Psychoanalysisthrough Rear Window
Sincethe creation of film there have been film theory and film theorists. Eachtheorist and their theory attempt to explain and further understand the aspectsof film and certain films themselves. Each theory focuses on a different aspectof cinema; feminist theory hypothesize the role, history and representation ofwomen in films, auteur theory speculates the different authors and theirinvolvement or participation within that film, genre theory conjectures thatfilms follow a certain structure and have parallel features, and psychoanalytictheory theorizes the psychological impact that films have and involve with thehuman psyche. Each film theory has a distinct approach and explanation ofcinema by using specific films and scene examples to support their theories.These studies through film allow each to explore the deeper or sub-consciousnessimplication of the film and filmmaker. One filmmaker in particular whose filmshave been studied, critiqued and analyzed through various film theories isAlfred Hitchcock. His films are classic analytical studied films because oftheir complexity, ingenuity and diversity from other classical Hollywood filmsand filmmakers. One of his classic films is RearWindow, starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Rear Window is a complex film with many film devices and factorsthat 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 usingpsychoanalysis. The scene in which the theory is best emphasized is theconfrontation scene towards the end of the film. To use this theory and applyit to the scene and the film it is essential to understand the initialtheorists, Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, whose research and studies have generatedthe 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 amultifaceted composition. Using one of Jacques Lacan’s theories, the mirrorstage, we can recognize the Jefferies’ development significance and importance ofhis relation with his world in the scene. The confrontation scene, between theprotagonist and antagonist, displays the theories that Lacan and Freud generated.Before analyzing through psychoanalysis it is best to know the basic narrativeof Rear Window first and the scene indiscussion.
The film centerson 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 towatch through his window the people and events that unfold in the adjacent apartmentsand surroundings. Jefferies’ girlfriend Lisa Carol Fremont and the nurse Stellaare his only occasional visitors and connection to the outside world. Lisa is asuperficial woman who Jefferies does not find interesting and who does not adhereto his ideal women. Stella is the insurance company nurse who takes care ofJefferies and reacts to Jefferies spying by stating “we’ve become a race ofpeeping toms”. Jefferies continues to spy on his neighbors, such as thefrustrated songwriter, the yearning lover Ms. Lonely-hearts, the flexibledancer Miss Torso, the newly wed couple, and the bickering married couple theThorwalds. Over time Jefferies views events that makes him suspect Mr. Thorwaldhas murdered his wife. Not actually witnessing the murder but placing eventsand assumptions together Jefferies informs detective Doyle of his hypothesis.Jefferies, being ignored by Doyle as being imaginative and not knowing enoughabout homicides, becomes obsessed with watching Mr. Thorwald. His obsessionbecomes so controlling that he involves Lisa and Stella. Jefferies realizes thatThorwald must be exposed so Lisa jumps to this opportunity in order to impressJefferies. 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 finallynoticed by Thorwald. After Lisa points out the wedding ring on her fingerThorwald notices her actions and finally notices Jefferies spying. Jefferiespanics and tells Stella to turn out the lights. Jefferies and his apartment arenow in darkness throughout the scene. Stella is sent by Jefferies to bail outLisa and at this point has his back to the window, failing to notice Thorwaldleaving his apartment. Jefferies then has a phone conversation with Doyleconvincing him to Thorwald being a murderer. Afterwards he looks out atThorwald’s apartment and notices he’s gone. The phone rings and he answers itbelieving it to be Doyle, but it is silent. Once Jefferies realizes it isprobably Thorwald, he hangs up but is petrified. He scopes out the windowsearching for any sign of Thorwald but fails to find him. Then a noise from theother side of Jefferies’ apartment takes Jefferies’ attention. He slowly wheelshis chair towards the door, through a high angle shot. As the noises, now knownby Jefferies as footsteps, get louder Jefferies attempts to hide and leave hiswheelchair. The footsteps stop for a moment and the lights from the other sideof the door darken. Failing to hide, Jefferies finds a flashbulb and decides touse it as a