Through the looking glass: reflexivity, reciprocality, and defenestration in Hitchcock's Rear Window.

Through the looking glass: reflexivity, reciprocality, and defenestration in Hitchcock's Rear Window. Rear Window has long been recognized for its thematics of watching,connecting the voyeurism VoyeurismSee also Eavesdropping.Actaeonturned into stag for watching Artemis bathe. [Gk. Myth.: Leach, 8]elders of Babylonwatch Susanna bathe. of L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies (JamesStewart) with the spectator's curiosity about the lives of thoseone watches on the screen. (2) Examinations of the film's reflexivestructure have contributed multiple strands to the interpretation ofscopophilia scopophilia/sco��po��phil��ia/ (sko?po-fil��e-ah) usually, voyeurism, but it is sometimes divided into active and passive forms, active s. being voyeurism and passive s. being exhibitionism. in Hitchcock's film and in the experience of cinema.Feminist psychoanalytic readings of the gendered implications of thegaze have called attention to the ways in which Hitchcock's filmscreens and reinforces the power of the masculine spectator over thefeminine spectacle. (3) More recently, analyses that place this film inits historical period have also detected interesting resonances withrespect to the surveillance of McCarthyism. (4) All of this criticalinterest in the thematics of watching has added a great deal to theappreciation and understanding of Hitchcock's film, and hasinfluenced how we think about the gaze as both an exercise of power andan imposition on those whom it captures. But, too frequently, criticshave tended to read the power of the gaze as a unidirectional phenomenonand thus have emphasized how the film positions us with respect to Jeffas a voyeur--one of a "race of Peeping Toms" as his nurse,Stella (Thelma Ritter Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was a Tony Award winning American character actress of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Early lifeRitter was born in Brooklyn, New York. ), calls him. As much as the film invites us to doso, interpreting it exclusively through the viewer's identificationwith Jeff fails to recognize that the film's narrative logic alsostresses the risk of being seen. Jeff signals this risk when, fearing that the suspicious neighboron whom he has been spying may have seen Stella and him, he nervouslywhispers to her to get back out of sight. She answers, "I'mnot shy, I've been looked at before," to which he warns,"That's no ordinary look. That's the kind of look a mangives when he thinks that someone might be watching him." Thisbrief exchange focuses attention on an important--thoughunder-examined--conflict of the narrative, highlighting specifically therole that conditions Jeff's relationships with others, and thedanger he attaches to the prospect of being seen, especially but notexclusively by Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacey Burr (May 21 1917 – September 12, 1993) was an Emmy-winning actor and vintner, perhaps best known for his roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. ). Jeff is a voyeur voy��eurn.1. A person who derives sexual gratification from observing the naked bodies or sexual acts of others, especially from a secret vantage point.2. An obsessive observer of sordid or sensational subjects. whoprivileges himself as a subject in opposition to those whom he watchesas objects. Maintaining these categorical distinctions informs theidentity that he has framed for himself. Although most of the peoplewhom Jeff watches from the window of his apartment are oblivious to hisgaze, Thorwald, it seems to Jeff, senses that he might be observed.Should he see Jeff watching him, Thorwald's reciprocal look wouldnegate the power of Jeff's voyeurism by converting Jeff fromsubject to object. Thus Hitchcock's notably reflexive film is asmuch about scopophobia as it is about scopophilia. In its tension between looking and being looked at, Rear Windowstructures its theme within the phenomenological dynamics that Sartredescribes in the essay "The Look": [T]he problem of Others has generally been treated as if the primary relation by which the Other is discovered is object-ness; that is, as if the Other were first revealed--directly or indirectly--to our perception. But since this perception by its very nature refers to something other than to itself ... not to an isolated entity located in principle outside my reach, its essence must be to refer to a primary relation between my consciousness and the Other's. This relation, in which the Other must be given to me directly as a subject although in connection with me, is the fundamental relation, the very type of my being-for-others. (Sartre 1956, 253) The applicability of Sartre's thought to Hitchcock's filmcan be measured by the degree of correspondence between the surveillanceconditions of Nazi occupation that influenced Sartre's conceptionof the look and the state scrutiny of anti-communist McCarthyism thatroiled Hollywood during the period in which Hitchcock was making RearWindow. Both led to alienating conditions that pit the individualagainst the state, which permeated individuals' relationships witheach other. Within the film itself, we can readily observe that althoughJeff implicitly acknowledges his understanding of the condition of"being-for-others," his fear of being seen by Thorwaldindicates his uneasiness about the reciprocality it entails. Theformation of his identity through the direction of his own gaze, whilegranting him power, obstructs his relationships withothers--relationships that reciprocally acknowledge more than just hisown desires, interests, and concerns--and entraps him in the isolatedposition that Sartre calls "being-for-oneself." This essay examines the ways in which Hitchcock's filmnarrative screens the danger of personal isolation that stems fromvoyeuristic detachment, and how it violently resolves the obstacles toJeff's developing identity, enabling him to move beyond theseparation from others that he attempts to maintain. In particular, hisrelationship with Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly Noun 1. Grace Kelly - United States film actress who retired when she married into the royal family of Monaco (1928-1982)Grace Patricia Kelly, Princess Grace of Monaco, Kelly ), his girlfriend, isrenegotiated and ultimately fulfilled by a reciprocal exchange ofsubject and object positions conceptually and spatially in thefilm's narrative. Although the film's framing techniquefunctions to define the subjectivity of the gaze, the camera is freed atcrucial moments from the dedicated perspective it attains by its nearlyconsistent positioning within Jeff's apartment. These crucialinstances in which the camera travels outside of Jeff's apartmentidentify its point of view as spatially rather than characterologicallydefined throughout the film, which produces a counter-objectificationthat radically alters how we understand the dynamics of the gaze. Thefilm's effect and meaning depend upon the narrative'sreversing the direction of power that Jeff exerts, and thus leads theway to achieving the reciprocality involved in intersubjectiverelationships. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently , in addition to critiquing theobjectifying power of Jeff's voyeurism, the reciprocity of the lookprovides the opportunity for closure not just to the Thorwald murdermystery but also to the heterosexual romance between Jeff and Lisa thattips the narrative balance. Finally, the emphasis on the dynamics of thegaze will suggest a critique of the inherent limitations in the analysesof cinematic reflexivity. My analysis will unfold in four sections. The first examines thefoundation and implications of Jeff's voyeuristic identity; thesecond addresses Lisa's expectations of power from being looked at,and the strategies she adopts when this typical avenue of control isclosed off by Jeff's dogged grasp on his subjectivity; the thirdanalyzes the cinematic shifts that effect a break in the audience'sidentification with Jeff's subjectivity and the implications forJeff's discovery of the fulfillment of reciprocality; and the lastbriefly considers the implications of Jeff's diegetictransformation on the meaning of the film's reflexivity and whatthe spectator is to understand about one's own position with regardto watching. 1. Doing "something drastic" Hitchcock announces the reflexive allegory that connectsJeff's rear window to the cinematic screen on which the filmnarrative is projected during the opening titles, when the three bamboocurtains on Jeff's apartment window rise as a visual echo of therising curtain in a theater. The frame that this window presents to usis an appropriate establishing shot because nearly all of the images inRear Window, especially our first sight of the people and objects wesee, come to us through this frame or analogous ones. We glimpse thedifferent stories in the apartments that surround the courtyard throughthe frames of their windows: the frustrated composer, the grim salesmanand his invalid wife, the coquettish co��quette?n.A woman who makes teasing sexual or romantic overtures; a flirt.