Rear Window-The Look of Love

In Hitchcock's "Rear Window" the premise leads you to believe it is about Jeffries voyeurism of the lives of his neighbors as he sit incapacitated by a window. Intially Jeffries incapacitation is viewed as the reason behind his fixation on the lives of his neighbors. Lisa's visits seem almost intrusive in his life. He responds to her kindness and attention with disdain and ambivalence. It is clear that Jeffries cares for Lisa however he doesn't think he fits in her upscale world. Lisa cares for Jeffries however she wants him to change his life so that they can be together and views his unability to change as a sign that he doesn't want to commit to her. Jeffries uses his voyeurism of the lives of his neighbors to distract him from having to deal with the issues in his own life. The nurse who cares for him acts as the voice of his conscious mind that he knows is saying the right things but he's not ready to deal with them yet. Lisa's persistance in trying to prove that they should commit to one another results in her joining him in his voyeurism. It is in this combined efforts of watching others that they begin to see themselves.
Jeffries sees Miss Torso as the type of woman he's use to. To him she is a party girl;she's fun for a short time and then you move on. Lisa views Miss Torso as a party girl; the type that is not interested in committment. To her she is all about having a good time and distracts men from wanting to think about committing. Jeffries views Miss Lonelyhearts as a woman to be pitied. To him she's past her prime and is clearly hoping to find someone, anyone but her prospects are slim. She is driven to fantasy which makes him feel sorry for her. Lisa views Miss Lonelyhearts as someone she will become in the future if she doesn't settle down. To her she has become what every womans fear and she is frightened by her saddness and desperation. She feels sorry for her and somewhat for herself. Jeffries views The Composer as an image of his own life. He is a creative and talented individual; a single man who lives life as he sees fit. Sometimes he desires company; sometimes he needs time to himself to work, create or vent his frustrations. His freedom allows him the ability to live his life by his own rules. This is the life Jeffries has lived. Lisa views The Composer as the quintessential bachelor; living his life in extremes and excess. He is not settling down nor feels as if he should. She fears Jeffries although older than The Composer, has lived that life so long he may not want it to change. Jeffries views The Newlyweds as a possible opportunity gone by. he sees young love just starting out together. They are full of hope, youthful passions and wherever they are and whatever they do, they'll do it together. He thinks that type of committment may have passed him by. Jeffries does not share his voyeurism of The Newlyweds with Lisa. Jeffries views The Thorwalds as what happens in a marriage when one partner becomes completely dependent upon the other. He sees how the stress and strain of it all can create a bitter and antagonistic environment. In the case of The Thorwald resentment turned deadly. Jeffries sees this as a worst case scenario of what could go wrong in marriage over time. Lisa views The Thorwalds as a sad case of a man's lust for another woman driving him to do the unthinkable. She also allows herself to become part of Jeffries adventure into a murder mystery. In the process of this she comes to understand why he loves the life he lives.
Jeffries inclusion of Lisa in thoughts about his neighbors, allows him an oppotunity to see her in another light. He sees her beyond her social status and uspcale life; he begin to see where and how she could fit into his life. Lisa begin to see how she could fit into Jeffries world and still be in hers.

King Lear-Feminine Perspective

King Lear as with many Shakespearean works is based on strong male figures who are often crippled by emotional frailties which are viewed by some as feminine weakness. Coppelia Kahn has interpreted King Lear and viewed Lear’s troubles as stemming from his inability to embrace the feminine mystique within himself in order to reconcile choices that he made regarding his daughters. King Lear does depict a man driven by his own sense of power and entitlement; however I cannot say that I absolutely agree with her premise.

