Written by Liting 2022 Cohort
Have you ever noticed people peering at you? For example, while playing on your phone on the bus, you may see that the person in the seat next to you is staring at your screen, or when you are sitting by the window, you suddenly find that the person outside the window is looking at you. We often observe other people’s lives, and others are watching us simultaneously. Many movies take advantage of this curious-driven peeping mentality, which instead captures the attention of a wide range of people. Today we are going to talk about this type of movie.
Rear Window
Alfred Hitchcock is one of my favourite movie directors. Although I’m not too fond of the stereotyped female characters he created, his suspense movies are fantastic. For instance, Hitchcock’s movie 《Rear Window》. The hero, Jefferies, is forced to stay inside due to a leg injury, so he has to kill time by spying on his neighbours. Through the “peeping” subjective lens of this film, the audience has the same viewing experience as Jefferies. Unknowingly, the audience also began to be curious about the lives of the “neighbours.” In the process, Jefferies discovered the neighbour’s secret. When Hitchcock created the suspenseful and terrifying atmosphere of the film, he did not rely on visual stimulation but let you substitute to arouse the fear deep in your heart.
His 《Psycho》reveals similar features. Hitchcock can always show the subconscious snooping desire characteristics of human nature in the movie. This perspective dramatically satisfies the audience’s snooping psychology.
Peeping Tom
Another movie《Peeping Tom》is different from Hitchcock’s Rear Window, which was controversial when it was released. This movie tells the story of the male protagonist, a young man filming everywhere with a camera all day. His hobby is to collect the fear of women. Once he finds a suitable target, he quietly follows up and peeps and then finds an opportunity to kill her, using the camera to record the victim’s terrified expression when she is dying.
This movie also describes peeping behaviour, but it represents the evil of peeping to the extreme and even makes the audience uncomfortable. Therefore, the director of this movie, Michael Powell, was accused of being morally wrong in the film industry at the time.
The world shaped by these media, such as movies and TV, differs from reality. But it also reflects some notions near the existence of human nature. The more unusual things there are, the more people attempt to hide, and the more attractive it is. What do you think of the moral behind this?