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Psychoanalysis through Rear Window

Film, Philosophy, Writing

Psychoanalysis through Rear Window
            Since the creation of film there have been film theory and film theorists. Each theorist and their theory attempt to explain and further understand the aspects of film and certain films themselves. Each theory focuses on a different aspect of cinema; feminist theory hypothesize the role, history and representation of women in films, auteur theory speculates the different authors and their involvement or participation within that film, genre theory conjectures that films follow a certain structure and have parallel features, and psychoanalytic theory theorizes the psychological impact that films have and involve with the human psyche. Each film theory has a distinct approach and explanation of cinema by using specific films and scene examples to support their theories. These studies through film allow each to explore the deeper or sub-consciousness implication of the film and filmmaker. One filmmaker in particular whose films have been studied, critiqued and analyzed through various film theories is Alfred Hitchcock. His films are classic analytical studied films because of their complexity, ingenuity and diversity from other classical Hollywood films and filmmakers. One of his classic films is Rear Window, starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Rear Window is a complex film with many film devices and factors that allow it to have a deeper assessment and intention. The appropriate and suitable theory to apply, critique and explicate this film’s subversive meanings is by using psychoanalysis. The scene in which the theory is best emphasized is the confrontation scene towards the end of the film. To use this theory and apply it to the scene and the film it is essential to understand the initial theorists, Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, whose research and studies have generated the psychoanalytic film theory. More specifically by applying Freud’s theories, the pleasure principle and Oedipus complex to the main character of L.B. Jefferies, played by Jimmy Stewart, it allows the film and narrative to expand to become a multifaceted composition. Using one of Jacques Lacan’s theories, the mirror stage, we can recognize the Jefferies’ development significance and importance of his relation with his world in the scene. The confrontation scene, between the protagonist and antagonist, displays the theories that Lacan and Freud generated. Before analyzing through psychoanalysis it is best to know the basic narrative of Rear Window first and the scene in discussion.
The film centers on the voyeurism of the main character L.B. Jefferies played by Jimmy Stewart. Jefferies, a professional photographer, sustained a leg injury during a photo shot and is confined to a wheelchair. Frustrated by his immobility and suffering from boredom, Jefferies begins to watch through his window the people and events that unfold in the adjacent apartments and surroundings. Jefferies’ girlfriend Lisa Carol Fremont and the nurse Stella are his only occasional visitors and connection to the outside world. Lisa is a superficial woman who Jefferies does not find interesting and who does not adhere to his ideal women. Stella is the insurance company nurse who takes care of Jefferies and reacts to Jefferies spying by stating “we’ve become a race of peeping toms”. Jefferies continues to spy on his neighbors, such as the frustrated songwriter, the yearning lover Ms. Lonely-hearts, the flexible dancer Miss Torso, the newly wed couple, and the bickering married couple the Thorwalds. Over time Jefferies views events that makes him suspect Mr. Thorwald has murdered his wife. Not actually witnessing the murder but placing events and assumptions together Jefferies informs detective Doyle of his hypothesis. Jefferies, being ignored by Doyle as being imaginative and not knowing enough about homicides, becomes obsessed with watching Mr. Thorwald. His obsession becomes so controlling that he involves Lisa and Stella. Jefferies realizes that Thorwald must be exposed so Lisa jumps to this opportunity in order to impress Jefferies. Thorwald catches Lisa in his apartment to collecting evidence, Mrs. Thorwald’s wedding ring, but she is rescued by the police whom Jefferies called. This marks the beginning of the confrontation scene when Jefferies is finally noticed by Thorwald. After Lisa points out the wedding ring on her finger Thorwald notices her actions and finally notices Jefferies spying. Jefferies panics and tells Stella to turn out the lights. Jefferies and his apartment are now in darkness throughout the