Psycho - Film review

This review will examine Alfred Hitchcock`s psychological horror film Psycho (1960) and
how the character Norman Bates applies to Freud`s theory of the Oedipus complex and
how it effects the audience. Key source will be Sigmund Freud`s book Interpretation of
Dreams (1899) in which he first introduced the concept of the Oedipus complex and
Stephen’s web article “A Boys Best Friend is his Mother”- An Analysis of Hitchcock’s
“Psycho” and Freud’s Oedipus Complex.

In the beginning of Psycho a young women named Marion steals a lot of money from a
client. On the run she stops at a Motel, which is run by Norman Bates and his mother.
However Marion gets killed shortly after her arrival and so does the private detective who
were supposed to solve the crime. That leads Marion`s lover Sam and her sister to solve
the curious murders at Bates Motel.

The Oedipus complex is a concept of psychoanalytic theory and first introduced by

Sigmund Freud in his book Interpretation of Dreams (1899). The positive Oedipus
complex is the child's unconscious sexual desire for the opposite-sex parent and hatred
and jealousy for the same-sex parent. Freud said that “the Oedipus complex occurs in
the phallic stage of psychosexual development between the ages of three and five. The
phallic stage serves as an important point in forming sexual identity.“ (Freud,1910)

That means in order to develop into a successful adult with a healthy identity, the child
must identify with the same-sex parent in order to resolve the conflict of the phallic stage.

But Norman`s Father died when he was still very young, which would be exactly in
Freud’s phallic stage and therefore influenced his psychosexual development heavily. His
Father`s death therefore let Norman to live out the oedipal fantasy of having his mother to
himself. So Norman developed a very close relation to his mother since for years the two
lived very isolated. That becomes particularly clear when Norman states in the film that “A
boy’s best friend is his mother” (Figure 1).

Fig. 1 Norman Bates talking about his mother

For that reason Norman probably isn’t very experienced with other women, since his
mother would have prevented it because of the fear of losing her son.

“Trapped with his mother inside the Bates mansion, Norman hardly socialised with
anybody else, and therefore had no outlet for his repressed sexual instincts which grew
out of his abnormal relationship with his mother, leaving him unable to direct these
feelings towards someone else.“ (Farrugia, 2015)

However when Norman meets Marion he feels sexual attraction towards her. That can be
seen in the scene when he is spying on her through a hole in the wall, while she is getting
undressed. (Figure 2)

Fig. 2 Norman spying on Marion getting undressed

Since he expects his mother to be jealous of him and Marion, he killed Marion, causing
his mother side to take over. His jealousy of his mother and her partner would make
Norman expect his mother to be jealous of him too. Out of this intense jealousy, that he
didn’t have his mother for himself anymore, he probably killed his mother and her lover.
However he most likely killed his mother by accident when he killed her lover. Therefore
killing his mother causes him to lose his object (his mother) and attempts to become his
mother to keep her alive. “His conscious mind would not have been able to deal with the
loose of the one person he loved, so he brought her back to continue living his oedipal
fantasy.“ (Stephen, 2017)

The oedipal fantasy can also be seen within the Psycho film poster. (Figure 3) It could
symbolize a love triangle between the mother, father and son. “The poster symbolically
displays this by having Marion in between Sam and Norman, a love triangle, as Sam is
her partner and Norman displays sexual attraction towards Marion. The title has also
been split into 3 pieces to possibly emphasise this.“ (Stephen, 2017)

Therefore Norman on the left can be seen as the son. It only shows a small image of his
head with a confused, childlike expression instead of one of his creepy expressions he
shows throughout the film. Marion could represent Norman’s mother because he is
attracted to her and possibly even looks similar to his real mother. Therefore Sam,
Marion’s lover, represents Norman’s father or at least a father figure since he looks very
masculine with his top off compared to Norman.

 Fig. 3 Original Psycho film poster

For those reasons the Oedipus complex is interwoven into the relationship of Norman and
his mother. Although throughout the film Norman’s mother is part of his split personality, it
appears throughout the film that he has suppressed this and may not even be conscious
of it. “… Marion is seen by Norman on a conscious and un-conscious level as a threat
towards his relationship with his mother. The conscious threat is of an ideological basis
the idea of his mother being taken away from him. The un-conscious threat is his sexual
attracts towards Marion will get in the way of his relationship with his mother, this cause
Norman to turn to his mother side and kill Marion.“ (Stephen, 2017)

That also links back to Freud’s idea of the dreams and the sub-conscious as he states
that “in a large number of people, dreams disclose their wish to get rid of their parents
and especially of the parent of their own sex. We may assume that this wish is also
present in waking life and is even conscious sometimes.” (Freud, 1899) Furthermore
Freud considered the reactions against the Oedipus complex as the most important
social achievements of the human mind.

Therefore Hitchcock displays the Oedipus complex in the film similar to how it affects the
person - on a conscious and unconscious level. Hitchcock’s own lust for knowledge
makes the director include aspects of human psychology within his films. However they
are generally very subtle and not even noticed by many viewers. “The reason his films are
so notorious is because they do not only work on a conscious level but he was able to
make the audience feel a range of emotions without even realising why“ (Stephen, 2017).

In conclusion it can be said that Freud`s theory of the Oedipus complex applies to the
character of Norman Bates in Hitchcock`s Psycho. Caused by losing his father during the
phallic stage, Norman was able to fulfill his oedipal fantasy with his mother. But after her
death, he could not let his oedipal fantasy go so he kept her alive in his head and by
preserving her body. That affected the character of Norman, but also the viewer, on a
conscious and un-conscious level.

 Harvard list

Cherry, K. (2018). The Oedipal Complex: One of Freud's Most Controversial Ideas. [online]
Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-an-oedipal-
complex-2795403 [Accessed 24 Jan. 2019].

Elliott, A. (2002) Psychoanalytic Theory: An Introduction. Hampshire: Palgrave.

Farrugia, S. (2015). The 15 Best Movies With An Oedipus Complex. [online] Taste of

Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. Available at: http://
www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/the-15-best-movies-with-an-oedipus-complex/?
fbclid=IwAR3-gb5I7orZlZH_5Tuqtky3YA2_sppfhJCGX954tiJPoG7syUD0eR9TXvA
[Accessed 24 Jan. 2019].

Freud, S. (1991), Introduction lectures to psychoanalysis. London: Penguin Books.

Stephen, T. (2017). “A Boy's Best Friend is his Mother”- An Analysis of Hitchcock’s

“Psycho” and Freud’s Oedipus Complex. [online] Stephen on Cinema. Available at:
https://stephenonfilms.wordpress.com/2017/03/30/a-boys-best-friend-is-his-mother-an-
analysis-of-hitchcocks-psycho-and-freuds-oedipus-complex/ [Accessed 24 Jan. 2019].

Illustration list

Fig. 1 Norman Bates talking about his mother - https://tenor.com/view/psycho-norman-

bates-aboys-bestfriend-is-his-mother-gif-8597866

Fig. 2 Norman spying on Marion getting undressed - https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/

alfred-hitchcock-psycho/14/

Fig 3 Original Psycho film poster - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/