Term Paper on "Movie Rear Window 1954 Alfred Hitchcock"

Term Paper 3 pages (1285 words) Sources: 6 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock's - Rear Window

Rear Window, starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly - two of the more infamous and legendary actors of their age, provides an interesting cinematic view into the development of characters and the deployment of voyeurism in film itself (Rotten Tomatoes, 2002). Stewart's character, Jeff, is bound to the confines of his apartment after an injury leaves him unable to venture out. His interests grow increasingly obsessive with the ongoing lives of the tenants in the building across the street from his own. He develops concerns of the patterns of his own life in comparison to those he is spying on. With the impending marriage to his fashion model girlfriend Lisa, Grace Kelly, Jeff's view of marriage is irrationally thwarted by the outward opinion he develops in observation of the newly married couple across the street (Mogg, 2003). This relationship, and Jeff's interest in it is abruptly halted and redirected after Jeff suspects a murder - the husband killing the wife.

Stewart's character, Jeff, develops an intriguing pattern of voyeurism through the course of the film, which ultimately dictates into a direct obsession. Birthed as a mere distraction and effort to kill time, Jeff's voyeuristic curiosity begins to mold into a forthright obsession developing further as a result of several key happenings. Jeff is undoubtedly taken by a certain power he feels in being able to pry and spy into the lives of individuals, which, importantly noted, are unsuspecting individuals. This aspect feeds the voyeuristic nature, and nurtures the concepts of thrill for both the audience and Jeff as a character (I.M.D.B., 2007). This voyeurism proves to become more than a simple distraction or time utilizing endeavor, it becomes somewhat of an unhealthy display of inquisitive compulsion.

Grace Kelly's character, Lisa, reveals several interesting displays of feminine disposition through the expected nature of a girlfriend/fiance in such a role. Playing off Jeff's seemingly pathetic interests through the eyes of binoculars and on into the ridiculous concerns he derives from his beliefs of what has happened, Lisa at times becomes a nagging agitator in the progress of Jeff's directives - much ado with the happenings of nagging that Jeff observes in the newly wed couple across the street (Movie Gazette; Summary Reviews, 2005). Kelly's character is somewhat forced to intervene in this assumed insanity, placing her into a presumable role of masculinity. Feeling obligated to distract Jeff from the apparent road he is traveling, Lisa confronts the questions of actual truth to his claims, and eventually into boldly embracing the investigative approach that must be taken to confirm the array of minutia supporting Jeff's horrific findings.

Between Jeff and Lisa, an interesting and diverse approach into the ideals of spectatorship come into question with direct consideration of ownership. We, as the audience/spectators, are given several avenues by which we can develop sympathetic understanding for the viewpoint of either character. Perhaps best put in this description:

In the traditional movie, the woman has been displayed as an (erotic) object for both the other (male) characters within the movie and the (male) spectators in the audience. At the same time, a male/active vs. female/passive dichotomy is at work controlling the narrative sequence. The man both holds control of the action, and of the gaze (character and spectator): "As the spectator identifies with the main male protagonist, he projects his look onto that of his like, his screen surrogate, so that the power of the male protagonist as he controls events coincides with the active power of the erotic look, both giving a satisfying sense of omnipotence." The importance of the look "of the spectator in direct scopophilic contact with the female form displayed for his enjoyment (connoting male fantasy) and [...] of the spectator fascinated with the image of his like set in an illusion of natural space, and… READ MORE

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