[French, feminine of coquet, flirtatious man; see coquet. dancer, the desperate spinster, theintimate newlyweds--each inspire narratives that have been likened tothe kinds of stories one finds in film, on television, or in tabloidjournalism. (5) Our first look around the interior of Jeff'sapartment gives us a complementary establishing shot. By comparison tothe brief and distanced views of the pan around the courtyard, the longtake and proximity of this interior mise-en-scene signal thepre-eminence of this character, a man trapped in a plaster cast from hiswaist to the toes of his left foot, and the story that will unfoldwithin this apartment. The decor of his apartment includes a series ofimages juxtaposed to convey expository content, confirmed later bydialogue: from the broken camera juxtaposed to the action shot of aracing-car accident, we surmise not only the cause of Jeff's brokenleg but also his profession as a photojournalist, which is confirmed byother action photographs of a fire and an atomic-bomb test. In drawingthese inferences, we engage in the same process through which Jeffconstructs the stories of his neighbors' lives. As it completes the pan of Jeff's apartment, the camera restson one pair of images--a framed negative of a cover model and itspositive image on the magazine lying adjacent to thephoto-negative--that comments more ironically. The framed negative is aprovocative image both because of its visual counter-statement to themagazine cover and because it foretells the misgivings Jeff will lateradmit about fashion photography, professionally, and about glamorouswomen, personally. His resistance to romance defines his troubledrelationship with Lisa, who makes her entrance in the fourth scene ofthe film. Her arrival is swathed in mystery as Hitchcock reveals herpresence first as a shadow gradually looming over the sleepingJefferies. When he detects her presence, the smile on his face convertswhat might be an ominous image to a more gratifying one, and then thecontinuity crosscut to a frontal close-up of Lisa followed by a profileview of the slow-motion kiss between the couple fulfill thatexpectation. This lingering over the erotic moment frames the intimacywhile still maintaining the audience's curiosity about the identityof Jeff's paramour par��a��mour?n.A lover, especially one in an adulterous relationship.[Middle English, from par amour, by way of love, passionately, from Anglo-Norman : par, by . And the dialectical composition from shots ofeach participant to the synthesizing shot of the couple kissing is aconsummating sequence with respect to the phenomenology phenomenology,modern school of philosophy founded by Edmund Husserl. Its influence extended throughout Europe and was particularly important to the early development of existentialism. of relationshipsin Jeff's life. Jeff insists on maintaining distance from thepeople in his world, establishing his position as subject to them asobjects. He has characterized an entanglement like marriage as"something drastic" to which he fears his desolation in hiscurrent "swamp of boredom" is likely to drive him. When thathappens, he predicts to Gunnison, his editor, "I won't be ableto go anywhere." Lisa's arrival, and the kiss she delivers,then, is a mise en abyme Mise en abyme (also mise en ab?me) has several meanings in the realm of the creative arts and literary theory. The term is originally from the French and means, "placing into infinity" or "placing into the abyss". that frames the central dramatic issue inJeff's story: the shot sequence collapses the distance Jeffattempts to maintain, and thus signals the potential forintersubjectivity Intersubjectivity is something which is shared by two or more subjectivites.The term is used in three ways. Firstly, in its weakest sense it is used to refer to agreement. that he resists, even with a woman as desirable asLisa. Of course, at the moment of the kiss, Lisa is still unknown to us,and Hitchcock continues to tease us with her identity visually andnominally by suspending her introduction over a series of gestures bywhich she successively turns on the lights in the dim apartment,announcing the three parts of her name with each illumination and at anincreasing distance from the camera: "Lisa"--lights a lamp inclose proximity--"Carol"--lights another slightly farther awayfrom the camera--"Fremont"--lighting the third and brightestof the lights as the camera pulls back to reveal her standing in a fullshot, posed as a fashion model in high couture. A careful observation ofthis final pose will detect the director's careful blocking of theaction, for Lisa's head is aligned with a framed picture on thewall, as if her own portrait were held in this frame. This ispurposefully suggestive because it is precisely the framing of Lisa thatattracts Jeff to her as an object of desire. But her attempt to draw himinto the frame, to civilize civ��i��lize?tr.v. civ��i��lized, civ��i��liz��ing, civ��i��liz��es1. To raise from barbarism to an enlightened stage of development; bring out of a primitive or savage state.2. him into a marriage within conventionalsociety, is the consequential risk that he persistently avoids. As he does frequently when he wants to deride de��ride?tr.v. de��rid��ed, de��rid��ing, de��ridesTo speak of or treat with contemptuous mirth. See Synonyms at ridicule.[Latin d someone'ssuggestion of marriage, Jeff asks them to imagine him in a position thathe considers preposterous, such as when Lisa suggests he give up hisitinerant ITINERANT. Travelling or taking a journey. In England there were formerly judges called Justices itinerant, who were sent with commissions into certain counties to try causes. profession and open up his own studio in Manhattan: "Canyou see me driving down to the fashion salon wearing combat boots and athree-day beard? Wouldn't that make a hit?" She responds,"I can see you looking very handsome and successful in a dark-blueflannel suit." (6) By dismissing these images as"nonsense," Jeff is not simply upholding a professionalidentity, he's resisting the idea of being seen as Lisa would havehim, and thus he rejects the condition that Sartre terms"being-for-another." Jeff insists on maintaining his privilegeof framing the issue from his perspective. The longer the debatecontinues, the more he resorts to verbs of visual perception. And wherea deictic deic��tic?adj.1. Logic Directly proving by argument.2. Linguistics Of or relating to a word, the determination of whose referent is dependent on the context in which it is said or written. marker such as "Look" might be perfectly innocent inan ordinary conversation, it takes on added resonance in the context ofJeff's voyeurism and his anxieties about being seen. WhereLisa's implicit use of such a deictic through posing attempts tofocus his attention on her, Jeff's deployment of the rhetoricalmarker deflects attention from him to the abstract hypothetical subjectof the discussion. His profession is an important constituent in his characterizationbecause it authorizes him to exercise the gaze, to look at peoplewithout being looked back upon as an Other. Indeed, if he is looked at,it is simply as a photographer, as part of the image-making apparatusthat defines the era that Benjamin termed the "age of mechanicalreproduction." Jeff's profession accustoms him to placing thepeople and things he sees within frames that condition the meaning thatattaches to those images. But Jeff scrupulously avoids being placedwithin the frames of social requirements himself. As he argues later,his photojournalistic career orients his life outside of conventionalboundaries. He's an adventurer who lives on the move and amidst theleast accommodating circumstances, whereas Lisa is only comfortable, heimagines, in the genteel environment of Park Avenue soirees. This conflict between her desire for them to be together, either inhis world or in hers, and his resistance to that confinement isaccentuated because Jeff is trapped in the apartment, bound by the"plaster cocoon cocoon:see pupa. " on his broken leg and confined to awheelchair, which makes him prey to Lisa. Indeed, the wheelchair is anironic touch because the three stairs between the entry and the rest ofthe very small apartment make a wheelchair virtually irrelevant outsideor in. So it serves simply to exacerbate his awareness of his lostfreedom. (7) Lisa, too, understands the significance of the opportunity;she orchestrates a lavish seduction with a catered dinner from"21" in an attempt to convert what he calls a "run-of-themill Wednesday" into "opening night on the last depressingweek of L. B. Jefferies in a cast. "With as much theatricality asshe can muster, she hopes to convert this last week of his captivityinto the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. But Jeff stubbornlyrefuses to capitulate ca��pit��u��late?intr.v. ca��pit��u��lat��ed, ca��pit��u��lat��ing, ca��pit��u��lates1. To surrender under specified conditions; come to terms.2. To give up all resistance; acquiesce. See Synonyms at yield. and tenaciously adheres to his condition ofbeing-for-oneself. As a trapped voyeur aching for any diversion from his romanticdilemma, Jeff is left with little to do but to look out the window, notto admire the alterations in the light or the expanse of the cityscape (company) CityScape - A re-seller of Internet connections to the PIPEX backbone.E-Mail: <sales@cityscape.co.uk>.Address: CityScape Internet Services, 59 Wycliffe Rd., Cambridge, CB1 3JE, England. Telephone: +44 (1223) 566 950. but to watch the lives of his neighbors in the apartments that surroundthe courtyard. We see this from his first waking moments "Waking Moments" is an episode of , the 13th episode of the fourth season. The episode has an average rating of 4.2/5 on the official Star Trek website (as of May 10th, 2007). and also learnabout the power of the gaze from his telephone conversation with hiseditor, which despite its seemingly innocuous banter establishesimportant thematic functions. While listening to Gunnison make light ofJeff's bad luck in missing out on a plum assignment, he notices ahelicopter hovering over a rooftop so its crew can ogle o��gle?v. o��gled, o��gling, o��glesv.tr.1. To stare at.2. To stare at impertinently, flirtatiously, or amorously.v.intr. young womensunbathers, performing more obtrusively the voyeurism that he exercisesfrom the discreet distance