scene. Stella is sent by Jefferies to bail out Lisa and at this point has his back to the window, failing to notice Thorwald leaving his apartment. Jefferies then has a phone conversation with Doyle convincing him to Thorwald being a murderer. Afterwards he looks out at Thorwald’s apartment and notices he’s gone. The phone rings and he answers it believing it to be Doyle, but it is silent. Once Jefferies realizes it is probably Thorwald, he hangs up but is petrified. He scopes out the window searching for any sign of Thorwald but fails to find him. Then a noise from the other side of Jefferies’ apartment takes Jefferies’ attention. He slowly wheels his chair towards the door, through a high angle shot. As the noises, now known by Jefferies as footsteps, get louder Jefferies attempts to hide and leave his wheelchair. The footsteps stop for a moment and the lights from the other side of the door darken. Failing to hide, Jefferies finds a flashbulb and decides to use it as a defense. He then wheels back to the window and faces the door. The footsteps finally stop, and the entire scene is dark. Thorwald opens the door and enters the room, but we only can see his eyes and the rest is dark. Then we see Jefferies from Thorwald's point of view, only we cannot see his face because of the darkness. Then a reverse long shot back to Thorwald who has now become like Jefferies completely in the darkness. Thorwald then begins to confront Jefferies asking, “What do you want from me?”, and continues to question Jefferies until he asks for the wedding ring. Jefferies tells him he can’t get it back, and with that knowledge Thorwald begins to approach Jefferies. Once this happens Jefferies begins to use the flashbulbs for a defense. We can now Jefferies face in the light, but can only see Thorwald when the bulbs go off. Each time a bulb goes off Jefferies looks out the window and we get a close up of Thorwald's eyes and them a point of view shot of the effect of the flashbulb. Once Jefferies sees Lisa and Doyle out the window he calls for them and Thorwald begins to physically attack Jefferies. Both are now in the light and struggle for awhile. Thorwald finally gets Jefferies out the window and continues to struggle to push him down. Jefferies finally falls from the window but his fall is softened by two police officers. This scene can be analyzed through psychoanalysis theory starting with the theories of Sigmund Freud.
Sigmund Freud’s theory includes the id, ego and superego of the human psyche. This theory involves these three divisions that Freud believes control and meditates our consciousness with our sub-consciousness. The id is the Freud’s theory of the pleasure principle. This composes the primitive desires of pleasure that are innate in our psyche. These primitive needs of the id have no ability to delay gratification; this is where the second division of the psyche comes into effect. The second division in the human psyche is the ego. The ego is the division of the psyche that meditates between the id, superego and reality. When there is conflict between the id and reality or society’s morals, norms and taboos the ego uses defense mechanisms. The ego’s main function is to create a balance between the primitive drives of the id with the superego. It allows the pleasure principle’s of the id to be fulfilled only when they do not compromise the superego’s responsibility and principles. The superego’s function is the opposite of the id; its function is to act as the conscience, maintaining our sense of morality and the prohibition of taboos. According to Freud the superego is a representative internalization of the father figure and cultural norms, system and conventions. The super ego functions in coordination with the norms and moral culture, but when this coordination is broken then we feel guilty. The superego is developed during the closure of another of Freud’s theory, the Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex is Sigmund Freud’s observation of children’s neurotic love behavior towards their parent of the opposite sex. According to Freud the child becomes aware of the difference between themselves and their parent and represses that desire and accepts the authority of the social norm or in the case of a male child the authority of the father. By successfully repressing the desire the child develops normally in society and reciprocates the authority. In the Oedipus complex the male is the active subject who overcomes a crisis, approved by the father and regains and exhibits the social norms through heterosexual commitment. Sigmund Freud’s theories can be applied to Rear Window to further explore the deeper assessment of the main character L.B. Jefferies.
