4. Hitchcock and Auteur Theory, Unifying Elements in Hitchcock´s Films…26
5.4 Sexuality, Voyeurism, Humor and Suspense
Hitchcock partially employs suspense in his films by connecting suspense with human sexuality. Hitchcock “provides an incentive to enjoy suspense by trading upon the allure of human perversity” (Allen 68). He usually treats human sexuality as something which is intrinsically perverse and is often linked to violence. The scenes of suspense in Hitchcock´s films often contain sexual content, sometimes directly and other times in a more subdued and indirect form. “Hitchcock´s aestheticism characteristically involves at once invoking human perversity and holding it at bay as a kind of visual pun or darkly comic double-entendre – a masculine form” (Bauso 238).
André Bazin said that Hitchcock complained to him about the “necessity of renouncing
adult, masculine humor in order to satisfy American producers” (Bazin 65). If we look at this masculine feature from the perspective of suspense, we can discover that Hitchcock shapes the ingredients of classical suspense so he can demonstrate and present perversity of male protagonists. By examining one of the oldest major films made by Hitchcock during the era of silent movies, The Lodger, we will see that the main idea of the films circles around the question whether the main protagonist of the film, a mysterious stranger, is a dangerous and wanted murderer. The stranger is also in love with the main heroine therefore suspense situations arise from the possible close proximity of lethal danger to the heroine. Hitchcock cleverly obscures everything that the stranger does with ambiguity so that it is never clear what the stranger is up to and whether he really is the dangerous, perverse killer. “Is he approaching the bathroom to apologize for giving her a gift or to attack her? Is his look the look for love or annihilation? Is he reaching for the poker to put out the fire or to strike the heroine?”
(Allen 90). These confusing and ambiguous scenes create suspense in the classical sense as we fear of what might happen to the female protagonist if the stranger truly is the wanted murderer. Hitchcock plays with the audience by hinting at the possible sexual deviation of Ivor Novello´s (Stranger) character.
The rationale of the suspense here seems to be that while the audience is invited to root for the heroine and fear on her behalf, we are also invited to enjoy the portrayal of a desire that is perverse and potentially deadly. The conventional moral coordinates of suspense are undermined by the invitation to enjoy the threat posed by the hero and the sexual tension it evokes. (Allen 80)
Similar example can be found in Strangers on a Train where Bruno, who is
insane, is tailing Miriam, a rather unsympathetic character. We cannot identify with Miriam as we feel little sympathy for her. Hitchcock creates suspense around sexual tension combined with the fact that even though we do care little for Miriam we do not know what Bruno is really going to do and we nervously expect what is going to happen. The entire feel of the chase scene is very sexual as Miriam flirts with various men and even seems to give a flirty look to Bruno just seconds before he murders her.
Hitchcock once again puts us into the viewpoint of Bruno, therefore into a position of a deranged man who is about to kill an innocent woman during a rather “sexualized”
scene. “Hitchcock align us with Bruno and evokes, with extraordinary formal dexterity, the thrill of the sexual chase, laced with the aura of deadliness” (Bauso 236).
Closely related to build up of suspense through depiction of sexuality and perversity is employment of voyeurism in Hitchcock´s films. The best example of this relation of voyeurism and sexuality as driving forces to create suspense can be found in Rear Window. Here Hitchcock allows the spectator to identify himself with the main character as the main protagonist is a spectator himself. Just like a movie audience, L.B.
Jefferies watches the world around him due to his temporary disability to walk.
“Hitchcock playfully exploits the distinction between character and spectator, as well as their possible alignment” (Allen 90). In Rear Window Hitchcock exploits the notion of perversity of voyeurism but ironically, it is the voyeurism that allows Jefferies to identify and subsequently even catch a murderer. Hitchcock suggests numerous times throughout the film that spying is immoral and perverse but at the same time he mocks this moral assessment by allowing Jefferies to use this perversity to catch a dangerous wife killer. The instance of spying on other and the notion of voyeurism “is endowed in an aura of perversity in spite of the ostensible innocence of the character involved”
(Allen 92). The entire film thus feels at times as a black comedy. Despite the uneasy feeling that a possible murderer lives just a few meters away from the apartment of the main hero, we cannot resist a strange feeling that we are literally voyeurs eavesdropping on another voyeur.
