Discovering Norman Bates

Norman Bates is the protagonist of one of the most iconic and celebrated films in the history of cinema: Psychosis (1960), by Alfred Hitchcock. Anthony Perkins was in charge of giving life to this terrifying and complex character who has entered the popular imagination as the personification of the psychopath.

Bates’ story is deep, heartbreaking and chilling. Although the best-known version is that of Hitchcock, it should be noted that, in reality, The film is inspired by the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. and, in turn, the character of Norman Bates is based on the murderer Ed Gein.

Returning to the magic of black and white, of that pure terror that flooded movie theaters during the first half of the 20th century, far from its most current and commercial side, we enter a world that only a master like Hitchcock could draw with so much thoroughness. A world where fear resides in our imagination, in tension and suggestion… Psychosis He gave us scenes that have gone down in history, that have become the representation of terror par excellence, and he gave us Norman Bates, a murderer who, deep down, we love, fascinates us and makes us believe in the magic of cinema again.

After the success of Psychosis, Anthony Perkins’ career took a different direction that ended up pigeonholing him forever into the character of Norman Bates. It seemed like everyone wanted to profit from the film’s success, Sequels were made in which Perkins returned to embody the character and even directed on one occasion.

Thus,Psychosis marked a before and after in horror cinema, opened the door to explore new themes, to investigate the human mind. The symbolism is such that we can apply some concepts of psychoanalysis to the film itself, as if it were a dream or a complex poem, Psychosis he masterfully composes the disturbed mind of Norman Bates.

The mother, symbols and psychoanalysis

Hitchcock left clues as to what was really happening at the Bates Motel. From the arrival of young Marion, we sense that something is not quite right, that something strange is happening to Norman Bates. And, in reality, The film is a kind of symbolic puzzle that gives us clues to the darkness that lies within Norman’s mind.. This strong symbolic charge makes even more sense if, in addition, we delve a little into the past of the director himself, Alfred Hitchcock, whose films were closely linked to the world of psychoanalysis, leaving traces of his own childhood traumas.

Like Bates, Hitchcock lost his father in his youth and his mother became a completely controlling woman. Furthermore, he suffered from a certain phobia of birds, an element present throughout the entire film, also anticipating the director’s next production: Birds (1963). The interpretation of the bird has been associated with divinity, divination and, at the same time, it is a figure that evokes freedom; freedom that Bates completely lacks. The birds we see in the film are dead, stuffed, that is, they have been stripped of all signs of power, of their freedom; They appear static and acquire negative connotations.

The references to birds do not stop there, Marion’s last name is Crane and comes from Phoenix; During dinner, Bates talks to Marion about the birds and tells her that she eats like a bird. This association of the birds with Marion is not coincidental either, since in slang the word bird femininity is associated. Marion is an attractive woman and Norman Bates is attracted to her, something that poses a threat to the mother figure and, as a consequence, he must destroy his rival..

The Oedipus complex has been present in Bates since childhood; lacking a father figure, the bond with his mother became much stronger, also linking his libido to her.. It is sensed that Bates may have suffered sexual abuse from her mother and we see that he shows certain mixed feelings towards her: on the one hand, he feels anger, but he also cannot separate himself from her, having an obsessive dependence on her. At the same time, when her mother begins a romantic relationship with another man, Norman cannot bear to lose her and, therefore, eliminates her rival.

Throughout the film, we see countless scenes of mirrors, reflections, water… Water has certain sexual connotations and The famous shower scene, despite being a murder, has a strong symbolic charge linked to sexual desire.. Far from being unpleasant, it has components that make the scene be interpreted as a desired scene. The rain also marks the first meeting between Norman Bates and Marion and, at the same time, anticipates that something is going to happen.

Norman Bates, the explanation

Norman Bates’ house can also be interpreted from psychoanalysis, as it has three levels, just like the levels established by Freud.: The top floor corresponds to the superego, the place where we see the shadow of Bates’ mother; On the ground floor, we have the “I”, where Bates projects an image of apparent normality towards others; Finally, in the basement, we reach the unconscious, the place where Bates and the mother merge, where there is no longer censorship, where the corpse of his mother rests.

The very design and decoration of the house already warns us what the personality of Norman Bates is like, it works as a simile of his own being.. We discover her little by little and the last thing we see is the basement, at which point Norman reveals herself as his mother and we discover the truth. The climax of the film comes when Bates is evaluated by a psychiatrist and he explains that Norman is no longer Norman, but his mother.

Jealousy took over Norman when his mother began a relationship with another man; This jealousy, coupled with Norman’s fragile mind, became pathological and led him to total irrationality, murdering both his mother and his lover. Not accepting death, unable to separate himself from the mother, Norman stole the body and kept it in his house.. This violent personality and this taste for “keeping the dead alive” can already be anticipated in his hobby for preserving stuffed birds.

Guilt and not accepting death caused Norman to end up becoming his mother.. Her mind began to dissociate to the point of presenting two completely defined personalities: the mother and Norman. These personalities came into conflict and, as time passed, her mother’s personality became stronger and stronger, leading to conversations and eventually dominating Norman.

The sublime final scene, in which a now “disappeared” Norman Bates looks at us defiantly while thinking his mother’s thoughts, is truly revealing; a sign that the magic of cinema, sometimes, does not need special effects or artifice. Psychosis It continues to fascinate us, it continues to surprise us and it makes the words of Bates’ mother penetrate our minds, overwhelming us, making us experience a fear that is difficult to explain, difficult to forget.

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