Freud’s id, ego, and superego theory, Oedipus complex can be applied to the main character L.B. Jefferies in the scene. Jefferies id or pleasure is his pleasure in spying on the people and events that unfold through his window. Jefferies basic desire or satisflying need, to be voyeuristic, is innate to him because of his occupation as a photographer. He has the unconscious need to observe happenings throughout the film. To apply the second division, the ego, is to involve other characters. It seems as if Jefferies himself has no ego to meditate between his id, voyeuristic, and his superego, the taboo of spying. The ego in Jefferies is Lisa, detective Doyle and Stella. They, at first detest Jefferies spying but as the film progresses they become involved with Jefferies spying. It is as if Jefferies develops an ego but it is overtaken or dismissed by his voyeurism or id. But Jefferies redevelops his ego later on the in the film along with his superego. The superego in Jefferies can only be developed when he realizes the morality of his spying. This is addressed in the confrontation scene of the film. It can be said that Jefferies becomes conscience of his id and that his superego is realized when Jefferies becomes aware of his guilt of spying. He realizes that Thorwald notices his spying and Jefferies immediately realizes that it is taboo to spy and thus feels guilty. Jefferies displays this guilt in the scene by trying to hide from Thorwald. Jefferies pleasure principle can be seen in the film but only as an external concept, we can not give Jefferies credit for developing or recognizes his ego and superego without the outside interference of Thorwald. The Oedipus complex allows a complicated analysis of Jefferies internal and his taboo of spying. Freud’s Oedipus complex can be seen in the scene by the Jefferies character but not as well as the pleasure principle. In the Oedipus complex the child is in love with the parent of the opposite sex. Since in the film there is no appearance or reference to Jefferies’ mother this aspect of the complex is void. There is no character in the film that can be applied but there is a possibility that Jefferies love affair isn’t with a character but with his voyeurism. Jefferies has a desire to spy and does so even though these desires are not accepted and should be repressed. Jefferies love affair is with an unaccepted action, spying, as is having a love affair with the parent of the opposite sex. This can be summed up by Laura Mulvey’s idea of voyeurism:
At the extreme, it [voyeurism] can become fixated into a perversion, producing obsessive voyeurs and Peeping Toms, whose only sexual satisfaction can come from watching, in an active controlling sense, an objectified other (839).
In addition Jefferies notices a difference with the world outside the window, having mobile people free of movement, and himself, him being confined to a wheelchair and his apartment. Both of these taboos, spying and having a love affair with the parent, in society are desires that require repression in order for a normal development. With this idea we can portray Jefferies’ spying and the world in which he spies on as his taboo love affair. Using this it can be seen that Thorwald is the parent that Jefferies develops a hatred for and wishes to remove from his world. Thorwald is the conflict in Jefferies spying and world because he disrupts the beauty of Jefferies’ world and also is the authoritative figure that can become aware of Jefferies’ spying and stop it. Thorwald, as an authoritative and father figure, is the only character capable of halting Jefferies spying and does so in the scene. When Jefferies and Thorwald made direct eye contact this is where Jefferies begins his normal development. Jefferies is caught off guard and realizes his taboo has been noticed and will be dealt with by the authoritative figure, Thorwald. While Jefferies is defending himself with the flashbulbs he continues to look out the window trying to obtain his love of voyeurism. When Thorwald attacks Jefferies and is thrown out the window this can be seen as the point where Jefferies’ taboo is addressed and he is forced to submit to the laws of society. Jefferies is forced into society and its social norms by Thorwald and Jefferies thus becomes the authoritative figure in the end with his back towards the window; his need to spy is repressed, he accepts the social norms and is with Lisa his new love affair. Tania Modleski describes the film’s end:
            By the end of the film Jeff has supposedly learned his lesson and “has realized the corollary psychic costs of both voyeurism and solitude”: he is now ready for the marriage he has all along resisted and for the mature sexual relation that this implies (71).
Jefferies’ finally develops into an adult because of his child like nature being addressed and destroyed by Thorwald by being confronted, questioned and punished. Using the Oedipus complex it is difficult to apply to the film and scene without some imagination. Lacan’s theories seem to correspond and analyze the film and scene with more direct associations.
Jacques Lacan is another theorist that psychoanalyst film theory is based on. Lacan’s theories were based upon the foundations of Freud’s psychoanalytic work of the human psyche. The major concept that Jacques Lacan contributes to psychoanalysis is the mirror phase. The mirror phase is Lacan’s theory of self-identification of the individual through three stages. This phase begins will the stage when the human being born into the world premature by means of uncoordinated motor skills, senseless senses, disjointed joints and no differentiation between self and other. The child is born with no sense of self separate from other, identity and without an ego. Everything to the child is of one unified world with no flaws or single identification. The second stage is when the child is faced with an image of itself. When the child sees this image the child becomes aware of itself and its separation from the other. The child recognizes itself in the mirror and creates an ego or self identification. By recognizing itself in the mirror the child realizes the image as a more perfect self, without flaws that the actual self exhibits. With the creation of the ego the child views the self to be separate from the image but only exists as a lack of such perfection. This new knowledge drives the child to be in continuing pursuit to become complete or whole as the mirror image. The mirror phase is the basic creation of the human psyche to construct the ability to identify with the self as well as the world. But this developing phase can create the human psyche to misrecognize the self and create an alienated self. This theory can be applied to the scene in Rear Window with parallel results.
