Analyzing Evil: Norman Bates, Psycho

hello everyone and welcome to the 11th episode of analyzing evil in this video we'll be discussing one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema norman bates from the psycho franchise this is yet another character in pop culture that's loosely inspired by the murderer ed gein and if you don't know anything about ed i highly suggest you read up on him before proceeding with this video there's quite a lot of media that involves norman bates books movies tv shows you name it but today i'd like to focus solely on the first film he appears in alfred hitchcock's psycho i know that canonically norman's story does continue in psycho 2 3 and 4 and though i actually enjoy the second and the third film i feel that the original is such a classic that it deserves its own video if in the future you'd like to see a video on the sequels or perhaps even the books or the bates motel tv series feel free to let me know down in the comments this video is essentially going to be about two characters housed within the same body norman and his mother persona the commentary i make about this persona can more or less be seen as an analysis on norman's mother but not quite we can't know for certain exactly what kind of person norman's mother was from his perception of her alone so i'll be making what inference as i can from the mother half of norman to make assumptions about the person she was but it won't be anything concrete now with that out of the way let's begin when examining a character from any medium it's generally a good idea to start things off from the character's first appearance in that piece however since we're given an accurate summation of norman's mental illness at the end of the film i'd like to first cover what the psychiatrist gives us in that scene to give us a base for norman's character that we can expand upon as we review his other scenes in the film in this scene with the psychiatrist he elaborates on how norman has essentially evolved to become two different people housed in one body norman suffers from multiple personality disorder that he developed after murdering his mother and her lover 10 years prior as the psychiatrist says norman was already quote disturbed after his father's death and after living alone for so long with his mother who was a clinging and demanding woman norman develops an intense bond with his mother that results in him becoming jealous of a relationship she has with an unknown man it's this invasion by this man into their private world that causes norman to become enraged with not only the man who's intruded into their lives but with his mother who has welcomed him in and allowed this to happen resulting in him murdering them both one thing the psychiatrist mentions is norman dressing up like a woman and speaking and acting like his mother but he emphasizes that the reason for norman dressing up like this isn't because he's a transsexual and there's nothing sexual about him dressing like a woman but i do think it's possible that some sort of sexual attraction played into the murder of his mother i think it's entirely possible that given norman's age in the film his jealousy towards his mother's relationship was heightened by puberty and could have possibly developed his jealousy to be sexual in nature rather than simple possessive jealousy i assume she's one of the few if not only women he's had long-term exposure to at this point and it's not uncommon to learn that a man or woman develops sexual feelings towards members of their own family if they happen to be their only exposure to the opposite sex the sexual nature of his mother's relationship with her lover supports this as this was the tipping point for norman and i think it's quite likely that he was unbearably jealous of this man taking his mother in the way that norman himself desired to this is obviously a theory on my part but again i think it's highly likely that this was the case after the murders he is utterly alone now and being unable to bear the crime he has committed he erases it from his own mind and keeps his mother alive within himself as an alternate personality slowly over the years he succumbs more and more to the will of the mother he's created within himself and begins to act dress and speak like her using her exhumed corpse as a medium for his fantasies norman's jealousy of his mother has translated over into his mother half to cause that half to be as jealous of him as he is of her and whenever he feels attraction to another woman it enrages his mother's side and causes a never-ending struggle within himself until he rids both halves of his mind of the problem through murder just as he did with his real mother and her lover when committing these murders afterwards the psychiatrist states that norman wakes up as if from a deep sleep and proceeds to clean up his mother's crimes as a dutiful son would there's quite a lot of strong evidence for this in the scenes we see norman in throughout the film which we'll go into shortly the psychiatrist closes his speech by stating that when two personalities are housed within one mind there's always a battle and in this case the battle is over and norman has lost this conflict as well as norman's jealousy are two central dynamics to norman's character that we'll be touching on often throughout this video that about sums up what we get from the psychiatrist regarding norman from this point on i'm going to refer to norman's two sides by name norma and norman respectively now that we've established this base let's head back to our first encounter with norman to see how this ties into what we see during the film in our first encounter with norman we're given a look at a man who seems anything but a killer he's kind friendly well-mannered and seems to be the perfect gentleman he's a bit awkward stutters and is a tad jittery but other than that our first impression of norman is that he's a nice guy after he goes up to his house to prepare some dinner