'The Birds'- Film Review (2-4)

‘The Birds’- Cutting Edges (4)’

Never has the common wood pigeon seemed more terrifying than in Hitchcock's 1963 'The Birds' (an American horror-thriller film, adapted from Daphne Du Maurier's novel, 11 years earlier).
We may be used to our feathery friend waddling down our gardens, and balancing ever precariously in the weakest of branches... But in this adaptation, we now watch on in dread as flocks of Bird's around the town of Bodega Bay, launch attacks on the nearby locals.
Could, however, this film be more about a larger issue perhaps?
A product of which, Rekha Sharma (2012), notes, comes from a bigger more widespread issue around animal cruelty, hierarchy in human culture...? Or perhaps a metaphor for suppressed feminism and the inevitable fate of women in the film industry and on screen.

The former is supported by Sharma's observation "Hitchcock unmistakably comments on human cruelty and animal rights by including images of lobster traps and fried-chicken entrees", by forcing "audiences to deal with the discontinuity between their natural impulses and their intellect. His films also evoke emotional dualism in viewers by underscoring the conflicting emotions experienced by the characters.". In this view: nature and chaos vs. human and control. Michael Ricciardi also agrees (2012): "In my interpretation, Ms. Daniels represents the ceaseless encroachment of human urbanisation and development into every last wild place…Even back then, the pace/growth of development was worrying; Hitchcock may have been more prescient that most others on this issue.".
However- the latter seems particularly relevant as we see Melanie Daniels inhabit both an existing archetype, and challenging one.. while Tippi Hedren, the actress who plays her, also has to inhabit a sub-role of herself in the public eye as a female working in 1960's cinema.

Fig. 1 

Melanie Daniels in described by analysis site 'Shmoop' (2016), as a "rich socialite with enough time on her hands to get into plenty of trouble". Her "spoiled" and "mischievous" nature wasn't exactly typical for women roles at this time. Though, while "quick" and witty, the character is still arguably subjected to the "blonde beauty" role to some degree.
While the actress playing her shows some degree of over-sexualisation for 'male-gaze' (Fig. 1) and incidentally, pre-Hitchcock, may have felt restricted from any other character besides 'The Damsel in Distress', or the 'Ingenue', typical in earlier cinema/storytelling- see Fig. 3 and Fig. 6.

Fig. 2

Interestingly, however, Hitchcock's portrayal of women could arguably be said to possess more depth in character, according to Ian Scott Todd (2008), and thus cannot be entirely subject to insulting representations of the actress and character. He asks us, for a moment, to "...consider the range and diversity of Hitchcock's female characters, since they differ so widely from one another in personality, temperament, and appearance that it is impossible to make a claim about them as a collective unit". Melanie Daniels and Lisa Fremont are two such characters, that take up the singular position of the "sly, assertive, glamorous" character angle (see Fig. 2), "capable of getting what they want".
They work out their perceived 'weaknesses', and use it to their advantage. In that regard there's a strength of character, which exists beyond the "blonde beauty". It's hard to make a clean judgement of the positive or negative nature of their representation.
Incidentally, as Tania Modleski notes, "when one is reading criticism defending or attacking Hitchcock's treatment of women, one continually experiences a feeling of 'yes, but...", as "every female victim objectified by men within the film's narrative finds her double in a scheming sexual aggressor, every glamorous socialite corresponds to a pragmatic, clear-headed working woman; mothers- always crucial female figures in Hitchcock- are menacing and gentle, overbearing and distant, calculating and scatterbrained."
Additionally, "Hithcock's women are sometimes platonic friends with-rather than love interests".
And while 'The Birds' starts as a love story, between Melanie and Mitch, it ends as a 'disaster' movie, with Melanie stripped of her personality, Mitch acting as her carer in the absence of her "assertive, glamorous", witty nature, and no chemistry (as was before) in the sequence escaping the town.
Incidentally, at the cost of de-womanising. Melanie, Hitchcock can deny the romance factor of the film.
Though technically dehumanising her in some way then objectifies her further, as a toy for voyeurism, for select audiences.
 Excluding the end, though, Hitchcock's representation of women aren't solely interpreted as mere victims or objects. Todd (2008) goes on to say  how "This strength and humour initial drew me to Hitchcock's women and it still does today. Hitchcock's female characters defy categorization.".
"As I matured as a film viewer, as a gender studies scholar, and as an adult gay male, I have discovered that the dimension of Hitchcock's female characters refutes any kind of essentializing"

Additionally, he states, "Modlesky's work is particularly helpful in suggesting more complicated ways of thinking about women in Hitchcock's films than has previously been done, to be discussed further". Especially compared to films prior to this.
This film could be, in some regard, a product of changing cinema during the 'second-wave of feminism' (in 1960's United States), when women began challenging the male dominated culture. Such a society saw "38 percent of American women who worked in 1960 were largely limited to jobs as teacher, nurse or secretary. , being "denied opportunities to advance, as employers assumed they would soon become pregnant and quit their jobs".

