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The film The Birds, created by Alfred Hitchcock, is an american horror film made in the 1960s, which focuses mainly on birds violently attacking people in the town of Bodega Bay. Alfred Hitchcock is a famous director who created great films and most with the genres of thriller and criminal. This film was a bit different compared to the ones Hitchcock prior to this one and mostly because there was not a case of someone being murdered by another person. Instead, it is birds who are killing people in the town of Bodega Bay.
Getting into the topic of the birds that were attacking the town, it all began with Melanie, the main character and Mitch, another main character, that met at court before fully getting to know each other at a store.
Mitch, acting like he did not recognize her and asking if she was a saleswoman to be able to have a conversation with her, caught Melanie's eye and she quickly had interest in him.
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“ Thank you so much for accepting my assignment the night before it was due. I look forward to working with you moving forward ”
Further later, Melanie decides to help him with a gift he was not able to purchase for his little sisters, cathy, who had just turned eleven.
The confusing part of this film, is that after she buys this gift for him, which were a couple of birds, something fairly odd begins to happen around the town of Bodega Bay. People are being attacked by birds who take over the are of Bodega Bay and later on proceed to travel to other cities to start another attack.
No one knows why or what to do. People are found dead and can no longer be saved. Melanie herself even almost died by entering an upstairs room, after hearing something flattering, where there was a hole through the ceiling which had a flock of birds and that lead to the attack.
As soon as she had fainted from the intense bites these birds gave her, she immediately had been saved by her lover, Mitch, who was protecting his mother Lydia and cathy in there very home, by being pulled out of the room to the hallway and mitch, closing the door of that room immediately to prevent any birds from coming in. Speaking more about why the birds acted this way to humans, in an interview by Camille Paglia made in 1998, Hitchcock brings up how the birds wanted to punish humans for taking nature for granted and by doing so, they would attack to keep them trapped in their very own homes. This could be an important theme that fits best for this film given the fact how civilians do treat nature terribly.
Something interesting that seemed to be shown a lot in this movie is how women were treated in different ways or how they were portrayed. There was a character, Annie, which had been Mitch’s ex wife, was the teacher in this film. Back in the day, women were seen and made to stay home, clean, cook, or be sales women but in this film, there was a professor and it was Annie. Also, this entire film revolves around women mostly, like Lydia, the mother, Melanie who was the main protagonist, Cathy, the sister and more which shows the Feminist view point. They had major roles and it passes the Bechdel test too.
The film The Birds and The 39 Steps produced by Alfred Hitchcock, share some similarities but also differences that change up the views of the film in a more deeper aspect when it comes to a feminism perspective. Men play the major role in old films that Hitchcock directed but usually the main focus is on the females with the mistreatment they receive from anyone, whether it being men, from higher classes or even women.
For example, Mrs. Van Hopper from the film Rebecca, also by Alfred Hitchcock, had more power than the new Mrs. DeWinters who was a lady companion to her. This is because she would ask her to do things for her like tasks and follow her around. So, not only did men have power over women but as did women too.
Leading back to film The Birds, some differences it had with The 39 Steps are how women were more acknowledged than the women in The 39 steps where they had been mistreated by being taken advantage of and used. In one of the scenes of The 39 steps, you can see how easy it was for Hannay to just grab a woman and kiss her with no permission and little knowledge of who they are.
Whereas, in The Birds, women are the main focus in this film, having them as teachers, caring for the young ladies in school and one being the teacher which was lovely because it was not a male professor taking that place. In one of the scenes you can see how Melanie goes out her way to buy a gift for the man she quickly found interest in so he can give to his younger sister for her eleventh birthday. It is just to show that Melanie felt comfort and respect from Mitch, main male character who falls in love with Melanie, and how nice of a man he was.
This is to prove the difference that these two films acquire which is a change that Hitchcock later on added, to perhaps make the audience feel more of comfortability when watching and also get a different aspect from a female vs. male. Being that there was a difference between the two films, there was also a similarity that was seen in scenes.
Although, it seemed as if women were portrayed differently in both films, it seemed as if they still depended on the main male character, that being Hannay from The 39 steps and Mitch from The Birds where they felt like they needed protection and perhaps because the felt since they are a male, their job is to be the hero and be protective even though sometimes they did mistreat these women.
In conclusion, after watching and analyzing many of his films, they mostly represent the genres of crime, thrillers, dramas, and american horror. He had a very distinct and dark way of producing his films. Alfred Hitchcock seemed as if he was very fond of mysterious crimes and producing films that create suspense for his audience so he could really grab their attention and for entertainment. But in many of his films, feminism views were not of importance as much from how each female role had to be played out.
Given the fact that Hitchcock did make women seem extremely weak and vulnerable compared to the men, you can see how society was towards women in those times. In all of his films, the trend of murders of women are common. As you can see, Hitchcock was a great filmmaker but his morals may not have been socially acceptable in today's day. His work was advanced, influential and distinct from the many movies made today.
The Birds Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. (2024, Feb 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-birds-directed-by-alfred-hitchcock-essay
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