Vertigo Blog Response
How does Hitchcock portray women in this film?
Vertigo was created in the late 1950’s, not particularly a great time for women’s rights and respect, so although this film does not portray women as strong and independent, I don’t blame Hitchcock for his choices, as his film might not have profited if he portrayed them as powerful because of the time in history. Midge, Scottie’s ex-fiancee and female friend is a painter and designer, and most definitely the more powerful female character in the film as she appears to be independent and educated; yet she still seems to rely on Scottie’s approval of her. In one part of the film she tries to be humorous by painting herself into a painting of Carlotta Valdes (the ghost possessing Madeleine), and when Scottie is not amused in any way by it she throws a fit calling herself stupid numerous times. This shows how even though Midge is an independent and healthy woman, she still seeks approval from men. Judy, or “Madeleine” was most definitely not a portrayal of a healthy independent woman. She was reliant on men, whether it was Ester or Scottie, and was portrayed as very weak, uneducated, and in general characterless. In the final scene of the film Scottie is bullying Judy and pushing her around for lying to him and instead of fighting back or defending herself she just resists him and tries not to make him even more angry, showing her feelings of powerlessness to him. Hitchcock in general portrays women in Vertigo as weak beings who need men to survive and depend on, which was the general belief at the time the film was made (1958).
Do you find this film suspenseful? If so, what techniques are used to create a feeling of suspense?
Yes, I found this film very suspenseful; you could tell there were many elements to this feeling of mystery. First of all the music was orchestrated very effectively, it was used to affect the mood and tone of the scene. In the lighter more fun scenes such as when Scottie and Madeleine are traveling through the countryside of California, the music agrees and is light and happy. But when there is a moment of suspense and mystery, the music transforms to slower and more intense sounds, building that climactic feeling. The lighting and sound effects of the film were also used to create a type of tension in the more dramatic scenes. When the scene needed to create suspense for the audience, the lighting darkened or brightened in order to convey different feelings to the viewer. For example, when Judy is having a flashback of the night when she fakes her death atop of a church in the California countryside, the lighting focuses on her and becomes more brown; creating a feeling of tension along with music. The lighting is also a key part in the final scene when Scottie exposes Judy; it is dark and stormy outside, and the darkness is used to portray the anxiousness of Scottie and even possibly foreshadow Judy’s death. Although the film Vertigo is fairly old in the cinema world, in general Hitchcock did a very good job of using the techniques available at the time to affect the audience’s thoughts and feelings.
How are we as viewers to feel about Scottie’s efforts to transform Judy into Madeleine?
As viewers, we see that Scottie is not hallucinating in his idea that Judy and Madeleine look identical, but his efforts are still a bit obsessive. Scottie has been looking for Madeleine in his everyday life and has been wrong before when he assumes a blonde in the distance must be her. He is constantly haunted with her image, so it is understandable for him to be very confused and allured by Judy when he finds a Madeleine lookalike on the streets of San Francisco but with dark hair. Scottie follows her to the Empire Hotel where she is currently living and because he is captivated by her, asks her out to dinner the following night. The two start to date more, and the longer they are dating the more obsessive Scottie becomes about Judy looking like Madeleine. It start when he offers to buy her clothes, but he will only buy the gray suit Madeleine used to wear. Judy knows why Scottie thinks of her as Madeleine, because it was her pretending to be Mrs. Elster, but she is confused as to why he can’t love her for her, not the part she was playing at the time. It gets to a point where Judy loves Scottie so much that she will do whatever he tells her to do: dye her hair, change her clothes, wear different shoes and do her hair the same way that Madeleine did. As a viewer it is kind of disturbing how Scottie needs Judy to appear like Madeleine in order for him to love her. Relationships are about loving who the other person is, not changing them and altering them to be who you want them to be. Scottie’s actions towards Judy were understandable but still wrong, he was just lucky that Judy loved him enough to comply with his orders.
Suppose that Judy did not fall out of the tower in that last scene. Scottie would have then faced the choice of staying with Judy or turning her in. What do you think the right choice would be?
At the time of the final scene atop of the church steeple Scottie was very distraught upon the realization of the fact that it was Judy all along playing Madeleine. She didn’t have any time to explain herself or her situation or how she wasn’t pretending to love him back. The rage Scottie felt towards Judy was strong at the time, so he probably would not have been making the most rational decisions. If Judy did not fall out of the tower, I think Scottie would not have turned her in but would not stay with her because of his anger. It would be difficult for Scottie to forget her, but he would have to stay away from her and probably really retire from police work in order to stop thinking of his love for Madeleine/Judy. This would probably be the right choice for the situation, though if Scottie gave Judy a chance to explain herself that they could end on good terms. I don’t believe there would be a possibility of them dating from that point on, simply because Scottie would never be able to stop thinking of Judy as Madeleine, and that can tear a relationship apart easily. As angry as Scottie was, he would not have turned her into the police, simply because he did love her at one point, and wouldn’t want a life in prison for her.