Hitchcock constructs in Rear Window a condition of acute anxiety and apparent concern, L.B. Jefferies looks upon Lisa Fremont under assault but the Spectator is invited to perversely relish this scene in a way that the character ostensibly does not. (Allen 100)
We can safely watch L.B. Jefferies watch but at the same time this scenario successfully creates suspense as we, just like Jefferies, cannot influence what is happening on the screen and we cannot help Lisa Fremont escape from Thorwald´s apartment. The idea of morality and its connection to suspense and perversity and voyeurism can also be detected in Rear Window. The idea is represented by Stella who criticizes Jefferies for spying on his neighbors. “We've become a race of Peeping Toms.
What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes sir.
How's that for a bit of homespun philosophy?” But once again Hitchcock mocks this
“moral lesson” - Stella soon joins Jefferies and Lisa in their investigation and she is willing to spy on others as well.
Rear Window is not the only example of voyeurism in Hitchcock´s films as a mean to generate suspense. In Vertigo Scottie follows Madeleine and then eventually becomes totally obsessed with her. Scottie´s following of Madeleine becomes perverse as we know that he clearly becomes more and more obsessed with her and it is actually
he who basically leads Madeleine to her death.
Hitchcock´s mastery of suspense consists in being an aesthete of suspense, and this involves, at once, giving perverse sexual content to the anticipated outcome in a suspenseful situation (often disguised) and prolonging the outcome through the self-conscious play of style. (Smith 85)
Hitchcock frequently restores to use of black humor in his films in order to lighten the tension which results from a given situation which the audience is exposed to. Examples of this technique are present in number of Hitchcock´s films and even the most serious topics and situations are often relieved of pressure by Hitchcock in subsequent scenes. In North by Northwest such scene occurs when Roger Thornhill steps into an elevator with his mother and with his pursuers. The situation that Thornhill finds himself in is potentially very dangerous as he knows that the men who are chasing him already tried to kill him. Hitchcock eases the intense moments by introducing a joke when Thornhill´s mother asks the killers: “You gentleman aren´t really trying to kill my son, are you?” Seconds later the men start laughing and the entire elevator follows. Hitchcock completely diverts attention from the dangerous situation and instead shows how ridiculous the entire situation seems. In Rear Window, nurse Stella often provides comic relief in suspense moments and the entire relation triangle between Jeff, Stella and Lisa offers numerous comic situations, in particular when Jeff and Lisa argue about their relationship only moments after the suspicious neighbor seem seems to be carrying a dead body in a suitcase out from his apartment. By using
black humor, Hitchcock diffuses negative emotions that arise during situations which are inherently not funny and dissolves suspense situations in order to continue in the narrative in a less serious way.
Black humor often occurs in situations which are distinctive for the presence of inverted morality in suspense. As I already mentioned, Hitchcock frequently aligns audience with a character that is morally wrong, such as killer or a thief and manipulates the spectators to temporarily support the given character. Example of connection between humor and identification with a morally stained character can be seen in Rope where two men kill their victim as an intellectual exercise. In one particular scene one of the culprits cynically tells jokes which are pointing at the fact that murdered victim might be close. The situation is funny and Hitchcock sets the scene in such a way that we are identified with the killers by using black humor.
We may be appalled by Brandon´s warped sense of humor but since we can´t help getting the morbid jokes (…) We are thus continually being forced to identify with the killers, an identification that is, paradoxical and tension-charged. (Bauso 233)
As we can see, humor can facilitate “subversion of our customary narrative allegiances in situations of suspense” (Allen 63). Moments that contain elements of humor often encourage the viewers to watch morally despicable actions such as getting rid of a dead body. Humor facilitates the connection between viewers and the film and relives the spectators during tense situations and helps to facilitate this “guilty pleasure”. In Frenzy Hitchcock introduces black comedy elements to facilitate
identification with Rusk when the killer must retrieve tiepin from a dead body.
Hitchcock softens the entire situation by creating a number of obstacles that prevent Rusk from getting to the tiepin. When he finally discovers it, he cannot release it from the corpse and he eventually ends up with his head in between the corpse´s legs, hinting at necrophilia. “The way Hitchcock invites us to root for Rusk during his ordeal is an extreme instance of black comedy combining suspense to elicit sympathy with the devil” (Allen 84). The dark humor that is introduced by Hitchcock very often in the most ironic and cynical ways is a strong driving force behind the suspense itself because even though it relieves the tension and generally lightens the tone of the narrative it offers Hitchcock the opportunity to later re-introduce the suspense in a different way and thus invite the viewers to experience the suspense situation again.