The Horror of the Changing Woman

Richard Armstrong’s article, “Modernity and the Maniac: the Fall of Janet Leigh” from imagesjournal.com discusses how the lead actress’s performance in a film influences society’s perception of women and future films with similar aspects. Armstrong compares numerous films to Psycho, and discovers that the films portray the lead female as a highly sexual and violent individual who fatally falls into the trap of the male character. For instance, Armstrong analyzes that actress Janet Leigh who plays Marion Crane in Psycho, captures the audience’s attention because Leigh fully understands the characterization of Marion Crane and successfully presents Marion as a mentally unstable working woman. The author also explains how Psycho introduces the differences between traditional films and the more suspenseful films that contribute to the overall redefined image of women.

“Psycho is modern because it brings two modern urban clichés together, the shopgirl and that strange young misfit in the adjacent office, the one she only notices because he stares,” discusses Armstrong.

Soon, Marion’s demise is met in the shower, but Armstrong further analyzes that the shower head spurting out water symbolizes how Marion’s character conforms to the environment and society surrounding her. The article continues illustrating how the persona of Marion Crane presents the more sexually suggestive, rebellious, and transforming attitude of women.

I linked to the site, imagesjournal.com as presented in the list from Corrigan’s A Short Guide to Writing about Film because this article discusses the author’s ideas in Psycho as well as other films with similar themes and aspects. In addition, this site features key scenes from Psycho and provides important quotes that follow Richard Armstrong’s analysis of the film.