Inaki Voelcker-Sala

The Real Victim in Psycho

Who is the real victim in Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho? The real victim in Alfred Hitchcocks 1961hit film Psycho is Marion Crane. This is apparent because of several things, first and foremost Marions brutal murder at the hands of Norman Bates. Marion is also a victim of the sexist society she was brought up in, as well as the discriminatory attitude of Marions colleagues. Another crime, albeit one that Marion was unaware of, was the pervasive act of peeking committed by Norman Bates. Hitchcock uses several different techniques throughout these scenes to subtly convince the viewer that Marion is indeed the real victim in Psycho. The brutal murder of Marion Crane in the shower scene proves conclusively beyond a doubt that she is the real victim. The effect of Marions resolution to return the stolen money is that the audience now sympathises with Marion on a greater level and when she is killed it emphasises the belief that she is the real victim. She was enjoying her shower when suddenly; Norman Bates entered with a knife and stabbed her several times without mercy and without a trace of doubt. When Marion sees Norman and his knife, a close up of Marions face, wrought with terror at an eye-level angle lets us all know without doubt that she is indeed the victim. All of the shots show Marion in white, pure and angelic. This is followed by a low angle shot looking up at the demonic jet-black figure that is Norman Bates, contrasted against the white ceiling, a strong symbol implying that Norman is evil and Marion is not. Marion's terrified scream when she sees her killer makes the viewer feel scared and sorry for her, and the gory sounds of the stabbing knife leave the audience disgusted at the crime. The harsh, screeching violins in the background give the viewer a sense of urgency, all the viewers hoping that Marion will be all right, hoping that she will somehow overpower her killer. All of this together leads to the undeniable truth of matter; that Marion is the real victim. Another crime against Marion, is a crime too complex to be laid at any one persons feet, or indeed, at anyones feet, is the sexist and discriminative period of time in which Marion was brought up in. She lived in a society where women earned 30% less for the exact same job. Women were expected to marry and become housewives cooking and caring for their husband and children while the husband worked. Unfortunately for Marion, her boyfriend was heavily in debt, paying for his ex-wifes alimony as well as his fathers debts. He couldnt look after Marion and therefore they couldnt marry. Marions answer to this problem was simply to steal money from one of her companys clients.

Inaki Voelcker-Sala