of his apartment. When Jeff points out thatGunnison's mistake about the date of his release from the castinstills doubts about how he ever became an editor, Gunnison jokes thathe got ahead through "thrift, industry, and hard work, and catchingthe publisher with his secretary." This joke wryly adds voyeurismto the trinity of virtues that define the American ethos, thus furtherreinforcing the sense that one obtains power by intruding onpeople's privacy. As they crack wise about the euphemisms appliedto modern marriage, which Jeff will echo later as a rebuff toStella's critique of how modern courtship has becomeover-intel-lectualized, Jeff continues to scan the windows of hisneighbors and draws inferences about the state of their miseries inloneliness or in marriage. But all of this watching fails to divert him from his own problemsbecause the stories he infers from his nearly obsessive observations ofhis neighbors' lives are variations on the theme of his ownambivalence about committing to marriage. Figures like Miss Torso andMiss Lonelyheart represent opposite poles of gaiety GaietySee also Cheerfulness, Joviality, Joy.Gallantry (See CHIVALRY.)butterfly orchissymbol of gaiety. or despair in thesingle life, while, as divergent examples of coupling, the newlyweds inthe apartment adjacent to Jeff's represent the enthralling en��thrall?tr.v. en��thralled, en��thrall��ing, en��thralls1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience.2. To enslave. noveltyof marriage, and Thorwald and his invalid wife its burdensome drudgery.As he continues watching, the identifications multiply in conflictingways. For example, Jeff is identified not only with Mrs. Thorwald inthat both are invalids, but also with Thorwald who seeks to be rid ofhis wife just as Jeff looks to evade what he sees as the marriage trap.(8) These multiplied correspondences also parallel his equivocationtoward Lisa, dramatized no more clearly than on the evening when shewoos him only to be told that he does not share her vision of theirfuture together. Having essentially ended their relationship, he thenasks "When will I see you again?" In hoping to maintain the"status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. ," Jeff's resistance creates dramatic ironybecause where narrative requires that conflict undergo acceleratedtension and final resolution, Jeff, instead, hopes to stem change.Moreover, in addition to the irony, his question signals his penchantfor seeing, his need to see people but only on his own unidirectionalterms in which he is subject and they are objects. To underscore this aspect of Jeff's identity, Hitchcockdeploys a cinematic technique that he called "subjectivetreatment": Subjective treatment is the close-up of the person and what they see. You see I use it a lot. A tremendous lot of subjective treatment in film.... Rear Window is purely subjective treatment--what Jimmy Stewart sees all the time. And how he reacts to it.... As against the objective. You see, the objective is the stage. Is the theater. We are audience looking at the people on the stage. We aren't with them, we aren't getting any viewpoint you see. (Gottlieb 1995, 291) (9) Although this is clearly an important technique both to the way inwhich the film's story unfolds visually and to the film'sreflexivity, the emphasis that Hitchcock places on this technique ismisleading. For a great deal of screen time is occupied with theunfolding events within Jeff's apartment during which the cameramost often functions objectively to present the dynamics of Jeff'srelationship with Lisa, not to mention the number of pans of thecourtyard or apartment during which Jeff is asleep. (10) To be sure,Jeff's role as voyeur establishes him in the subject position asthe prying observer who renders those whom he watches into objects. Butthis propensity to look is not exclusive to Jeff; thus, the genderedassociations to the male-subject and female-object are complicated inRear Window. Indeed, one neighbor, the sculptress, takes an interest inothers, and Thorwald rudely dismisses her as a neighborhood busybody,reinforcing a conventional gender stereotype. Not only is Thorwald--aman--the primary object of Jeff's gaze, but the act of watching ismore pervasively figured as passive, and female. Of those who are drawninto Jeff's voyeurism, the most avid watchers are Lisa and Stella,despite their initial resistance to and critique of scopophiliccuriosity about the lives of others. Tom Doyle (Wendell Corey Wendell Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American actor.He was born Wendell Reid Corey in Dracut, Massachusetts, the son of Milton Rothwell Corey (October 24, 1879-October 23, 1951) and Julia Etta McKenney (April 11, 1882-June 16, 1947). ), a policedetective--and the former pilot of the reconnaissance plane on whichJeff served during the war, thereby facilitating Jeff's voyeuristiccompulsion for the purpose of national security--feels some duty tofollow up on what they observe, but primarily to debunk de��bunk?tr.v. de��bunked, de��bunk��ing, de��bunksTo expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of: debunk a supposed miracle drug. theirinterpretations. Finally, he dismisses the voyeuristic inferences ofLisa and Jeff as frivolous womanly wom��an��ly?adj. wom��an��li��er, wom��an��li��est1. Having qualities generally attributed to a woman.2. Belonging to or representative of a woman; feminine: womanly attire. pastimes, at best, and intrusiveviolations of privacy, at worst, relying on "femaleintuition," a curse on the efficient use of a man's time andenergy. Moreover, in overstressing the connection of the subjectivetechnique to Jeff, Hitchcock implicitly denies the pivotal moments inwhich the camera does not function as a subjective apparatus identifiedwith Jeff. As has been widely noted, the opening pans of the courtyardand of Jeff's apartment occur while he is sleeping with his back tothe window and thus do not represent his view. (11) Notably, during hisvigilant night of watching Thorwald's apartment, Jeff has noddedoff when the suspect and a woman are seen leaving the apartment beforedawn, granting the audience access to information that contradictsJeff's inferences about Thorwald's guilt. These rather subtleviolations of subjective treatment create a space for alternativeperspectives and different considerations not only about seeing but alsoabout being seen. 2. A woman who knows what's "expected of her" Despite Laura Mulvey's groundbreaking theory about theimposition of the male gaze on the female object, Lisa Fremont is aforce to be reckoned with. (12) Jeff's behavior suggests as much.He cannot simply banish her from his life, nor can he completely preventher from continuing to exert her influence over him. Like Stella,she's been looked at before and is not afraid to be seen. In fact,she knows that she derives a considerable amount of power from beingseen. But when her attempt to seduce Jeff with a lavish dinner and aglamorous display of Parisian couture fails, Lisa proves far moreresourceful than Mulvey's characterization of her allows. AsJeff's attention wanders from her to what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. in otherapartments, she doesn't simply fold but, instead, becomes apartner, first, as an observer and interpreter of the clues they piecetogether from what's seen and not seen, and, later, as the kind ofactive investigator that Jeff cannot become. So the simple binary thatposits Jeff as one who lives to look and Lisa as one who lives to belooked at doesn't adequately convey the complexity of her role andthe evolving dynamics of their relationship within the unfoldingnarrative. Even before she becomes involved in the Thorwald mystery, Lisademonstrates her ability to assert her own independent judgment aboutthe stories Jeff constructs. Early on, she counters Jeff'sinterpretation of Miss Torso, by which he misogynistically characterizesher as a wily predator looking to entrap a man foolish enough to bedistracted by her erotic appeal. Lisa disagrees with this assessmentbecause she understands that a woman who attracts the kind of attentionMiss Torso does is "doing a woman's hardest job, jugglingwolves." In the early hours of the next morning, Lisa'sinterpretation is confirmed. Although Jeff never admits it, during hisstakeout stake��out?n.Surveillance of an area, building, or person, especially by the police.stakeoutNounSlang, chiefly US & Canad a police surveillance of an area or houseVerb of Thorwald's curious comings and goings, he sees MissTorso return home and observes her forcefully repel her insistent escortat her apartment door. But Lisa becomes involved in the Thorwald story reluctantly. Thefirst shift that initiates her participation comes about after Jeff hasremained preoccupied even while during an intimate embrace in front ofhis window. Lisa is clearly perplexed with Jeff's indifference toher and his fascination with Mrs. Thorwald's disappearance, andinitially she chastises him for his voyeuristic obsession: "If youcould only see yourself ... sitting around looking out the window tokill time is one thing, but doing it the way you are with binoculars andwild opinions about every little thing you see is diseased." Heremphasis on his seeing himself, and her critique of how he appears toher calls to mind Jeff's aversion to being seen watching, buthe's been only concerned about being seen by those whom he watches.Since Lisa barely registers to his attention, and his looking divertshim from her attempts to escalate the terms of their relationship, hehas little regard for how she sees him. But instead of allowing her tofollow through on her threat to leave if he doesn't forebear spyingon his neighbors through binoculars, an activity that he would simplycontinue if he were serious