defense. He then wheels back to the window and faces the door. Thefootsteps finally stop, and the entire scene is dark. Thorwald opens the doorand enters the room, but we only can see his eyes and the rest is dark. Then wesee Jefferies from Thorwald's point of view, only we cannot see his facebecause of the darkness. Then a reverse long shot back to Thorwald who has nowbecome like Jefferies completely in the darkness. Thorwald then begins toconfront Jefferies asking, “What do you want from me?”, and continues toquestion Jefferies until he asks for the wedding ring. Jefferies tells him hecan’t get it back, and with that knowledge Thorwald begins to approachJefferies. Once this happens Jefferies begins to use the flashbulbs for adefense. We can now Jefferies face in the light, but can only see Thorwald whenthe bulbs go off. Each time a bulb goes off Jefferies looks out the window andwe get a close up of Thorwald's eyes and them a point of view shot of theeffect of the flashbulb. Once Jefferies sees Lisa and Doyle out the window hecalls for them and Thorwald begins to physically attack Jefferies. Both are nowin the light and struggle for awhile. Thorwald finally gets Jefferies out thewindow and continues to struggle to push him down. Jefferies finally falls fromthe window but his fall is softened by two police officers. This scene can beanalyzed through psychoanalysis theory starting with the theories of SigmundFreud.
Sigmund Freud’s theory includes the id, ego andsuperego of the human psyche. This theory involves these three divisions thatFreud believes control and meditates our consciousness with oursub-consciousness. The id is the Freud’s theory of the pleasure principle. Thiscomposes the primitive desires of pleasure that are innate in our psyche. Theseprimitive needs of the id have no ability to delay gratification; this is wherethe second division of the psyche comes into effect. The second division in the human psyche is theego. The ego is the division of the psyche that meditates between the id, superegoand reality. When there is conflict between the id and reality or society’smorals, norms and taboos the ego uses defense mechanisms. The ego’s main function is to create a balancebetween the primitive drives of the id with the superego. It allows thepleasure principle’s of the id to be fulfilled only when they do not compromisethe superego’s responsibility and principles. The superego’s function is the oppositeof the id; its function is to act as the conscience, maintaining our sense ofmorality and the prohibition of taboos. According to Freud the superego is a representativeinternalization of the father figure and cultural norms, system andconventions. The super ego functions in coordination with the norms and moralculture, but when this coordination is broken then we feel guilty. The superegois developed during the closure of another of Freud’s theory, the Oedipuscomplex. The Oedipus complex is Sigmund Freud’s observation ofchildren’s neurotic love behavior towards their parent of the opposite sex. Accordingto Freud the child becomes aware of the difference between themselves and theirparent and represses that desire and accepts the authority of the social normor in the case of a male child the authority of the father. By successfullyrepressing the desire the child develops normally in society and reciprocatesthe authority. In the Oedipus complex the male is the active subject whoovercomes a crisis, approved by the father and regains and exhibits the socialnorms through heterosexual commitment. Sigmund Freud’s theories can be appliedto Rear Window to further explore thedeeper 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 thepeople and events that unfold through his window. Jefferies basic desire orsatisflying need, to be voyeuristic, is innate to him because of his occupationas a photographer. He has the unconscious need to observe happenings throughoutthe film. To apply the second division, the ego, is to involve othercharacters. It seems as if Jefferies himself has no ego to meditate between hisid, voyeuristic, and his superego, the taboo of spying. The ego in Jefferies isLisa, detective Doyle and Stella. They, at first detest Jefferies spying but asthe film progresses they become involved with Jefferies spying. It is as ifJefferies develops an ego but it is overtaken or dismissed by his voyeurism orid. But Jefferies redevelops his ego later on the in the film along with hissuperego. The superego in Jefferies can only be developed when he realizes themorality of his spying. This is addressed in the confrontation scene of thefilm. It can be said that Jefferies becomes conscience of his id and that hissuperego is realized when Jefferies becomes aware of his guilt of spying. Herealizes that Thorwald notices his spying and Jefferies immediately realizesthat it is taboo to spy