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March 29, 2024, 01:39:53 am

Author Topic: Rear Window Text Response Feedback  (Read 467 times)  Share 

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Coolgalbornin03Lo

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Rear Window Text Response Feedback
« on: August 17, 2020, 10:04:06 pm »
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Hi guys!!! With the exam coming up I would just like some critisism (other than my teacher] so I can target my improvement even further!
I have attached it (with the date] and I have also put it in the spoiler below  :) :) There i also no conclusion because I am not sure how to write one :P
Spoiler
Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 thriller Rear Window is set in Greenwich Village, New York and depicts the life of residents through the voyeuristic gaze of the main character, L.B Jefferies. Hitchcock communicates that there is a discrepancy between what is seen and what is actually happening. Throughout Rear Window this gap is seen to encompass rigid gender roles as well as people judging to avoid choosing to “look in for change” . Hitchcock suggests that the world we are living in is artificial due to the nature of humans to prefer things which are similar and known to them; within their comfort zone. Mimicking others allows one to blend in and seamlessly become like a part of the community. Throughout the film the characters of Rear Window continue to develop in private, but still present themselves differently to the outside world as  they understand how others perceive them can make their lives more difficult.
The personas which Hitchcock has the characters adopt encourage the audience to realise people present themselves the way they would like to be perceived.The male gaze through which Rear Window is delivered facilitates this as Jeff's interpretation of characters becomes the audiences.  Lisa introduces herself while turning on lights as “Lisa.Carol.Fremont”. The dull lighting coupled with dialogue suggests that Lisa is portraying the best version of herself by illuminating herself, welcoming any onlookers. Hitchcock is underpinning the idea that females at the time were seen as objects but wanted to take control of exactly how they were seen. Hitchcock continues to lead the audience to make conclusions based on what they saw through the characterisation of Miss “Lonelyhearts”. Many of the “bathing beauties” which Jefferies saw through his window were given qualities solely based on what Jefferies saw of them. Miss Lonelyhearts' introduction was accompanied by sombre music and Stella wondering if “anyone in the neighbourhood who'd” look “in her direction”. This accompanying non diegetic sound encourages the audience to view her loneliness as misfortune. Hitchcock draws light on the fact that in a post cold war society it was seen as “abnormal” not to have company. Hitchcock has Jefferies apartment looking down on Miss Lonelyhearts signifying that Jefferies is of a different calibre to above Miss Lonelyhearts, as her lack of companionship is foreign and distant to him. By leading the audience to take what is presented to them at face value Hitchcock intends for the audience to see that people give rise to the stark contrast between perception and what actually exists..
As the audience becomes comfortable in their role as voyeurs, Hitchcock portrays reality in a way which can no longer be ignored by the audience. Lisa originally seems confident but longs for Jefferies to “pay attention” to her, wondering what a “woman [has] to do” to be noticed. The lighting is dimmed in this scene and for the first time since her introduction Lisa is positioned lower than Jefferies. The dimmed lighting is a contrast to the original lighting, in which Lisa wanted to be seen,  indicating this is a private moment on which the audience is intruding. It is purposely difficult to see exactly what is happening in this scene to remind the audience what they are witnessing is not intended to be seen, so is unplanned and therefore the truth. Lisa being positioned below Jeff looking up at him is an attempt to communicate Lisa actually isn't as confident as she presents herself, it is like she is begging to be seen. Lisa’s character is designed to identify as extremely confident to communicate the lengths which women had to go to be taken seriously. Embracing his role as a “peeping tom” Jeffries experiences many private moments of others which reveal his true character. As he is looking down at the window of Miss LonelyHearts the camera cuts between her apartment and his as he smiles and raises a glass. The utilisation of the Kuleshov effect endeavours to emphasise the similarities between the characters of Jefferies and Miss Lonelyhearts despite their outward differences.The glass which Jefferies toasts is symbolic of understanding, Hitchcock intends for the audience to realise that everybody faces the same struggles as beneath everything they are all the same; human.  The depiction of private moments of characters accentuates the role which wanting to please others has in how people present themselves.
As the film progresses Hitchcok makes the reasons for discrepancy between first impression and actuality apparent to the audience. The attention which the audience was led to believe Lisa enjoys is actually a “womens hardest job”. Lisa facilitates these voyeurs but finds “juggling wolves'' far from fulfilling. This use of this metaphor referring to men as wolves implies that they were uncivilised in their dealings with women and females had to balance that along with other domestic duties expected of them. Hitchcock engenders sympathy for the many women living in a male orientated world, suggesting the structure of society, although beneficial to many people including himself being male, is perhaps outdated. Lisa labelling interacting with men as a “job” depicts it as being key to survival as job is usually associated with making a livelihood. To be subservient is necessary for survival which results in the difference between a females outward appearance and their true self. Jefferies experiences loneliness like Miss lonelyhearts but secretly enjoys it. Jeffries fears companionship but not as much as not being seen as masculine. Jeffreies reveals to Stella how he desperately “do[esnt] want to get” married, which she berates him as “any man with half a brain” would take this chance. Employing dialogue with a sarcastic tone implies how atypical this behaviour is for a male. During this scene Stella is massaging Jefferies as he grimaces. The facial expression of Jefferies symbolises the literal crushing weight of the expectations of “every man” ingrained in the toxic masculinity of the 1950s. To deviate from this would arouse suspision which is risky in a time where Mccarthyism is prevalent. This reaffirms it is easier for Jefferies to look outwards and judge than “look inside for a change” as he would be faced with something which the rest of society deemed inadequate. Hitchcock underpins the idea people are hypocritical; critiquing in others what they despise in themselves. Hitchcock reaffirms that the difference between how people present themselves and who they actually are is buried deep beneath what they believe others will be comfortable with and draw the least amount of attention to themselves.

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