Psycho (1960)

Over the last few lessons of the term, we watched the 1960 classic, Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film takes place in Phoenix, Arizona, a busy town in which the main character, Marion Crane, lives. The mood at the beginning is calm, but soon leads up to a big climax. Upon stealing $40,000 from a client, the young and beautiful Marion fleas town to be with her lover. As a result of her actions, Marion ends up being murdered. On her way out of town, Marion becomes very paranoid. She decides to swap her car, knowing she could be easily tracked, as she had earlier given the police her license and registration. As night falls, Marion decides to check into the Bate's Motel. Phoenix is quite safe and comforting in comparison to Bate's Motel. The Bate's Motel lacks the busy atmosphere of the city, which creates an eerie mood in the film. Initially, the motel looks friendly and at pace, though the audience is able to see there is something off about it. Marion meets Norman Bate's, a shy young man who claims to live with his mother. Marion registers herself under a false name, putting the audience further on edge. The use of violins in the music build up the tension as the film continues. The identity of Norman is mother is still a mystery at this point in the film. We hear murmurs coming from Norman's house, which we assume is Norman and his mother. Norman arrives back to his office with food for Marion and himself. They make awkward conversation as the camera pans the office, showing many dead owls, which Norman claimed to have stuffed himself. The piercing stare of the owl’s eyes shifts the mood, which becomes quite spooky as the uneasiness rises. Whilst Marion is undressing, Norman peeps through a hole in the wall, but quickly turns away. In this scene, we take note of the change from a white bra to a black bra. This is an indication of the transition from good to evil that has taken place within Marion. Norman does not allow himself to feel the attraction to other women. Later in the film, it is discovered that Norman lives alone. Norman had adored his mother, and the thought of his mother being with another man traumatized him. Finding his mother in bed with another man drove Norman to insanity, forcing him to commit the murder of his mother and her lover (which had been a secret for many years).

Norman had created an illusion for himself that his mother was not dead. He remained faithful to his mother years after her passing, which is the compelled him to kill Marion Crane. The shower scene is a key feature of the film. There is a variety of angles the scene was shot. She is brutally stabbed by, what seemed to be, an old woman in a long dress. Norman arrives too late, but like the dutiful son he carefully cleans the room and disposes of the body and the evidence in the swamp.

 The shower scene of her death is famous in the world of horror movies. This would have been the very first horror film created. This motion picture was the core of all modern horror films. Many ideas involved with the horror industry were sprung from this film. It was also very uncommon, in the time this was filmed, for the main character to die in the middle of the film. Alfred Hitchcock's ideas were considered very original and not fully accepted by viewers at the time, but eventually became a hit.

An investigation of Marion’s whereabouts is carried out. The detective follows a trail to Bate’s Motel, where he is also killed. After this fishy death, Marion’s sister and boyfriend decide to take matters into their own hands by going to the Bate’s Motel themselves. Marion’s sister, Lila, comes across Mrs. Bate’s corpse decaying in the cellar. Norman, dressed as his mother, attacks her, but Marion’s boyfriend manages to overpower him.

In the last few minutes of the film, it is revealed that Norman had murdered his mother and her boyfriend. He preserved her body, as he could not bear to live without her. He developed a multiple personality (a split personality, his mother and himself). The mother side within Norman was the one who had done the killing.

Alfred Hitchcock’s movie was considered very unique for the time, which made himself a name in the movie industry.           

They're not your husband by Raymond Carver

The author, Raymond Carver, used real life experiences to write this story. Just like the husband in his story, Earl Ober, he too was an alcoholic with no respect towards women. the main character reflects the authors personality. Earl is also an jobless alcoholic  I think it bothers him that he is unemployed and the fact that he has nothing to be absorbed in, makes him feel useless and insignificant. This is partly the reason why he starts drinking and suddenly visits Doreen at her job.

One night after going to the bar, Earl decides to visit his wifes workplace in the hopes of getting a free meal. He sits down with a few workmates, when his wife, Doreen, comes to take their order. One of Earl's collegues comment about her 'big ass', while she is bending over scooping up ice
cream. "But some jokers like their quim fat," the man continues to his friend. Earl does not tell his friends of his relationship to the woman, as he is ashamed of her given their earlier comments. Later that night, he convinces Doreen to lose weight. This shows how conscious Earl is of others thoughts and opinions to stoop to this level. Until this point in the story, Earl had never thought of his wifes weight to be an issue. But seeing it from a strangers point of view made him rethink the idea. Rather than sticking up for his wife, he sits back and agrees with them. He did nothing to defend the woman he was supposed to love.