and thus feels guilty. Jefferies displays this guilt inthe scene by trying to hide from Thorwald. Jefferies pleasure principle can be seen inthe film but only as an external concept, we can not give Jefferies credit fordeveloping or recognizes his ego and superego without the outside interferenceof Thorwald. The Oedipus complex allows a complicated analysis of Jefferiesinternal and his taboo of spying. Freud’s Oedipus complex can be seen in thescene by the Jefferies character but not as well as the pleasure principle. Inthe 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 thisaspect of the complex is void. There is no character in the film that can beapplied but there is a possibility that Jefferies love affair isn’t with acharacter but with his voyeurism. Jefferies has a desire to spy and does soeven though these desires are not accepted and should be repressed. Jefferieslove affair is with an unaccepted action, spying, as is having a love affairwith the parent of the opposite sex. This can be summed up by Laura Mulvey’s ideaof voyeurism:
At the extreme, it [voyeurism] canbecome fixated into a perversion, producing obsessive voyeurs and Peeping Toms,whose only sexual satisfaction can come from watching, in an active controllingsense, an objectified other (839).
In addition Jefferies notices a differencewith the world outside the window, having mobile people free of movement, andhimself, 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 thatrequire repression in order for a normal development. With this idea we canportray Jefferies’ spying and the world in which he spies on as his taboo loveaffair. Using this it can be seen that Thorwald is the parent that Jefferiesdevelops a hatred for and wishes to remove from his world. Thorwald is theconflict 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 theonly character capable of halting Jefferies spying and does so in the scene. WhenJefferies and Thorwald made direct eye contact this is where Jefferies beginshis normal development. Jefferies is caught off guard and realizes his taboohas been noticed and will be dealt with by the authoritative figure, Thorwald.While Jefferies is defending himself with the flashbulbs he continues to lookout the window trying to obtain his love of voyeurism. When Thorwald attacksJefferies and is thrown out the window this can be seen as the point whereJefferies’ taboo is addressed and he is forced to submit to the laws ofsociety. Jefferies is forced into society and its social norms by Thorwald andJefferies thus becomes the authoritative figure in the end with his backtowards the window; his need to spy is repressed, he accepts the social normsand is with Lisa his new love affair. Tania Modleski describes the film’s end:
Bythe end of the film Jeff has supposedly learned his lesson and “has realizedthe corollary psychic costs of both voyeurism and solitude”: he is now readyfor the marriage he has all along resisted and for the mature sexual relationthat this implies (71).
Jefferies’ finally develops into an adult because of his child like naturebeing addressed and destroyed by Thorwald by being confronted, questioned andpunished. Using the Oedipus complex it is difficult to apply to the filmand scene without some imagination. Lacan’s theories seem to correspond andanalyze the film and scene with more direct associations.
Jacques Lacan isanother theorist that psychoanalyst film theory is based on. Lacan’s theorieswere based upon the foundations of Freud’s psychoanalytic work of the humanpsyche. The major concept that Jacques Lacan contributes to psychoanalysis isthe mirror phase. The mirror phase is Lacan’s theory of self-identification ofthe individual through three stages. This phase begins will the stage when thehuman being born into the world premature by means of uncoordinated motorskills, senseless senses, disjointed joints and no differentiation between selfand 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 worldwith no flaws or single identification. The second stage is when the child isfaced with an image of itself. When the child sees this image the child becomesaware of itself and its separation from the other. The child recognizes itselfin the mirror and creates an ego or self identification. By recognizing itself inthe mirror the child realizes the image as a more perfect self, without flawsthat the actual self exhibits. With the creation of the ego the child views theself 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 becomecomplete or whole as the mirror image. The mirror phase is the basic creationof the human psyche to construct the ability to identify with the self as wellas the world. But this developing phase can create the human psyche tomisrecognize the self and create an alienated self. This theory can be appliedto the scene in Rear Window withparallel results.
