Examples Of Voyeurism In Rear Window

Documentarians often want to get as close to their subject matter as possible. Some documentarians have an insider perspective which ignites a spark to create a piece that illuminates a specific topic or area of study. There are also documentarians that have no affiliation with said subject matter, but want to explore the topic in question. Finally, there are documentarians that have a foot in both worlds. Insider/outsider is a theory in which a documentarian can be close to a subject, but also possess characteristics or traits that make them distant from the topic in question (Coles, 1998). Such is the case with the directors of both Stranger with a Camera and The House I Live In. Due to their own location, both Eugene Jarecki and Elizabeth Barret exhibit characteristics that make them fall into the insider/outsider roles as directors. Robert Coles defines location by stating, “We notice what we notice because of who we are” (Coles, 1998, p. 7). Included in this is, a person’s education, race, class, and gender. Both directors realize they are outsiders and utilize a lens into a world in which they are not otherwise a part of. Jarecki’s lens comes in the form of Nanny Jeter, his family’s nanny from when he was a child. Barret’s lens for her documentary is the community that she shared with Ison. The two directors enter into a world that they are not a part of because of their location, but forge a connection to the subject matter through means of a lens.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a uniquely captivating film that is an exemplary style of cinematic craftsmanship. Reaching into the minds of the characters, as well as the audience, Alfred Hitchcock is the master at utilizing the juxtaposition of images to bring us into the minds of the characters. In Rear Window, the story is so distinctively executed that it allows us to relate to our own curiosities, question our identities, and ponder our closest relationships. What is happening on the screen is merely a projection of our own anxieties, our own existence, and our self-ambiguity as portrayed by the characters in this wonderful film.

In Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic thriller Rear Window, Jimmy Stewart stars as L.B. Jeffries, a world traveling magazine photographer accustomed to living a fast pace active lifestyle. When Jefferies injures himself taking a risky picture he is immobilized, confined to a wheelchair inside his apartment for two months. Bored with his uneventful life he becomes completely obsessed with the lives of his neighbors spending the majority of his waking hours watching them from his window. To obtain a better view he begins using a telescopic lens from one of his cameras. By watching his neighbors through the camera he assumes the role of both a spectator and a voyeur. This contributes to

The film Rear Window opens with L.B Jeffries ultimately holding the power in the relationship between himself and Lisa Freemont. Lisa is shown to be a woman of high

The majority of the film deals with the events occurring within the Thorwald apartment. In many ways the Thorwalds’ marriage parallels Lisa and Jeffries’ relationship, except with a reversal in gender. Lisa and Lars Thorwald, both mobile and healthy, strive to make their respective relationships work. Thorwald brings his wife dinner in bed decorated with a rose. She only laughs at this gesture. On the other side, Lisa cannot even gain Jeffries attention by sitting in his lap. Mrs. Thorwald and Jeffries, who are both physically restrained, only complain to their partners. The Thorwald apartment becomes of particular interest when Jeffries begins to suspect murder. He believes that Thorwald finally became so tired of his nagging wife that he butchered her with a knife and saw. After some time he even convinces Lisa of his accusation, which in turn adds another gazer to the rear window. This makes her more important to Jeffries in that he can now discuss what is going on with someone who will listen. She still does not obtain his full attention until she crosses over into the plot within the Thorwald apartment. When Lisa becomes the subject of the gaze, then, and only then, is Jeffries attracted to her.

it is the start of the story. The window fills the whole frame of the

In this essay, I shall try to illustrate whether analysing the movie Rear Window as a classical example of the Freudian concept of voyeurism, is appropriate. Voyeurism is defined in The Penguin dictionary of psychology as:

In the movie, Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock uses the story of a cripple free lance photographer, Jeff Jeffries, to explain the twisted sense of society in the 1950’s. Hitchcock uses clever things from the way the apartments are being filmed to the dialogue between Jeffries, Lisa, and Stella to show societies interest in pain, tragedy, and discomfort, and in the end you see how tragedy is what makes everyone happy.