about repelling her, he defends himself withthe litany of circumstantial "evidence" that inspires hissuspicions, all of which Lisa refutes. Still, when her suggestion that"there's probably something more sinister going on"behind the drawn shades of Noun 1. shades of - something that reminds you of someone or something; "aren't there shades of 1948 here?"reminder - an experience that causes you to remember something the newlyweds' apartment drawsJeff's sardonic "no comment," Lisa's attitudepivots. The motivation for her riveted gaze is that she sees Thorwaldherself, but nothing about his behavior is anymore incriminating thanwhat Jeff had already mentioned and which she had already refuted. Thejuxtaposition of her shift to talk of the newlyweds whom Jeffsarcastically mocks, though, suggests that her joining with Jeff is aresourceful tack. In effect, she redirects her pursuit of Jeffonentirely new terms See suggestions for new terms. and asks him to "start from the beginningagain.... Tell me everything you saw and what you think it means."So while Jeff turns his attention outside in order to avoid Lisa, shefollows suit in order to engage with him in the voyeuristic enterprise,and later to become part of his field of vision. From this moment, Lisaembraces Jeff's interpretation and does the crucial detectivelegwork leg��work?n. InformalWork, such as collecting information or doing research in preparation for a project, that involves much walking or traveling about. of ascertaining the suspect's name and address from themailbox of their building. As they become more embroiled em��broil?tr.v. em��broiled, em��broil��ing, em��broils1. To involve in argument, contention, or hostile actions: "Avoid . . . in thedetective process, she even complements Jeff's suspicions with someinferences of her own about the likely behavior of a woman with respectto her favorite handbag and her jewelry. More importantly, the impassebetween Jeff and Lisa no longer dominates the drama between them. But her desire to keep this process going, and thus furtherreinforce her partnership with Jeff, leads to disappointment andembarrassment when Doyle reveals that Thorwald's behavior and hismissing wife can be rationally explained, echoing Lisa's ownearlier refutations. In a stunning turn, the policeman asserts thesanctity of privacy as he points out that his investigation hasconfirmed that early on the morning when Jeff insists that Mrs. Thorwaldhas disappeared, Lars Thorwald put his wife on a train to the country tofacilitate her recovery from prolonged illness. Since the cameracaptured Thorwald and a woman leaving early one morning as Jeff dozed,the audience is led to believe that Doyle's got it right. Indeed,the subtle use of diegetic sound in Rear Window has already suggestivelyaffirmed to us what Doyle reports: the faint sound of a distant trainwhistle The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. can be heard at the moment when Mrs. Thorwald caught her husbandin an embarrassing phone call, and then again when we witness Thorwaldand, presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. , his wife take their leave, thereby linking with a soniccue the troubled couple and Doyle's explanation of the trainjourney. This cluster of visual and auditory associations weakens theaudience's commitment to Jeff's suspicions in anticipation ofthe film's strategy of distancing us from Jeff in the latter halfof the narrative. Compounding the humiliation of Doyle's discoveries, Jeff andLisa are further embarrassed by witnessing the pathetic drama of MissLonelyheart's failed seduction of a younger man. When Jeff tries toqualify his violation of "rear window ethics" by noting thathis neighbors can do the same to him, Lisa reminds him again of how theywould appear to others, as two ghouls despondent de��spon��dent?adj.Feeling or expressing despondency; dejected.de��spondent��ly adv. at learning that Mrs.Thorwald is alive. Lisa draws the blinds to afford them the privacy thatwill protect them from the neighbors' curiosity, and vows toprevent Jeff from gazing on his neighbors even if she has to "moveinto an apartment across the way and perform the dance of the sevenveils The of this article may be compromised by "weasel words".You can help Wikipedia by removing weasel words. every hour." Lisa's gesture and vow, of course, returnJeff's focus to her, as well as shutting out the neighbors'views of the private affair she hopes to consummate. After changing intothe diaphanous nightgown she brought for the next phase of herseduction, she poses and asks, "Do you like it?" Thisperformance replicates her demeanor from her first scene when shemodeled the latest dress from Paris, as if nothing at all has happenedsince. Her engagement with the Thorwald mystery has been, it would seem,a mere interlude by which she could prevent Jeff from shunning her. Withthat mystery dispatched, she returns to plan A. But no sooner does she steer Jeff's attention back to her thana scream from the courtyard and the discovery of the neighbors'dead dog cancels the mood into which the evening has veered. In theessay's next section, we'll look more closely at the scenethat unfolds from this scream, but here it suffices to note that notonly has Jeff and Lisa's empathy been challenged by thedogowner's mournful mourn��ful?adj.1. Feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful.2. Causing or suggesting sadness or melancholy: the mournful sound of a train whistle. appeal, but Jeff's suspicion aboutThorwald has also been revived. He observes that Thorwald alonedidn't come to see what had happened, remaining instead in thedarkness of his apartment indicated by the pulsating glow of hiscigarette, which convinces them that Thorwald has killed the dog todeter his inquisitive digging in the garden. Curiously, though, thescene fades to black with the next one opening on the following daywithout any indication of what if anything has happened to Lisa'sseduction. Instead, we see Jeff, Lisa (dressed differently), and Stellawatching Thorwald, who is diligiently scrubbing his apartment. Therevival of the mystery displaces yet again Lisa's primaryobjective. Encouraged by photographic evidence of a change in theflowerbed, they plot to draw their suspect away in order to gain theopportunity to find out what he has buried there. This development bearssignificantly on Lisa's identity because it provokes a third stagein her attempt to gain Jeff's attention, this time by being seenwithin the object space beyond the window. Yet as her strategy evolves,she is not simply an object to be watched, but one who looks back aswell. When we first see her through the alley as she approachesThorwald's apartment on the daring mission to provoke him with anote slipped under his door, she waves to Jeff signaling that she knowshe's watching. Upon her return, she is invigorated with curiosityabout how Thorwald reacted--that is, how he looked when he read themessage that accelerates his desperation. But notably, Jeff at thismoment is not interested in Thorwald, but rather looks at her withprofound admiration, perhaps even arousal. His resistance to her and tothe domestic confinement she represented to him weakens considerablybecause he sees her now as an adventurous partner, one who can inhabitboth the subject space of the apartment and the object space beyond. Her first foray beyond the safety of Jeff's apartment is justa prelude for a much greater risk. When she and Stella find nothing inthe flowerbed, Lisa climbs the fire escape to enter Thorwald'sapartment to procure the wedding ring that she believes will incriminate To charge with a crime; to expose to an accusation or a charge of crime; to involve oneself or another in a criminal prosecution or the danger thereof; as in the rule that a witness is not bound to give testimony that would tend to incriminate him or her. the murderer. In her movement into Thorwald's space, Lisaapproaches the role of the heroine in the horror movie, as analyzed byLinda Williams, or the "woman's film," whose"investigative gaze," as Mary Ann Doane argues, "can onlybe simultaneous with her own victimization victimizationSocial medicine The abuse of the disenfranchised–eg, those underage, elderly, ♀, mentally retarded, illegal aliens, or other, by coercing them into illegal activities–eg, drug trade, pornography, prostitution. " (1984, 72). But for allof the suspense, Lisa's experince escapes the pattern of either ofthose two genres. As Jeff watches anxiously, Lisa distances herself yetfarther from the passive object of beauty she was thought to be bybecoming an active investigator, performing the role that Jeff wouldlike to fill but cannot. Where she began by scolding Jeff for hisfascination with watching ghoulishly on the intimacy of others, and thenjoined in Jeff's distanced speculations about what may haveoccurred in the Thorwald home, she now eclipses Jeff by becoming anactive, intrusive agent of scrutiny. Moreover, she finds the ring thatwill help lead to Thorwald's conviction while Jeff, impotently,observes Thorwald returning to catch Lisa in her intrusive act. WhereJeff had viewed marriage as a danger to his freedom, he now watchesfitfully fit��ful?adj.Occurring in or characterized by intermittent bursts, as of activity; irregular. See Synonyms at periodic.fit as Lisa fends off Thorwald until the police can arrive, andonly then signaling to Jeff that she has the incriminating wedding ringsafely slipped on her own finger. There's notable irony in thisgesture, as has been repeatedly observed. (13) But beyond the obviouspoint that Lisa's desire for marriage is what has repelled Jeff,this wedding ring is the one formerly worn by Mrs. Thorwald, soLisa's gesture symbolizes marriage to Jeff and Thorwald--to subjectand object--and in doing