JacquesLacan’s mirror phase can be applied to the film by displaying the L.B.Jefferies progression through the mirror phase with the end being theconfrontation scene. In the beginning of the film Jefferies is much like theinfant child in the first stage of the mirror phase but very briefly. The firstscene in which we see Jefferies he is facing away from the window and outsideworld. He is unaware of the world and that he is separate from. Also like theinfant child, Jefferies lacks coordinated motor skills due to his leg in acast. The second stage of the mirror phase can be viewed throughout most of thefilm. Once Jefferies realizes the world outside the window, he becomes fixatedwith it. He watches each apartment, event and its occupants but he isdisconnected with this world. Jefferies recognizes the world as perfect andrecognizes his flaws more, being confined to a wheelchair. Jefferies becomes aspectator who invests his time in the image, much like the child viewing theirown mirror image. Each occupant and event that is in this outside world is areflection of the Jefferies’ qualities, flaws and his situation. Thesereflections are unaware to Jefferies because he becomes too fixated on theimage that he misrecognizes it as only an image and not reality. He is trappedin the mirror stage, without identifying self, ego or him existing as lackingfrom the image. Jefferies only enters or is forced to enter the final stage ofthe mirror phase when he becomes aware of himself, the other and the mirrorimage as reality. This can be seen in the confrontation scene when he isdiscovered spying on by LarsThorwald. The exact moment is after Lisa is taken away from the policeand Thorwald andJefferies finally see eye to eye from across the apartments. Jefferies hasbecome aware of the image as being reality or as Lacan’s other when he islooked at by Thorwald. Themirror becomes reality to Jefferies at this point. Jefferies finally recognizesthe difference between his ‘image’ and reality and this is where Jefferiesdevelops an ego. This stage continues and further develops when Thorwald enters Jefferiesapartment and therefore enters Jefferies’ ‘world’. Jefferies is forced by anoutside force, Thorwald, toidentify himself as an alienated self that is part of the same world that hebecame 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 childdoes. Jefferies attempts to walk but due to his cast cannot. He also developshis senses by trying to hide, but all his attempts fail because he became sofixated upon his image that his self image never displayed the flaws that hetruly has and was never in pursuit of what he lacked from the image (mobilityand senses). He also develops his sense of sound by noticing the sounds of thefootsteps. Once Thorwald reaches Jefferies he becomes truly aware of Thorwald as the otherseparate from himself. Once Jefferies identifies the other he tries to defendhimself because he fears it. RobinWood describes Jefferies defense as “The flashbulbs become symbolic: Jefferiescamera is his means of keeping life (which includes knowledge of himself) at adistance, of remaining a spectator, of preserving his detachment” (105). Duringthe scene Thorwald’s attacks on Jefferies can be seen as punishment for Jefferiesbecause of his fixation on the image, for not developing an ego andmisrecognizing his lack from the image. The mirror phase theory by JacquesLacan allows further analysis and development of Rear Window’s character L.B. Jefferies as well as a furtherunderstanding of psychoanalysis in film theory.
Every film theoryhas a case and point that is made. Psychoanalysis film theory is a useful toolwhen applied to a film to expose a deeper meaning and association with thehuman 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 tounderstand and recognize Jefferies mental psyche and Jacques Lacan’s theoriesfurther allow us to view Jefferies mental development and voyeurism in thefilm. With these theories the scene and character become more, they become anidea. Each theorist and theories agree to the application and realization ofpsychoanalysis to the scene in the film RearWindow.
Bibliography
Modleski, Tania. The Women WhoKnew 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 FilmsRevisited. New York: Columbia, 2002.