The mise-en-scene of this shot hints at important information about Jeffries, his neighbors, and the neighborhood in general. But what the camera does tells us something much stronger: Rear Window is a film about voyeurism, and a commentary on audiences watching drama on a screen.

Throughout Jeffs time at this so called “prison,” he is constantly being stripped of all of his freedom, as well as his feelings. Although he is a convict, many of the experiments taking place on him are inhumane; it becomes increasingly clear in the dialog between Jeff, and the head scientist at this prison, Abnesti. Towards the end of the story, when Jeff is reluctant to give Heather the “Darkenfloxxed,” Abnesti is quoted saying, “Do I remember birthdays around here? When a certain individual got athlete’s foot on his groin on a Sunday, did a certain other individual drive over to Rexall and pick up a prescription, paying for it with his own personal money?” Abnesti is using his minuscule good deeds in the past to prove that he is still on Jeff's side; indicating that Abnesti is an unstable human being, who does not feel how wildly this experiment has gotten out of hand. Also, he is

Stewart displayed his wound which was typical of him throughout his career. His emotional vulnerability forces Naremore to call him “the most intensely emotional leading man to emerge from the studio system” (254). Stewart carries his wounds as a signifier of his emotional distress. He bears prominent leg wounds in films like the Rope where he has a limp from another war wound, and in Rear Window, he spends the film in a full leg cast and by the end he has two. Stewart’s performance that usually revolves round his wound and in certain scenes they are dwelt to such an extent that it escapes the issue of masochism. Silverman discusses the relationship between masochism and a conflicted or subversive masculinity, pointing out that for Theodor

Hitchcock is known for the “meticulousness of his preproduction, shooting, and editing strategies” (Sterritt 9). An example of this is the filming technique Hitchcock used to illustrate Scottie’s Vertigo; to represent the sensation, the camera would physically move away from the subject while simultaneously zooming in on the subjects. Thus this specific shot was used whenever Scottie went through that experience, creating a specific motif for his reaction. Another strategy of Hitchcock is “his celebrated use of point-of-view shots”, which he employed to unite “physical and psychological identification between spectator and character” (Sterritt 11). This is exemplified in Rear Window, which is seen from almost entirely Jeff’s perspective, thus uniting audiences more with Jeff, and therefore the subjective narrative. This increases solidarity with Jeff, and makes it easier for the audience to adopt Jeff’s discoveries as the truth. Additionally point-of-view shots allow viewers to understand characters more, as seen through Judy’s point of view on her walk in the park with Scottie. Another camera angle favoured is the extreme high-angle shot, which in some cases marks a significant point in the plot; this shot is used to show Madeleine’s fall to her death in Vertigo, the point in the movie that serves as a climax that triggers the narrative

Voyeurism is originally defined as ‘the practice of gaining sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity’. However, the term is also used to describe a general spying on, or having interest in, other people’s lives. This kind of voyeurism is the central theme for Alfred Hitchcock’s mystery thriller, Rear Window (1954). The film follows the boredom-induced curiosity of photographer L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jefferies. Bound to his wheelchair with a broken leg, he has little to do with his time, and finds himself looking into and involving himself in, the lives of his

Alfred Hitchcock has always been known for his suspenseful and action filled films. His 1954 production of the movie Rear Window is no contradiction to that. Throughout Rear Window, many different motifs and themes are splayed out for the audience to dwell upon. One well seen theme is voyeurism. Within the movie, the audience is challenged with this theme, and left with the uncertainty about the power of voyeurism. Some critics believe that Hitchcock even went so far as to use the film as a way to say that us as an audience has an obsession with watching, which invades the privacy of those around us: voyeurism is

Jeff was a college dropout and he lived with Hillary Clinton {his mom} since he dropped out of school. He was a twenty year old strong man. In his free time he liked to lift weights, tables,and benches. He also worked at a workout center as a trainer. His mom hated that he didn’t become something wonderful like a businessman. His boss hated him and looked for any reason to fire him. He hated Jeff because he was always screwing around, messing up, and pulling pranks on him. Jeff was the only one who wanted the job.It was time to go to work so,Jeff got in his Slug bug and drove to work.