Ms. Kahn viewed King Lear’s mind state of “hysteria” as his coming to grips with his vulnerability. She equates this with Lear’s identification with “the mother”, his more feminine emotions or mindset. I however viewed Lear’s “hysteria” as a break in his mental facilities as a result of the aging process and possible bouts of dementia. Ms. Kahn viewed Lear’s break as a result of his repression of those emotional tendencies of weeping, feeling vulnerable and needy which would be viewed during that time period as feminine and therefore not what a man would do. I however have witnessed these types of responses in those in our population that we classify as the elderly. There are elderly men and women who after living rich and vibrant lives realize that they are no longer physically or emotionally capable of doing the things they once did or being the people they once were. I don’t know if I would therefore say that the behavior of elderly men is necessarily borne of feminine tendencies that have been repressed as it is a response to the physical and psychological changes that can occur in the aging process. If Ms. Kahn is correct in her assessment how would she interpret this behavior in elderly women? Ms. Kahn has based her perspective largely upon her view of King Lear’s weeping, which as a ruler and leader are not traits that would be considered desirable or within the norm, she believes as Lear realizes his vulnerability and the weeping becomes a catharsis by which he comes to terms with his life. I believe King Lear’s weeping brought about a breaking point in his ability to cope with the stresses of his situation and as opposed to Lear coming to terms with his life he entered into a state of wonderment where his thoughts and behavior teetered between reality and whimsy. This type of behavior is often seen in those suffering nervous breakdowns as well as in patients suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, unfortunately this behavior is evident in both men and women which would make Ms. Kahn interpretation open to speculation.

Persepolis

Marji Satrapi describes her life in Iran as a child with limits on what she could learn, what she should believe, what she should wear and where she could go. Iranian society even imposed rule on who you could and should date. The restrictions that were placed on her were not given to her largely by her parents, they were mainly issuances by the government, the parents job were to enforce the rules set by the government. She was only allowed to express herself at home amongst her family. American children have much more freedom any restrictions on education are under the school board regulation, the board is voted in by the citizen of the community aka the parents, the childs belief system is regulated by the parents, the child wardrobe are often combined efforts of both child and parent and where a child goes is often monitored by the parents. While a child parents may not like the choice their child makes regarding dating, they are often at odds with their children to prohibit their dating choices. Children in America are under the limitations of their parents or guardians.
As a young women in Austria, Marji tried to fit into a society that she did not understand and without the rule and restrictions that she was use to she tried to make sense of what she was feeling, seeing and what was happening around her without guidance and unfortunately things did not go well for her. She was alone in a foreign land left to manage on her own, she did not feel she could call on her parents for guidance or assistance. American young women are raised to seek a certain level of independence as they grow up and once they reach a certain age they feel they are ready to strike out on their own, however they often seek the advice or guidance of their parents or guardian until they feel they have better understanding of their circumstances.
As Americans we often take for granted the way in which our society functions and don't realize that American liberties are unique to us .

The Moviegoer

I think Binx did not have inclination to "say much" about his search because it did not happen and more than likely would not happen for two reasons: lack of purposeful pursuit and Kate.



The lack of purposeful pursuit is due to Binx not having a clear understanding of what his actual intent was. In the beginning he referred to the search as "very simple, at least for a fellow like me; so simple that it is easily overlooked" and that it was a search "anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life", yet Binx describes his self as "a model tenant and a model citizen", which would definitely fit within the realm of everydayness. He had everyday habits of going to work, going to the newsstand and how he got around town by bus/trolley. He has usual habits like going to the movies, driving to the Gulf Coast and visiting his aunt. Based on the everdayness of his character as he described his life how could he know? Did he even recognize his on everydayness, was he sunk in it and if so did he know what to do about it? I don't think he ever had an answer for himself or even if he had inquired of himself enough to know how to start, where to start or when to start. With all that in mind Binx's search never went beyond being an ideal in his mind and he realized in the end that he could really give much relevance to the idea of his ideal.

Kate changed his life by allowing him to focus more on her and her needs and less on his "search." Binx allowed Kate to go awaywith him thinking he would be able to help her. Binx didn't have time to think about the search while he tried to understand what Kate needed and how best to handle those needs, at the same time Kate's often scattered thoughts and conversations left him wandering about himself in terms of whether or not he knew what direction they should go. He was confused by he ramblings on the train to Chicago and once in Chicago he was overwhelmed by sights, sounds and smells as well as dealing with unsettled emotions brought on by being back in Chicago after 25 years. While Binx was unsettled Kate took charge in Chicago and she took charge again after they returned to face the aunt. Binx no longer needed to "say much" about the search has he had acquired a new focus and purpose, Kate.