Hitchcock's use of Red Herrings

Camilla Broccolo

3-18-14

Red Herrings in Psycho

Throughout the movie Hitchcock mislead the viewer to believing the movie was actually about something else.  The first Red Herring was Marion, she stole the money and ran off to keep the money for her and her boyfriend.  Then, she takes a detour to the Bates Motel, because of the weather. At the Bates Motel is where we find out she was a "Red Herring."  The movie takes a turn and she is murdered, all traces of the crime are then cleaned up by Norman Bates, the Motel owner. Which leads us to the next Red Herring.  Norman Bates drops hints that the killer was actually his mother, however, his mother was pronounced dead and buried many years before. This was the second Red Herring.  So if the killer wasn't the mother and Norman is denying it, then who could it be?  The last Red Herring was the fact that Norman was one person.  Norman Bates was the Motel owner, since according to the detective at the end of the movie he was "mentally disturbed"  Norman Bates took on two personalities: one of the normal Norman Bates who loved taxidermy and birds, the other was of his psychopath mother who killed people.  So the real killer was not the real Norman Bates, but the other, evil, Norman Bates (or Mrs. Bates)

I think Hitchcock used this method to make the movie more realistic.  In real life, mysteries are never solved overnight. Usually, they twist and turn and get more complicated as time goes on. I think Hitchcock also used this method to show that the choices one makes in life can lead someone into trouble. If Marion had never stolen the money and tried to get away, she would have never ended up at the Bates Motel and she would have never gotten killed.  Finally, I think Hitchcock used these Red Herrings to keep the audience interested.  I for one usually lose interest in movies pretty quickly.  However, during psycho, I was continuously brought back because as soon as I thought I understood something, it changed completely.  Hitchcock used an effective method to bring the audience's attention back to the screen after it got slightly boring.  The methods he used throughout the movie really brought character to the movie which you do not find in regular movies today.
Hitchcock may also use red herrings to make the movie suspenseful and somewhat scary.  It is in human nature to be afraid of the unknown, change or surprise. Red Herrings provide this sense of the unknown.  The audience finds comfort in knowing what is going on and expects something to happen, but then Hitchcock uses the red herring to create havoc and completely throw the viewer off. After Hitchcock uses the red herring, the audience then does not know what to expect.  An example of a scene where this is used is when Marion's sister is searching the cellar for Mrs. Bates, thinking she finds her she taps on "her" shoulder and a skeleton with a wig and a dress whips around, startling the audience.  Cue the swinging lightbulb and high pitched screechy noises. Right as the audience is settling down and trying to understand what happens, the door slams open and Norman Bates dressed as an old lady comes barging in with a knife in his hand, ready to kill her.  Thankfully, Marion's boyfriend was right behind him and chokes him making him fall to the floor.  This scene was probably the creepiest and scariest scene in the entire movie because I did not expect half of the things that happened to happen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWHYmNrAFlI