Gender And Voyeurism In Hitchcock's Psycho

Two are better than one. This saying holds in in most aspects of life, including when analyzing works to delve deeper and gain a better understanding. DeLillo uses Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as an intertext to his novel Point Omega, to build upon and better analyze the topics of gender and voyeurism that are present in both works. Both of these men have created female characters that are passive and fit the image of weak women in a patriarchal society, while the male characters take pleasure in the women’s presence, but not her intellect. Using Douglas Gordon’s 24-Hour Psycho, one can gain a better understanding of much of the abstract thinking of DeLillo’s cast and helps to bring the story line full circle. Also, by putting the works side by …show more content…
While watching 24-Hour Psycho, which is slowed down and silent, at an art museum an anonymous man comes to many conclusions about life that are very similar to those of Elster's, in that by slowing things down and escaping the outside you are able to see more of what is going on in front of you. (DeLillo 6). Both of the men conjure these intense views, though Elster shares his, the anonymous man conjurers these thoughts while watching the movie determined that he was supposed to find some grand meaning from the film. However, DeLillo seems to also be responding to Hitchcock’s original Psycho by mimicking many of the themes that pertain to women and how they are perceived by the men in their lives. One can use the film to draw the connections and grasp the way that the women are treated and perceived, considering that the film Psycho was popular in DeLillo’s young adult years, it’s easy to see the film stuck with him. The two works together add more take away for the viewer or reader, they bring clarification for what otherwise would be a difficult novel to fathom both philosophically and