MovieChat Forums > Alfred Hitchcock Discussion > Why was he so misogynistic?

Why was he so misogynistic?

posted 5 years ago by halomaniac88 (1736)
10 replies | jump to latest

If you look at most of his female characters they were all very calculating, manipulative and malicious.

[–] Memeito (357) 5 years ago

This is how women are in real life...

[–] halomaniac88 (1736) 5 years ago

bs, I have met only a few bad women in my life, way more male assholes.

[–] Jennie_Portrait (804) 5 years ago

I agree with you. This is why I am not a big fan of Hitchcock's stories. Nonetheless, I do think he was an excellent director.

But I think he was a misanthrope in general. A lot of the villains in his stories were male.

[–] halomaniac88 (1736) 5 years ago

He had a deep understanding of the human psyche, which was why he was such a great director. But you know what they say, genius is a curse, he understood the dark side of human nature.

[–] pjpurple@verizon.net (5530) 5 years ago

True, he understood human nature very well.

Many of his male characters were hardly good guys. Vertigo's Scotty was obsessed with a woman. In Rope, Brandon was a smug sociopath. His lover Phillip was too weak willed to stand up to him and went along with murder.

Psycho's Sam Loomis didn't have too much backbone. He was willing to string Marion along. He was content to meet her in hotel rooms, but wouldn't commit to her. And Norman Bates? The poster boy for the "psychotic mama's boy". If the man in Marion's life had a spine and proposed to her on that fateful day (when she stole the money), she never would have crossed paths with Norman.

All of Hitchcock's films have some very dark characters, both women and men.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

He had a deep understanding of the human psyche

No, he did not. Every single movie that he made was an expression of the dark side of himself, not of the human race at large. He was terrified of law enforcement, so he constantly had this theme of them being buffoons who always got the wrong man or played recklessly with a person's life. He hated blonde goddesses, so kept playing out the scenario of them being raped, murdered or in danger. He was obsessed with gay men being deviants, so he had coded gay male deviants in his movies.

which was why he was such a great director.

He was a great director, because he was a master at creating suspense, as well as making memorable set pieces. But that was about it. There was never anything more deep in his movies than getting people to jump out of their seats or squirm in them.

[–] bobbydallas (8158) 4 years ago

LOL

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Well, look at him. He was a disgusting, fat slob who lusted after beautiful blonde goddesses who were way above his league. My feeling is that because he was spurned by them, he began to demonize them as evil and disgusting as a form of "sour grapes", as, "Eh, they're all a bunch of skeeves, anyway."

You can really tell this in Marnie. His entire purpose for that movie was to have a rape scene in which he could vicariously experience "taking" Tippi Hedren (look how it's shot from Sean Connery's perspective). He was so adamant about having that scene that he fired a writer who refused to put it in there. Hitchcock may have been a brilliant director, but he was a messed up human being.

[–] Who (5146) 4 years ago

Seems like he, Roger Ailes, and Weinstein suffered from the same sort of misogyny. Ugly man syndrome. Hideous looking men who get some power then use it to abuse and humiliate attractive women. Sickos.

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

People who actually knew and worked with Hitchcock have indicated that with one exception -- Tippi Hedren -- Hitchcock seems to have gotten along very well with women:

His main assistants and confidantes were women -- Joan Harrison early in his career and Peggy Robertson later.

Two major female actresses -- Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly(soon Princess Grace) worked with him on three movies apiece, said they loved Hitchcock and remained friends with him to his end (Bergman cried and gave Hitchcock a strong hug of farewell at his 1979 American Film Institute Tribute.)

At home, Hitchcock was "surrounded by women." His wife, Alma(ALSO a professional collaborator), his only child daughter Pat HItchocck, and her three DAUGHTERS (no sons.)

Doris Day(The Man Who Knew Too Much) Janet Leigh (Psycho) and Eva Marie Saint(North by Northwest) all said he was a kind and generous man. Kim Novak - who reportedly was intimidated by Hitchcock when they made "Vertigo" in later years spoke well of the man. As did very big star Julie Andrews(Torn Curtain) who said "I did that movie to work with Hitchcock. That's why I did it, and that's what I took away from it."

Both of the female stars of his second to last film -- Frenzy -- spoke well of Hitchcock and his consideration to them as they played murder victims.

As for Tippi Hedren, Hitchocck "discovered" her, and seems to have tried to "take her over," but the thing is, she worked with him AGAIN after The Birds, in Marnie, so she must have liked him enough at least once.

And there is this irony: the many women who worked with Hitchcock on his team said he was much more comfortable working with actresses than with actors. The handsome and sometimes macho men who worked with Hitchcock intimidated him more than the women.