for marion and himself we have our first encounter with norma this scene perfectly establishes two things that are present within norman's two personas jealousy and shame norma berates her son shaming him for wanting to eat dinner with a strange woman telling him she knows exactly what men do with strangers and she will not have that happening in her own home we can hear the jealousy here but knowing that this is in fact norman speaking we also get the feeling that he is ashamed of his feelings as well from this conversation we get the sense that norma is a domineering strongly opinionated and prude figure in norman's life we also get the feeling that norman is perhaps a meek and cowardly person as norma taunts him at the end of her tirade by asking him if he has the guts to tell marion off telling him she'll have to do it if he won't in the next scene where norman invites marion to dine with him in the parlor we learned that norman is a taxidermist and a proficient one at that it makes me wonder if norman was involved in taxidermy before he began treating his mother's corpse or if he picked up an interest in the trade from the work he performs on the corpse that notion aside it's interesting to note that norman would have a hobby like this perhaps in some way the birds he stuffs are his friends keeping him company in his lonely world in his ensuing conversation with marion we see more of norman's awkward attempts at communication he's a bit jumpy and overbearing visibly causing mary and discomfort here we also get a hint that norman isn't entirely happy with his own situation musing with marion that everyone is caught in their own private traps and that he's thought of ridding himself of his mother at times he hates the illness what she's become this wording here is key initially when watching this film we assume that norman is truly speaking of his mother but knowing what we know this particular sentence can be seen as norman making a sort of cry for help lamenting the illness within himself and his hatred of it but in the same scene he goes on to defend it as well stating that his mother has never harmed anyone and she just goes a little mad sometimes this is an excellent scene for establishing the conflict between norma and norman all at once norman is fighting norma wishing that he could be rid of the mother he's created longing to return back to when she was alive and wasn't an extension of his own illness and yet he defends her in the same breath keeping his thoughts of abandoning this terrible side of him at bay with his own words it's a wonder that norman hasn't gone completely and utterly insane at this point struggling with such a dominant personality within one's own mind for going on 10 years must have been daily agony for norman in the next scene where norman peeks into marion's room we're given a myriad of emotions once he breaks his gaze from her naked body all at once we see excitement shame anger and conflict appear on his face before he resolves himself and gives in to norma's will seeking to punish himself by punishing marion for tempting him into his sinful thoughts however when he reaches his house he hesitates as he looks up to his mother's room and instead goes to the kitchen sinking into a chair and taking a moment to consider his next move his resolve falters a bit here and the conflict returns eventually being won by norma as he dresses and heads down to dispose of his temptation once the murder has been committed and norman returns to his home he cries out at the blood on his clothing indicating that when norma takes over norman is all but gone and he isn't even aware of his own actions when he's suppressed he goes on to clean up after his mother as a dutiful son would making a hasty but thorough cleanup of the crime scene in the next scene with norman the scene with arbogast we get to see more of norman as the socially awkward person he is visibly nervous and tripping over his words as he speaks with arbogast as far as this scene goes there isn't much development to his character other than its nerves but there is something he says that is quite interesting at one point in the conversation he states to arbor gas that marion may have fooled him but she didn't fool his mother this scene is similar to when norma was berating norman for having no guts though it's norman speaking this time from these two instances we get the feeling that norman has self-esteem issues and he doesn't hold himself in high regard instead depending on norma to patch up the components of himself he sees as lacking in the scene with lila sam and norman we find norman similarly disposed under pressure as he was with arbogast while sam is questioning him other than the anger rising in norman as sam pressures him we find nothing new here it's when norma descends upon lila in the fruit cellar that we're treated to something that reinforces the fact that norman disappears once norma takes over when sam grabs norman and subdues him we see norman's face contorted into a mask of pain as the wig falls from his head and his body goes limp at this moment sam has shattered the boundary between norma and norman by forcibly pulling norman out of the norma half of his mind and has rendered norman incapacitated by sam's touch alone i can't imagine the storm of emotions that must have been raging inside norman once these personalities simultaneously dissolved and melded together we're given the result of this at the end of the film after the psychiatrist's speech showing us that norman no longer remains he's now trapped in the prison that is his own mind overseen by its new and permanent warden norma bates in this iconic scene we're given more reassurance that norman had believed himself to be a weak and terrible person who committed murder and framed his poor mother in the end norman's weakness couldn't overcome the tyrannical personality he'd created within himself and he's now suffering under the weight of all that he's done and he only has himself