so forges the link between them and, thus, tointroduce the opportunity to reconfigure their binary positions. Whenthe suspected murderer notices Lisa signaling her possession of thering, he connects her to the prying eyes across the courtyard. AsThorwald looks back across the space to the apartment from whichhe's been observed, the direction of power begins to turn, andJeff's privileged position as subject erodes as he now becomes theobject of Thorwald's gaze. 3. Defenestration Before we examine the escalating suspense and the violent climax ofthe narrative that follow from this returned gaze, we should firstaddress the scene when the neighbor's dog is found. For this sceneand the climax mark significant departures from the subjective treatmentthat dominates the narrative. Up until this point in the film, thecamera has been stationed within the apartment, whether its focus istrained on the neighbors beyond or the four characters who have occupiedJeff's apartment. But Hitchcock makes a significant decision toviolate the consistency of the camera's position at two crucialmoments. In the first, when the scream of the dog's owner punctuatesthe evening's murmur, the neighbors turn to the drama unfolding inthe center of the courtyard and on the fire-escape above. After MissLonelyhearts Miss Lonelyhearts, published in 1933, is Nathanael West's second novel. It is an Expressionist black comedy set in New York City during the Great Depression. Plot summary reveals that the dog's neck has been broken, thepet's owner vents her anger on the neighbors. Between sobs, sheaccuses one of them of heartless cruelty as her husband comforts her onthe fire-escape: Which one of you did it? Which one of you killed my dog? You don't know the meaning of the word "neighbor." Neighbors like each other, speak to each other, care if anybody lives or dies. But none of you do. But I can't imagine any of you being so low that you'd kill a little helpless friendly dog? The only thing in this whole neighborhood who liked anybody. Did you kill him because he liked you? Just because he liked you? Her critique of the social fabric echoes, yet in more direct terms Direct termsThe price of a unit of foreign currency in domestic currency terms, such as $.9850/Euro for a US resident. See: Indirect terms. ,the observations made privately in Jeff's apartment by Stella,Lisa, and Doyle. American post-war urban society has grown impersonaland alienated, and the action of the film bears this out. Aside from afew fleeting moments of interaction between two characters in thecourtyard prior to this, the neighbors have remained isolated from eachother in their own residential cells. This is the first time when theentire neighborhood, or nearly so, has turned their attention outside oftheir apartments to confront each other. Their reactions range from theindifference of the party guests at the composer's studio toheartfelt pity registered on the faces of Miss Torso and MissLonelyhearts. And most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent"above all, most especially , we observe these reactions becausethe camera moves out of Jeff's apartment and takes up variouspositions around the courtyard, giving us striking new perspectivesranging from a long, wide-angle shot to others affording remarkableproximity to specific characters. Nothing makes this clearer than when the camera lingers overmedium-close shots of Miss Torso and Miss Lonelyhearts--notably fromangles that could only be shot from the center of the courtyardgrounds--whom prior to this we've only viewed from the subjectivespace of Jeff's apartment. In this montage of thirty-six shotsduring a span of one minute and forty seconds, we now come to see thesecharacters as subjects through the intercutting of their gazes and thegrieving neighbor. In effect, this sequence displaces the subjectivetreatment that Hitchcock identified as his modus operandi [Latin, Method of working.] A term used by law enforcement authorities to describe the particular manner in which a crime is committed.The term modus operandi is most commonly used in criminal cases. It is sometimes referred to by its initials, M.O. in connectingthe audience with his protagonist, and attaches the camera to characterswho theretofore there��to��fore?adv.Until that time; before that.Adv. 1. theretofore - up to that time; "they had not done any work theretofore" have been framed simply as the objects of Jeff'sgaze. The construction of the montage enables us to sense both thepathos of the moment and the intersubjective identification with thosewho witness their neighbor's grief. The camera's varyingdistances and angles to the characters, and particularly its framing ofthe more well-known characters, complement the spectrum of emotionaldistances experienced among them. But what does it mean that at thismoment we are no longer seeing things Seeing Things may refer to: Hallucinations where someone sees things that are not actually present Seeing Things (poetry), a collection of poems published by Seamus Heaney in 1991. Seeing Things (TV series), a Canadian television series which aired in the 1980s. only as Jeff sees them? When wewere aligned with him, we stood apart from and judged his neighbors, ashe did. But by entering the space beyond his rear window, we'vejoined those whom Jeff had encouraged us to view as objects and see themnow as a strained neighborhood of subjects. The emotional charge of thisscene may distract us from recognizing how Hitchcock has shifted thepoint of view in this significant way. But even if we do notice thefreeing of the camera from Jeff's subjective position, a clearexplanation for the shift in point of view does not arrive until theclimax of the narrative when the camera exercises the same diversity ofperspectives. Returning to the moment when Thorwald has redirected the power ofthe gaze by looking back, Jeff frantically scrambles to elude hisobject's knowing look. Like so many repeated elements in the film,Jeff's attempt to elude Thorwald's gaze repeats the earliermoment when he and Stella ducked out of sight. Although they escapeddetection on that earlier occasion because the inquisitive dog diggingin the flowerbed attracted Thorwald's greater concern, Jeff is notso fortunate in this later episode. Not only has Thorwald deduced thathe's been detected by someone watching from across the courtyardwhen Lisa signals to Jeff that she has Mrs. Thorwald's weddingring, but, because Lisa has instinctively cried out Jeff's name atleast five times for help at the moment when Thorwald assaults her, thedesperate man also has a clue to the watcher's identity. It'sa simple matter for him to reverse Jeff's investigative process, tolearn the name of his observer from his mailbox, then to intimidate himon the telephone, and finally enter Jeff's apartment. But unlikehis alienated observer, Thorwald will not sit idly while a proxy invadesJeff's secured subject space; instead, he will conduct his businesswith Jeff face-to-face, as two subjects aware of each other and of theirown positions as objects for the other. As the suspense builds, Jeff frantically anticipatesThorwald's arrival but does little to protect himself.Surprisingly, the photographer who had assured his editor that the caston his leg would not deter him from taking pictures "from a jeep ora water buffalo water buffalo:see buffalo. water buffaloor Indian buffaloAny of three subspecies of oxlike bovid (species Bubalus bubalis). Two have been domesticated in Asia since the earliest recorded history. " now cannot drag himself up the three short stairsto bolt the door to the apartment; instead, he arms himself with theflash gun of his camera. Thorwald's intrusion into Jeff'sapartment accelerates the tension still farther, completing the reversalof subject and object which is emphasized by the lighting that exposesThorwald's eyes while the rest of his face and form remain indarkness Adv. 1. in darkness - without light; "the river was sliding darkly under the mist"darkly . (14) Now he exercises the look that renders Jeff his object,in an intimidating parallel to Lisa's first appearance as sheclosed in on Jeff affectionately. As the antagonists now face each otherin the dark, the looming silhouette of Thorwald dwarfing Jeff in hiswheelchair, Thorwald tries to initiate a negotiation, but Jeff remainssilent in an attempt to maintain his separate status by not engagingwith him. When he finally speaks and reveals that the police will beclosing in soon, the villain reacts, moving menacingly closer to histormentor. Jeff's only defense is to pop off flashbulbs both in thehope of slowing Thorwald's threatening progress and in a last-ditchattempt to re-establish the directional power of the look byincapacitating the gaze through which his oppressor OPPRESSOR. One who having public authority uses it unlawfully to tyrannize over another; as, if he keep him in prison until he shall do something which he is not lawfully bound to do. 2. To charge a magistrate with being an oppressor, is therefore actionable. has rendered him anobject. When Jeff desperately turns to look across the courtyard andsees Lisa and Doyle leading a troop of policemen to Thorwald'sapartment, he calls out for their help. But this distraction offersThorwald the opportunity to cover the remaining distance between them.In the struggle that ensues, Thorwald doesn't merely strangle StrangleAn options strategy where the investor holds a position in both a call and put with different strike prices but with the same maturity and underlying asset. This option strategy is profitable only if there are large movements in the price of the underlying asset. Jeffor batter him senseless; rather, he flings him from the wheelchair ontothe bed and then finally over the window ledge window ledgen → alf��izar m; repisawindow ledgen → rebord m de la fen��trewindow ledgewindow n . In counterpoint to Jeff's failed attempt to blind hisassailant, and thus remain in the subject role in the dynamicallychanging relationship, Thorwald asserts his subjective power by turningJeff out of his privileged position as observer. This climactic gestureunderscores the division of space through which Jeff has maintained hisidentity as subject in relation to all others as objects. Thorwalddislodges Jeff from the safety of his subject space and thrusts him intothe object space that all others have occupied with respect to thevoyeur throughout the film. While in a literal sense Jeff clings to thewindow ledge to avert a perilous fall, phenomenologically he clings tohis fragile purchase on separate subjectivity. The combat sequencedefines the object space as a heterotopia, as Michel Foucault Michel Foucault (IPA pronunciation: [miˈʃɛl fuˈko]) (October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher, historian and sociologist. definesit--an Other space that "exerts a sort of counteraction on theposition that I occupy" (1998, 241). (15) In addition to theintersubjectivity achieved through the articulations of space,Hitchcock's camera emphasizes the transformation in Jeff'scondition. This final scene gives meaning to the earlier episode when, afterdiscovery of the dead dog, the camera traveled freely around thecourtyard. Here, too, Hitchcock has assembled a fifty-shot montage inunder a minute and a half (with sped up action) in which, intercut withthe close-up grappling between Thorwald and Jeff, we catch glimpses ofneighbors running to their windows and balconies and into the courtyardto see what's going on. Amidst the combatants' grunting andgasping, we hear the neighbors' remarks that reveal theirobservations of the man who has observed them undetected throughout thestory: "Look, look over in that apartment. Two men fighting." "He's throwing him out the window." "Look at his leg." "It's a plaster cast." In this montage, we observe a similar range of reactions to thoseduring the grieving neighbor's soliloquy soliloquy,the speech by a character in a literary composition, usually a play, delivered while the speaker is either alone addressing the audience directly or the other actors are silent. ; only this time, ourperspective of Jeff dangling from the window-ledge oscillates fromThorwald's view inside the apartment to the perspective of theneighbors outside, as well as to Lisa and Doyle's posse who rushacross the courtyard to Jeff's aid. We watch from the courtyard,approximately where the dog was discovered, as several policemen insideJeff's apartment wrestle Thorwald away. And then the camera movesquickly to several locations--from above, from below, and at the pointof impact on the patio (all in the duration of three seconds)--giving usmultiple perspectives of Jeff losing his grip and falling through thearms of another pair of policemen, accompanied by a horrified hor��ri��fy?tr.v. hor��ri��fied, hor��ri��fy��ing, hor��ri��fies1. To cause to feel horror. See Synonyms at dismay.2. To cause unpleasant surprise to; shock. screamfrom one of the onlookers, which echoes the earlier screams of Mrs.Thorwald and the dog's owner. The camera, once again, grants us avariety of perspectives; however, in contrast to the earlier scene, thistime it establishes and reinforces Jeff's object status. Jeff has anxiously longed for the day when he would leave theconfinement of his apartment, but not in quite this way. Still, despitethe danger to his limbs, he reaps the benefit of having joined theneighborhood, to be for once an object of their curiosity and concern,as they crane their necks around the rim of the terrace to look asDoyle, Stella, and Lisa attend to him. As Lisa cradles his head in herlap, Jeff finally expresses the feelings for her that he has previouslywithheld: "Oh, Lisa, sweetie, if anything had happened toyou," and proclaiming "Gee, I'm proud of you,"ignoring Lisa's solicitous so��lic��i��tous?adj.1. a. Anxious or concerned: a solicitous parent.b. Expressing care or concern: made solicitous inquiries about our family. demurral de��mur��ral?n.The act of demurring, especially a mild, polite, or considered expression of opposition.Noun 1. demurral - (law) a formal objection to an opponent's pleadingsdemur, demurrer of attention: "Shut up.I'm all right. "This marks a distinct shift from her earlierfrustration with his lack of attention to her as well as converting thehostile expression that he had disdainfully dis��dain��ful?adj.Expressive of disdain; scornful and contemptuous. See Synonyms at proud.dis��dainful��ly adv. flung at her in their firstargument ("Shut up!") into a genuine assertion of heraffection for him. Having been leveraged out of his subjectiveprotection, Jeff is now able and willing to enter a relationship onreciprocal terms (Logic) those terms which have the same signification, and, consequently, are convertible, and may be used for each other.See also: Reciprocal , giving a literal twist to the metaphorical phrase"falling in love." The division of space into phenomenological territories occupied bysubject and object resonates with the mundane divisions of real propertyrepresented in the film as well. For as long as Jeff was ensconced en��sconce?tr.v. en��sconced, en��sconc��ing, en��sconc��es1. To settle (oneself) securely or comfortably: She ensconced herself in an armchair.2. inhis apartment, he remained apart from others, Lisa as well as hisneighbors. Once he enters the courtyard, through Thorwald's violentagency, he is finally able to engage in a courtship with Lisa. Hitchcockmay not have considered the narrative developments in terms of theselexical correspondences, but the resolution of the plot supports them ascentral to the narrative logic. At last, it would seem, Jeff hasdiscovered what Stella alluded to when she advised, "people oughtto ... get outside their own house and look in for a change."Certainly, our view of the story from outside of Jeff's apartmenthas granted us a new perspective that explains the film's critiqueof voyeurism and its implications for reciprocal identity in thecondition of being-for-others. 4. The fate of reflexivity The ending, however, encourages us to see something else in thepairing of Jeff and Lisa. After the final pan of the courtyard, in whichall of the unresolved relationships are fulfilled, we see Jeff asleepsmiling, now with both legs in casts, and Lisa reading Beyond the HighHimalayas. (16) Her clothing, too, indicates a shift away from thehigh-society couture to a more rugged and ready-for-anything ensemble ofjeans and a tailored shirt. (17) This tableau suggests that Jeff'spriorities have trumped hers, and that the negotiation of theirrelationship has proceeded on his terms. But upon noting that Jeff isasleep, Lisa exchanges the book for a copy of Harper's Bazaar. Thistells us that not only has she maintained her stylish identity, but alsoher stealth in keeping the taboo reading out of sight yet close at handindicates that Lisa has learned how to get what she wants from thisrelationship while allowing Jeff to think that he has done the same. AsModleski has noted, Lisa has the last look; moreover, as thecomposer's completed song plays over the final scene, we hear thesinger's refrain of "Lisa" rhapsodizing the finalsatisfaction she has attained (1988, 85). Lisa has, then, fashioned asomewhat different identity for herself than the woman of glamour whosubmits to the power of the male gaze. Indeed, she has accomplished theremarkable feat of turning that power to her own project without beingdetected by one as suspicious and scrutinizing as the voyeur whom sheloves. Lisa's triumph illuminates the power not of the viewer or thedirector but of the glamorous movie star whose ability to engage thewatcher seems to be hers alone. But where does this closure detailingJeff's mature appreciation for intersubjectivity leave us withrespect to the reflexive identification of him with the film spectator?Can the cinema audience participate in its voyeurism without succumbingto the isolation that Jeff's voyeurism figures for us? While he hasLisa to orchestrate or��ches��trate?tr.v. or��ches��trat��ed, or��ches��trat��ing, or��ches��trates1. To compose or arrange (music) for performance by an orchestra.2. his confrontation with the Other and Thorwald toleverage him from his subjective projection, Jeff too has a role in thisconclusion. How else do we explain his failure to lock the apartmentdoor than as a sign of his desire to be catapulted from his subjectivecomplacency? Through our engagement with the film, we come to see thatJeff's brand of isolation is unsatisfying long before he does, andthat all of his daredevil risk-taking as a photojournalist iscompensation for his reluctance to take an interpersonal risk.Hitchcock's camera enables us to see from a position beyondJeff's limited stationary perspective in order to understand othersand thus, by reflection, ourselves; whereas Jeff, in addition tolimiting his point of view, more often than not turns away embarrassedat the moment when he's likely to confront something that he'drather not. Notice the number of scenes in which Lisa and Jeff watch thesame drama unfolding; invariably in��var��i��a��ble?adj.Not changing or subject to change; constant.in��vari��a��bil , her gaze remains attached to theaction where his eyes wander away from a pathetic spectacle that makeshim uncomfortable. And when he objects to Stella's and Lisa'plan to excavate the suspicious plot in the garden, Lisa advises him,"Jeff, if you're squeamish squea��mish?adj.1. a. Easily nauseated or sickened.b. Nauseated.2. Easily shocked or disgusted.3. Excessively fastidious or scrupulous. , just don't look." Wemight take more instruction