"Television has brought murder back into the home - where it belongs."

A gold star to anybody who can answer the question of the day: what exactly did Hitchcock have against relationships? I don't really understand how somebody who seems to be rather jolly in a dark and suspenseful way can be so clearly bitter about something. Shall we examine the films we viewed in class.

We begin with The 39 Steps. This doesn't exactly support the idea of marriage. As we've discussed time and time again in class, almost none of the relationships in this film are happy. We have the crofter and his wife. He's an angry, religious little Scot and she's just there to make his food and clean the house. Why they're together in the first place nobody knows (clearly they would both be better off with someone else). During the film, Hitchcock exploits their bogus relationship to critique (in a way) the lies about marriage. Even at the end of the film, Hannay and his new found secret love aren't really happy, they're just kind of there. After experiencing such a ridiculous event, happy isn't really an option. It isn't all fun and games, kids. In real life, people are crabby and mean.

Moving on to Rear Window. Again, we've absolutely talked this to death but I'm content with digging the grave a little deeper. Jeff is completely set against marrying Lisa even though she is clearly perfect (and way too good for him as Stella points out repeatedly). Once again, Hitchcock has his protagonist shy away from the idea of marriage. Also, none of the relationships in the apartment complex are happy ones. Ms. Lonely Hearts is suicidal, Ms. Torso entertains man after man because she's bored, the composer sits alone banging away at the piano, Thorwald kills his wife, and the bizarre couple who sleep on the balcony are just bizarre. The only happy couple is the newlywed kids (and that is only because they're having sex like rabbits). Again, this entire movie is a sort of critique on people's awful relationships.

Finally, we have Vertigo. Definitely the most eerie of the films that we watched in class. We have the protagonist of the story in a relationship with a seemingly wonderful woman that he doesn't appreciate (could Hitchcock possibly be bitter about something?) We also have a clearly unhappy marriage, seeing as Elster hatches an ultra-elaborate plot to murder his adoring wife. At this point, we realize that Hitchcock clearly has had some bad relationship experiences. Not to mention an almost sick obsession, something that comes through clearly in this film. Nobody ever gets to be very happy in Hitchcock films.

Honestly, I don't know what Hitchcock could possibly have against relationships. They're not that bad - often they're actually enjoyable. It's possible that he had some bad experiences, maybe he had his heart broken one too many times. But it seems as though he is extremely bitter about this whole "love" thing. Maybe he's just a very crabby person.