The language in this piece is descriptive and clearly shows the ignorance of Earl's character. '"Slob," Earl said. "Go ahead, eat! Go on!" This example depicts the husbands rudeness and selfishness.

After a few weeks, the weight drops off Doreen, though she is feeling tired and run down due to her lack of eating. People at work had also noticed her dramatic weight loss. Doreen confronted her husband of this issue, but Earl wouldn't hear of it. "They're not your husband." He told her firmly.  Still, Earl pushes her to lose more weight, despite the damage it is doing to her health. Earl is a sexist pig of a man who cares more about the views of strangers than his wifes wellbeing.

Another night after drinking, Earl decides to stop by the cafe his wife works at. He plays dumb to the waitress and says, "Who's your friend?" (referring to Doreen). He watches her behind the counter, proud of what he's accomplished. He sleazily says to the man beside him, "What do you think of that?" The man ignores him, though Earl continues to try to get his attention, but he won't budge. Doreen reveals who the man is to a fellow co-worker, after she's questioned ("who is this character?").

It is safe to say that Earl went too far with his obsession for his wife to be thin and desirable to other men. Earl and Doreen may be husband and wife, but they are in relationship without love and commitment (mostly Earl). He thought far strongly of others perspectives and not enough about what was best for his wife. Doreen felt the need to make him happy and was pressured into going on a diet, risking her health in the process.






 

My Personal Reading History

These are my top 6 favourite books/series:

• Clifford the Big Red Dog:

- Read when I was about 5 year old

- One of my favourite books as a child

- Always wanted a big red dog after reading these books :)

• Roald Dahl Books:

- Read Roald Dahl books all through primary school and absolutely loved them :)

- I particularly enjoyed 'Matilda', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'The Witches'. 

• Green Eggs and Ham:

- I liked Green Eggs and Ham as a kid because it was easy to read and I liked the illustrations and use of colour.

- I have heaps of Dr Seuss books, which helped me learn to read when I was younger.

- I liked the language of the book (rhyming words)

• Harry Potter:

- I loved the idea of living in a magical world :)

- Wish I could go to Hogwarts

- Went through a stage where I couldn't stop reading them

- The movies aren't as good as the books, but I like the first few movies the best :)

•  A Series of Unfortunate events: 

- Used to read this series at the beginning of highschool

- I liked the situations the Baudelaire children would be put in

- I never finished the series because I found it too depressing after the 6th book , but one day I hope to finish it :)

•  Vampire Academy Series:

- I recently finished reading this series

- I like the plot of the series because it was surprising and unpredictable

- At the end of each book you would constantly be guessing of what would happen in the next book, as it always ended in a cliffhanger

- It wasn'tjust the idea of the vampire world I liked, it was the relationships within the book and the storyline that got me hooked :)



Walkabout (1971)

In our Literature class, we watched the first 10 minutes of the 1971 film, Walkabout. Although we only views a small part of the film, we were able to see many clips showing the contrast between the city and the desert.

The use of brickwalls and fences in the city shows us that they don't exist in Aboriginal communities.It also shows the disconnection between the two worlds and how different they both are in comparison. The city looks overcrowded and closed in, whereas the desert is free and open.
There was a clip showing businessmen and women walking, particularly focusing on their legs, which captured the hussle and bussle of the city. In this scene there is no focal point, showing the lack of individuality and character of the city people. Everybody is so serious and impersonal, the city people populace doesn't seem all that friendly.
A scene was shown with a class of young female students doing breathing exercises. The lack of indiviuality is evident in this scene, not only because of their plain uniforms, but their robotic behaviour. We notice that the girls and boys schools are separate, shows how life is depicted in the city as an 'ideal world'. 
The great, tall buildings were used to show the mans/fathers isolation and depression, as we see later in the film he commits suicide. The buildings also show how they cut off the beauty of nature as well as sunshine (all is black and white). There is no green to be seen in the city, but hidden behind.
When the father arrives home, we see that their is no acknowledgement between family members, mainly between the mother and father, though their children appear to be quite close. They would seem like the pefect family in the world they live in, but love within it is absent.
By seeing the home the family live in, we see that they are quite wealthy. This shows how they may have so much but that doesnt buy happiness- the father is a perfect example of this.