from Lisa's scopic participation thanfrom Jeff's detachment. Although she may object to Stella'slinguistic bluntness, there's little that Lisa won't look at.Jeff's eagerness to look is limited by his desire to maintain aseparate and undisclosed vantage point. And Hitchcock'smobile-camera montages enable us to gauge the difference between Jeffand the audience. As the camera travels into the courtyard well beforeJeff does, the audience is granted a prospect of engaging with others ina way that satisfies and provides meaningful insight to the dangers ofisolation. But if the film suggests that the process of developingintersubjective connections stems from being both a subject and anobject for another, doesn't the experience of film afford theaudience the position of subject but without an object who looks back?Does moving the camera out of the restricted subject space suffice togive the audience the experience of intersubjectivity? Don't werequire an agent to launch us from the similar position of subjectiveisolation? Because the audience's experience of the cinematic worldis synesthetic syn��es��the��siaalso syn��aes��the��sia ?n.1. A condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color.2. and mediated rather than lived and direct, the camera isthe primary apparatus to effect the audience's intersubjectiveconnections; the director is the agent who controls that apparatus. Itis not a camera but Hitchcock's camera that has taken us where Jeffonly will go by Thorwald's force. The director's agency, hisrole as the one who returns our gaze, is registered in his cameo.Hitchcock's appearances in his own films became something of a gamethat he played with his audiences. But in this film, the cameo is worthyof our concern as something more than a gratuitous image. We see thedirector in the composer's apartment, winding a clock on themantelpiece. This gesture is suggestive of suggestive ofDecision making adjective Referring to a pattern by LM or imaging, that the interpreter associates with a particular–usually malignant lesion. See Aunt Millie approach, Defensive medicine. his role as the director ofthe film apparatus, controlling its sequences and exposures of time.(18) In addition, he also turns and looks back at us during hisconversation with the composer. The panes of the studio window maintainthe separation of the two figures in adjacent but distinct frames givingus a clear look at the one individual in the film who knows that we arewatching. (19) Our observation of him and his implicit awareness of ussymbolically enact the phenomenological condition of being-for-others.Unlike Jeff who experiences anxiety when objectified by Thorwald'sgaze, we have nothing to fear from Hitchcock's look: our need foreach other is mutual. Having our look returned makes us aware of our ownvoyeurism. While this may introduce some discomfort, we still enjoy asatisfying measure of pleasure because Hitchcock's reciprocalglance is not simply his signature game but is a figurativeacknowledgment of our presence for him. Notes (1) I would like to acknowledge the contributions of MitchBreitwieser, with whom I first discussed some of the ideas that premisemy argument; my Film History students at Roosevelt, some of whoseobservations have colored and informed my own; my colleague JanetWondra, whose critique of an earlier draft of the essay was extremelyuseful in working out some of the argument's kinks; and finally,the anonymous readers for this journal whose precise observations werevery helpful. (2) Jean Douchet was the first to make this observation. Amongothers, Robert Stam has provided extended analysis of this aspect ofRear Window, complicating the identification of Jefferies to directorand spectator. (3) Laura Mulvey and Tania Hayd��e Tamara Bunke Bider, communist revolutionary Tania (queen) Tania was an alias of Patricia Hearst Tania Borealis and Tania Australis, stars in the constellation Ursa Major Tania Emery, actress Tania Lacy, comedian Tania Libertad, singer Modleski have propounded two influentialarticulations of this aspect of the film. (4) While Stam makes a passing reference to McCarthyism, Robert J.Corber focuses intensely on the film's relation to the surveillanceof the political era. (5) George Toles compares these stories to tabloid journalism(2001, 162). John Belton reads each of the different stories as aspecific kind of film narrative from peep-show to musical to melodramato noir (1991, 82). And in a note, he suggests that "the array ofscreens resembles a bank of television sets on display in the window ofan electronics store, a display practice that persists from the 1950s tothe present day" (n. 18). This last comparison bears some weight onmy thesis in light of the reactions to the introduction of television.In 1925, in London, a schoolgirl reported the following after watching ademonstration of the new medium: "we all clapped politely becausewe were all rather frightened of television. I think the trouble wasthat we believed that, if they could make this film, they could see intoour houses. We could see them; they could see us"("Confounding Machines" 2005, 12). By 1954, of course, therewas less fear of television from the general public. But those in themovie industry understood television as a distinct threat to theirlivelihood. Hitchcock's film manages to combine these anxieties inits theme. (6) This exchange is accompanied by the opening strains of BingCrosby's "To See You Is to Love You," which is most oftennoted as an ironic musical commentary on Miss Lonelyhearts'pantomimed encounter with an imaginary lover. The song'sintroduction to the speculative dialogue between Jeff and Lisa about howhe'd look in her world is more subtle but just as pointed becauseof his resistance to being seen. (7) The wheelchair also creates a relative position ofsubordination for Jeff. Everyone who visits the apartment looms overhim--Lisa and Stella, Thorwald certainly, even the diminutive waiterfrom 21 who takes over the job of opening the wine bottle with whichJeff fumbles. (8) Hitchcock himself noted this "symmetry.... On one side ofthe yard you have the Stewart-Kelly couple, with him immobilized by hisleg in a cast, while she can move about freely. And on the other sidethere is a sick woman who's confined to her bed, while the husbandcomes and goes" (Truffaut 1983, 166). Belton's analysis of thespatial representations notes not only this parallel but also theproliferation of associations that "confounds any simple theory ofprojection that might reduce the relationship between the film'sforeground and background to that of one-for-one allegory" (1991,86). (9) Hitchcock's recurrent verbal tic tic:see spasm. ticSudden rapid, recurring muscle contraction—usually a blink, sniff, twitch, or shrug—always brief, irresistible, and localized. Frequency decreases from head to foot. , "yousee"--appearing three times in this very short comment--underscoreshis own commitment to the act of seeing central to his art. (10) Stam points out the errors of Robin Wood and Donald Spoto This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view.Mark blatant advertising for , using . whosimilarly overstate the use of subjective treatment, but he too fails toobserve the two critical moments when the camera escapes the boundariesof Jeff's apartment (1992, 52). See Toles, who not only makes thepoint about the independence of the camera from Jefferies but alsosuggests that the film itself looks back at the audience, a point that Idispute but which has relevance to my conclusion (2001, 173). (11) See, for example, Stam and Pearson (1983, 142), Corber (1991,139-40), Stam (1992, 53), Mazella (1994, 70), Toles (2001, 173). (12) To be sure, Modleski notes that Mulvey's reading of Lisaas a passive object to Jeff's active subject identity is mistakenin several respects, but Modleski doesn't account for the stagesthrough which Lisa reframes Jeff's view of her. As important as herperformance in the courtyard or in Thorwald's apartment is, theseare tactics in a larger strategy to capture Jeff's attention byparticipating in his voyeurism, and thus demonstrating that she can bepart of his world. (13) Truffaut views Lisa's accomplishment as inspiring"Stewart [Jeff] to propose. After all, she's already got thering" (1983, 223). Modleski, on the other hand, notes the symbolicmarriage to Thorwald, suggesting a feminist critique of the direconsequences of marriage (1988, 82). (14) Sartre's dramatic hypothetical scenario about theexperience of being seen has relevance here: "But all of a sudden Ihear footsteps in the hall. Someone is looking at me! What does thismean? It means that I am suddenly affected in my being and thatessential modifications appear in my structure--modifications which Ican apprehend and fix conceptually by means of the reflectivecogito This article is about the philosophical magazine. For the software used in the extended version of the current Linux revision system git, see Cogito (software). For the famous philosophical saying by Descartes, see cogito ergo sum. " (1956, 260). He imagines precisely the condition in whichJeff finds himself. Although there is no evidence that Hitchcock hadread the French philosopher's work (the English translationappeared two years after Rear Window), Sartre's assertions here areuncannily close to the developments in Hitchcock's film: Both the obscurity of the dark corner and my possibility of hiding there are surpassed by the Other when, before I have been able to make a move to take refuge there, throws the light on the corner. This in the shock which seizes me when I apprehend the Other's look, this happens--that suddenly I experience a subtle alienation of all my possibilities, which are now associated with objects of the world, far from me in the midst of the