            Jacques Lacan’s mirror phase can be applied to the film by displaying the L.B. Jefferies progression through the mirror phase with the end being the confrontation scene. In the beginning of the film Jefferies is much like the infant child in the first stage of the mirror phase but very briefly. The first scene in which we see Jefferies he is facing away from the window and outside world. He is unaware of the world and that he is separate from. Also like the infant child, Jefferies lacks coordinated motor skills due to his leg in a cast. The second stage of the mirror phase can be viewed throughout most of the film. Once Jefferies realizes the world outside the window, he becomes fixated with it. He watches each apartment, event and its occupants but he is disconnected with this world. Jefferies recognizes the world as perfect and recognizes his flaws more, being confined to a wheelchair. Jefferies becomes a spectator who invests his time in the image, much like the child viewing their own mirror image. Each occupant and event that is in this outside world is a reflection of the Jefferies’ qualities, flaws and his situation. These reflections are unaware to Jefferies because he becomes too fixated on the image that he misrecognizes it as only an image and not reality. He is trapped in the mirror stage, without identifying self, ego or him existing as lacking from the image. Jefferies only enters or is forced to enter the final stage of the mirror phase when he becomes aware of himself, the other and the mirror image as reality. This can be seen in the confrontation scene when he is discovered spying on by Lars Thorwald. The exact moment is after Lisa is taken away from the police and Thorwald and Jefferies finally see eye to eye from across the apartments. Jefferies has become aware of the image as being reality or as Lacan’s other when he is looked at by Thorwald. The mirror becomes reality to Jefferies at this point. Jefferies finally recognizes the difference between his ‘image’ and reality and this is where Jefferies develops an ego. This stage continues and further develops when Thorwald enters Jefferies apartment and therefore enters Jefferies’ ‘world’. Jefferies is forced by an outside force, Thorwald, to identify himself as an alienated self that is part of the same world that he became fixated throughout the film. Once Jefferies realizes that Thorwald is an ‘other’ and that he is coming for him, Jefferies begins to develop as an infant child does. Jefferies attempts to walk but due to his cast cannot. He also develops his senses by trying to hide, but all his attempts fail because he became so fixated upon his image that his self image never displayed the flaws that he truly has and was never in pursuit of what he lacked from the image (mobility and senses). He also develops his sense of sound by noticing the sounds of the footsteps. Once Thorwald reaches Jefferies he becomes truly aware of Thorwald as the other separate from himself. Once Jefferies identifies the other he tries to defend himself because he fears it. Robin Wood describes Jefferies defense as “The flashbulbs become symbolic: Jefferies camera is his means of keeping life (which includes knowledge of himself) at a distance, of remaining a spectator, of preserving his detachment” (105). During the scene Thorwald’s attacks on Jefferies can be seen as punishment for Jefferies because of his fixation on the image, for not developing an ego and misrecognizing his lack from the image. The mirror phase theory by Jacques Lacan allows further analysis and development of Rear Window’s character L.B. Jefferies as well as a further understanding of psychoanalysis in film theory.
Every film theory has a case and point that is made. Psychoanalysis film theory is a useful tool when applied to a film to expose a deeper meaning and association with the human psyche. The scene in Rear Window and its main character L.B. Jefferies can be analyzed through use of this theory to understand the actions, events and substance of the film. Sigmund Freud theories allows us to understand and recognize Jefferies mental psyche and Jacques Lacan’s theories further allow us to view Jefferies mental development and voyeurism in the film. With these theories the scene and character become more, they become an idea. Each theorist and theories agree to the application and realization of psychoanalysis to the scene in the film Rear Window.

Bibliography

Modleski, Tania. The Women Who Knew Too Much. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism. 6 th ed. Leo Braudy and
Marshall Cohen., ed. Oxford: New York, 2004. 837-848.

Wood, Robin. Hitchcock’s Films Revisited. New York: Columbia, 2002.