to blame with all that we're given i believe we can sum up exactly what makes norma and norman who they are separately and together norman is a meek mild-mannered and cheerful person that develops an inferiority complex from his upbringing in a harsh world of isolation with an overbearing mother who likely sought to shelter him from the evils imagined and real that she saw in the world this isolation and mother's always right attitude transforms norman into an intensely jealous and shame-ridden man who murders his own mother with a likely mantra running through his head if i can't have her no one will his norma side is a reflection of who his mother was and the hell she brought down upon him through her prudish selfish ways constantly berating her son as inferior and weak further lessening norman's already low opinion of himself though he resents her in many ways she contains everything norman feels he lacks within himself acknowledging his mother as his better half confidence courage savvy virtue these are all the things norman projects through norma but while norman may display all of these attributes through norma he also funnels his negative emotions within himself into norma his anger his jealousy his self-loathing they all hide themselves away in norman only to re-emerge once norma takes hold now in the end we have to ask ourselves one very important question is norman bates evil or is he sick i think our answer here has to be a strong mixture of both i'm a firm believer that mental illness can be used as an explanation for why someone takes the actions they do but is not always an excuse for them we have to consider to what degree of an effect the illness has on the decisions a person makes and whether or not that we can judge that the person is ill but mostly coherent and capable of discerning right from wrong or whether they are totally controlled by their illness when committing atrocities for norman i'd have to say that the murder of his mother and her lover were most likely acts that he knew to be wrong but committed them out of his own jealousy towards his mother for his murder of marion crane arbogast and likely the two girls on the missing persons list there's more to dissect there he undoubtedly destroys lives not only those of the people he's murdered but of their loved ones as well to a lyla crane or a mrs arbogast they could be capable of forgiving norman and his illness or they could view him as a monster now norman is certainly under the control of norma when he commits these murders but when out of her control he willfully cleans up these murders and hides his crimes of course anybody who commits a crime doesn't want to get caught but i think this shows a lack of remorse and a reinforcement of his behavior rather than a step in the right direction it's not as if norman tries to do away with his mother's side once he's committed these crimes or even tries to seek help though he may long to at times it could be though that norman is incapable of healing himself and this illness is something he has to suffer through no matter what he tries to do i think what we need to keep in mind when asking ourselves this question though is the fact that yes norman lived in a world of isolation with an overbearing mother but does that excuse him from murdering his own mother and her lover essentially placing the cause of his own illness on his own shoulders from all were given we know norman was jealous of his mother before he murdered her jealousy and the kind of upbringing he has obviously have effects on one's mental health but i'm sure there are many people who have found themselves in a similar situation to norman who have managed to not murder their mothers now we could go on about the possible illnesses he may have suffered before he murdered his mother that could potentially provide rationale for why he killed her could he be schizophrenic as his real world inspiration was claimed to have been we don't know we do know that he killed her though and with the information were presented i feel confident in stating that he did it willingly this act is evil if you can discern right from wrong and you choose wrong there is where you will find evil now whether or not norman's later murders can be written off as unwilling results of mental illness depends upon one question that question being is norman's mental illness a viable excuse for him being unable to control his evil actions considering his illness was born out of an evil action that he himself committed willingly my answer to you for that is maybe this is not so cut and dry as i believe his murder of his mother and her lover is honestly i'm cut down the middle on this one without knowing every little detail of what went on in his mind all those years it's difficult for me to make a decision this is where i'd like some input from all of you the viewers is he evil tragic unable to control his actions all of the above you let me know i'd love to hear others perspectives on him and discuss those perspectives with you at the very least i can say that norman makes for a terrifying antagonist if not a villain and anthony perkins performance along with alfred hitchcock's directing makes norman bates one of the most memorable and fascinating characters to ever appear in cinema thank you all for tuning in to this installment of analyzing evil please let me know what your thoughts are of this video down in the comments below and if you liked the video and wish to see more of my content feel free to subscribe to see more episodes of analyzing evil appearing in your feed for occasional updates on the channel you can also follow me on twitter at the violi or by clicking the link in the description once again thanks for watching and i'll be seeing you soon you

Channel: The Vile Eye

Views: 472,082

Keywords: Psycho, Norman Bates, Bates Motel, Alfred Hitchcock, Horror, Norma Bates

Id: 49QFFiPb9VQ

Length: 16min 16sec (976 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 08 2020