, of murder, which when done on the staircase highlights the intensity of horror.
The moment when Crane smiles comes while she is in her car fleeing Phoenix, where she stole $40,000 that a drunk client, Tom Cassidy (Frank Albertson), entrusted to her.
Psycho comes from the Greek word psykho, which means mental. Although the word has long been used as a prefix in words like psychologist, the pejorative term for a psychopath has only existed since the twentieth century.
Fictional character biography
However, instead of depositing Cassidy's money in the bank, Marion, wanting to pay Sam's debts in order to marry him, impulsively goes on the run with the money.
While we might like to assume that Hitchcock shot Psycho in monochrome for artistic effect, money was the central factor. The director struggled to corral funding to adapt Robert Bloch's like-titled novel and hence, decided to proceed in black and white to cut costs.
Due to Hitchock's history-making suspense methodology, movie magic with Janet Leigh's body double, and innovative fake blood, Psycho's shower scene still stands today as one of the most influential murder scenes in the horror genre.
Origins. Alfred Hitchcock used Bosco Chocolate Syrup as fake blood in his 1960 thriller Psycho. Since the film was in black and white, the color was less important than the consistency.
Mirrors. Mirrors are used to force characters to confront themselves, to reckon with what they've done or what they believe. Hitchcock constantly frames Marion and her reflection in the same shot, yet Marion constantly refuses to look at herself in the mirror.
A study of taxidermy as it appears in Psycho (1960) may prove to be a fertile endeavour as, apart from the blatant corporeality that taxidermy suggests, we may also consider how taxidermy in Psycho (1960) becomes a metaphoric conduit that channelizes a creator's triumphs, his failures, his fears and his longings.
What Is Foreshadowing? In the Alfred Hitchcock classic, 'Psycho,' Norman Bates tells Marion Crane that his mother is 'as harmless as one of those stuffed birds. ' This comment foreshadows what the audience will later learn, which is that he has performed taxidermy on his mother's body as if she were an animal.
Clinical observations at ASH have suggested 4 possible subtypes of psychopathy: narcissistic, borderline, sadistic, and antisocial.
Although both biological and environmental factors play a role in the development of psychopathy and sociopathy, it is generally agreed that psychopathy is chiefly a genetic or inherited condition, notably related to the underdevelopment of parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and impulse control.
While Hollywood often portrays psychopaths as serial killers, not all psychopaths are that evil. Many of them exhibit psychopathic traits to a much lesser degree. In fact, you've likely encountered a few psychopaths in real life.
15+ Rating is a little extreme; fine for teenagers
Rather just a masterfully done thriller that any teen who is a movie fan should be able to enjoy without having to worry too much about content. There are a few scenes of Janet Leigh in her bra but they are not sexual and not that bad overall.
In the shower scene from the film Psycho, Marion Crane (played by Janet Leigh) screams in terror as Norman Bates tears open her shower curtain.
At the close of Psycho in 1960, Norman is identified as having murdered six people; two during the events of the movie and the four mentioned above.
That's all it took for Alfred Hitchcock to make cinematic history with Psycho's infamous shower scene, in which on-the-run office worker Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is stabbed to death in a tub by creepy motel owner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).
One of horror's most iconic portrayals of a psychiatric condition was in a film released in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho. The protagonist, Norman Bates, who commits several murders, demonstrates many features of dissociative identity disorder (DID).
In Hitchcock's classic horror film Psycho, the use of dramatic irony creates suspense as the audience recognizes the dangers of Norman Bates, while the characters that visit the Bates motel remain unaware of Norman's unstable nature.