world. (Sartre 1956, 264-65) Similarly, Sartre's observation that looking through a keyholeundetected raises no self-consciousness and that one is merged with theact of looking and with the instrument (keyhole) that facilitates theact calls to mind the readiness with which Jeff gains greater visualadvantage through his telephoto lens, which Stella refers to as his"portable keyhole. " (15) Of the variety of heterotopias that Foucault discusses inthese lecture notes, the mirror is a particularly interesting one inlight of Rear Window's use of vision and is part of what informsthe reference to the looking glass in my title. (16) Although many critics have noted the exchange of readingmaterial, Toles in particular, none have, to my knowledge, noted the howthe title of William O. Douglas's Beyond the High Himalayas (1952)injects a kind of comic absurdity with respect to Jeff'sadventurism ad��ven��tur��ism?n.Involvement in risky enterprises without regard to proper procedures and possible consequences, especially the reckless intervention by a nation in the affairs of another nation or region: . Since they are the most remote and the highest mountainrange, and thus no geographical challenge lies beyond them, this title,in effect, mocks Jeff's notion of himself as ever more adventurous,and allows us to read Hitchcock's final sympathy with Lisa. SinceEdmund Hilary had scaled Everest in May of 1953, to great acclaim, anattentive audience in 1954 would have readily understood this subtlejab. (17) This costuming decision correlates to Doane's observationabout the limits on the female spectator and the tendency to view her"as the site of an oscillation between feminine position and amasculine position, invoking the metaphor of transvestite trans��ves��titen.One who practices transvestism.transvestiteSexology A person with a compulsion to dress as a member of the other sex, which may be essential to maintaining an erection and achieving orgasm. See Transsexual. " (1999,137). (18) See Bertolini (2002, 240). (19) The framing of Hitchcock's image in the studio windowparallels a similar framing of his image in a photograph in Dial MforMurder, released in the same year as Rear Window. The photograph in theearlier film is from a college reunion and links the reluctant hit man,Charles Swann (Anthony Dawson), to Tony Wendice (Ray Milland Ray Milland (January 3, 1905 or 1907 – March 10, 1986) was an Oscar-winning Welsh actor and director who worked primarily in the United States. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. ). On thepractical level, Hitchcock's appearing in the photograph may be dueto the limited opportunities for a cameo in a film that takes place inthe narrow space of a single apartment. There are a few street scenesoutside the Wendices' London apartment as well as a dinner party atfashionable hotel, though the latter occurs much further into the filmthan where the director preferred to make his appearances. But insofar in��so��far?adv.To such an extent.Adv. 1. insofar - to the degree or extent that; "insofar as it can be ascertained, the horse lung is comparable to that of man"; "so far as it is reasonably practical he should practice as the photograph is an important instrument for Tony to blackmail hisne'er-do-well schoolmate to murder Wendice's wife, Margot(Grace Kelly), and then later to re-frame the photograph as evidence ofMargot's ostensible Apparent; visible; exhibited.Ostensible authority is power that a principal, either by design or through the absence of ordinary care, permits others to believe his or her agent possesses. intent to murder Swann as a blackmailer,Hitchcock's appearance in that photograph is not at all incidentalbut, rather, included in a central piece of Tony's complex andflexible plot. Works Cited Belton, John. 1991. "The Space of Rear Window." InHitchcock's Re-Released Films from Rope to Vertigo, ed. WalterRaubicheck and Walter Srebnick. Detroit: Wayne State University Wayne State University,at Detroit, Mich.; state supported; coeducational; established 1956 as a successor to Wayne Univ. (formed 1934 by a merger of five city colleges). Press. Bertolini, John. 2002. "The Reciprocated Glance." InFraming Hitchcock: Selected Essays Among the numerous literary works titled Selected Essays are the following: Selected Essays by Frederick Douglass Selected Essays by T.S. Eliot Selected Essays by William Troy from the Hitchcock Annual, ed. SidneyGottlieb Sidney Gottlieb (August 3, 1918 – March 7, 1999) was an American military psychiatrist and chemist probably best-known for his involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency's mind control program MKULTRA. and Christopher Brookhouse. Detroit: Wayne State UniversityPress. "Confounding Machines: How the Future Looked." 2005. NewYork New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times, 28 August, 4:12. Corber, Robert. J. 1994. "Resisting History: Rear Window andthe Limits of Postwar Settlement." In National Identities andPost-Americanist Narratives, ed. Donald E. Pease. Durham: DukeUniversity Press. Dial M for Murder. 1954. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Warner Bros., DVD DVD:see digital versatile disc. DVDin full digital video disc or digital versatile discType of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. .Warner Bros., 2004. Doane, Mary Anne. 1999. "Film and Masquerade: Theorising theFemale Spectator." In Feminist Film Theory: A Reader, ed. SueThornham. New York: New York University Press New York University Press (or NYU Press), founded in 1916, is a university press that is part of New York University. External linkNew York University Press . ______. 1984. "'The Woman's Film': Possessionand Address." In Revision: Essays in Feminist Film Criticism, ed.Mary Anne Doane, Patricia Mellencamp, and Linda Williams. Frederick, MD:University Publications of America. Foucault, Michel Foucault, Michel,1926–84, French philosopher and historian. He was professor at the Collège de France (1970–84). He is renowned for historical studies that reveal the sometimes morally disturbing power relations inherent in social practices. . 1998. "Of Other Spaces." In The VisualCulture Reader, ed. Nicholas Mirzoeff. London: Routledge. Gottlieb, Sidney, ed. 1995. Hitchcock on Hitchcock: SelectedWritings and Interviews. Berkeley: University of California Press "UC Press" redirects here, but this is also an abbreviation for University of Chicago PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. . Mazzella, Anthony J. 1991. "Author, Auteur auteur(ōtör`), in film criticism, a director who so dominates the film-making process that it is appropriate to call the director the auteur, or author, of the motion picture. : Reading RearWindow from Woolrich to Hitchcock." In Hitchcock's RereleasedFilms: From Rope to Vertigo, ed. Walter Rubicheck and Walter Srebnick.Detroit: Wayne State University Press. Modleski, Tania. 1988. "The Master's Dollhouse." InThe Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical, ground. It encompasses work done in a broad variety of disciplines, prominently including the approaches to women's roles and lives and feminist politics in anthropology and sociology, economics, . New York:Methuen. Mulvey, Laura. 1992. "Visual Pleasure and NarrativeCinema." 1975. Reprint. In Film Theory and Criticism: IntroductoryReadings, ed. Gerald Mast, Marshall Cohen cohenor kohen(Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , and Leo Leo, in astronomyLeo[Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Braudy. New York:Oxford University Press Rear Window. 1954. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Paramount. DVD.Universal, 2000. Sartre, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean-Paul(zhäN-pôl sär`trə), 1905–80, French philosopher, playwright, and novelist. Influenced by German philosophy, particularly that of Heidegger, Sartre was a leading exponent of 20th-century existentialism. . 1956. "The Look." In Being andNothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology ontology:see metaphysics. ontologyTheory of being as such. It was originally called “first philosophy” by Aristotle. In the 18th century Christian Wolff contrasted ontology, or general metaphysics, with special metaphysical theories . Trans. Hazel E.Barnes. New York: Philosophical Library. Stam, Robert. 1992. "Allegories of Spectatorship." 1985.Reprint. In Reflexivity in Film and Literature: From Don Quixote toJean-Luc Godard. New York: Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is an academic press based in New York City and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan (2004-present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, . Stam, Robert, and Roberta Pearson. 1983. "Hitchcock'sRear Window: Reflexivity and the Critique of Voyeurism." Enclitic enclitichaving the planes of the fetal head inclined to those of the maternal pelvis. (Spring): 136-45. Toles, George. 2001. "Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window asAllegory." In House Made of Light: Essays on the Art of Film.Detroit: Wayne State University Press. Truffaut, Francois. 1983. Hitchcock. New York: Simon and Schuster. Williams, Linda. 1984. "When the Woman Looks." InRe-Vision: Essays in Feminist Film Criticism, ed. Mary Ann Doane,Patricia Mellencamp, and Linda Williams Frederick. MD: UniversityPublications of America. Lawrence Howe teaches American literature and culture at RooseveltUniversity Roosevelt University is a four-year, private institute of higher education with full service campuses in Chicago's Loop and northwest suburban Schaumburg. It also offers classes in communities, schools, and corporations, and has the mission of being a metropolitan university and . He is the author of Mark Twain and the Novel: theDouble-Cross of Authority (1998).