Fig. 3 The Ingénue is an archetype once played predominately by young and 'endearingly innocent' woman.
Mary Pickford, American/Canadian actress and producer, renowned for her multiple Ingenue roles during the early part of her career, pre-talkies from 1906 to1927).

The 1960's were a time of change, and it's evident there's conflicting representations of this group. Some of which were still negative: Fig. 4 below shows how female portrayals were often still
'sexualised' for the male audience, and this portrayal would persist further for years to come, across various media texts.

Fig. 4 Post-war America,  now "awash with consumer goods and a creative and ruthless team of advertising executives" mainly male dominated, did so in a misogynistic culture of advertising, that saw physical intimation and control as acceptable.  This is evident in Tipalet's 1960's advertising campaign, showing a "wide-eyed beauty", as "passive sexual objects manipulated by men". (Saatchi, 2015).

In regards to 'The Birds', the film gives great insight into conflicting views around feminisim and gender equality in both the fictional reality of Bodega Bay, and the true reality of a Hollywood, acting career.

Fig. 5

The film itself harbours links to such themes. 

Note at the beginning of the film (Fig.5), the immediate presence of the 'birds'- akin, also, to the demeaning slur used by men for women. The cage trapping the animals, in some way mirrors women's limitation on the field of acting, or society in general during the 1960's.

Fig. 6

Mitch is presented as the modern equivalent to 'the knight in shining armour'. Dressed 'proper', in suit and tie, and preaching self-righteousness. It's evident that he's just as quick as his female counter-part, turning the prank on it's heels... though this act of 'stooping' to her level has her refer to him as "a louse" ('The Birds', 1963).

Fig. 7 'The Knight Errant' (1870), by John Millais. has interestingly views.
The original painting had the woman facing the man head on, but due to negative feedback, was changed to show her looking "modestly away". Additionally the artists "treatment of the nude figure and the ambiguity of the subject caused some consternation among critics who thought the woman too life-like." Indeed, 'Art Journal, (1870) claimed "the manner is almost too real for the treatment of the nude", and incidentally people made assumptions about the "woman's probable loose morals".
Some people believe the painting "underlines the erotic subtext of the genre".

Fig. 8

Similarly to 'The Knight Errant' (Fig. 6), the main subject is broken and shamed in her attempt to strive for independence, having to rely on the typical 1960's male and mother acceptive of male chauvinism, for help.
Despite her initial step away from her expected role, she inevitably reverts back to older expectations.

Fig. 9

Finally: though perhaps not original intended by Hitchcock himself, modern day interpretations of this piece incorporate the fake look of set, in the final interpretation on this films statement on ‘feminisim’.

There's almost a feeling of conflict between the fakery of set, and what effects were achievable at this point mechanically in the 1960's... against the reality of acting, and Hitchcock's decision to have all sound derive directly from onscreen. 

In this regard, the film almost stands for a statement of cinematic representation of women ('the birds'- being a physically formed representation of how men saw women at this time), vs. the reality of women. Including the suppression evident in this fictional world, from the actual existing one. 

Tippi herself claimed in her biography, ('Tippi: A memoir', 2016), that she too was victimised by the role of women, and goes onto state Hitchcock himself had both groped her in a taxi, and that upon trying to get out of the contract, he'd said "Well, you can't, you have your daughter to support and your parents are getting older", threatening to "ruin" her career if she had.

'The Birds' persisting presence in film culture, has since been the source of both critique and "invaluable" aid "to feminism film theorists as pop-culture documents of period-specific femininity at it's most suffocating often laughably absurd", despite Hitchcock not necessarily being a feminist filmmaker himself at time of shooting.
Representations of women that are seen as demeaning are an insight into the film culture at that time, and anything he did that challenged that has since persisted now into today's culture.

In fact, Hitchcock's choice to work with Hollywood filming conventions, and contrast "flagrantly spotlighting an actress's famous physical assets" in "typical Hollywood fashion", against the
"visual context of blood and carnage", helps unsettle us with its "brutal distortions of essentially erotic forms of imagine".
Matthew Eng (2015), asks us to query whether Hitchcock is- in fact- asking to "question which is truly the more troubling horror: the inexplicable ferocity of the birds or the idea that the dubious role of “woman” in Hollywood is one inextricably rooted in sexually-charged imagery that melds together terror and tantalisation through the unremitting exploitation of the ideal yet depersonalised female figure?". Or could he, himself, be part of this male driven culture?

References

Illustrations

Fig. 1 Tippi Hedren (2016), 'Tippi: A Memoir', America, William Morrow. 

Fig. 2 'Image of Tippi Hedren', [photograph], Available at: http://theredlist.com/media/database/muses/icon/cinematic_women/1960/tippi-hedren/002-tippi-hedren-theredlist.jpg [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Fig. 3 'Image of Mary Pickford', [Photograph], Available at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSg-nlm-C-erAlr-VL_chEzd61RqS7myvRpPv-Uv_lVcJ5tdiV0a6yzecNwZmEuTiTndoDBJnRhmQGj3UU9OK5CmRcwm19vg6hyphenhyphenCuHW8k3SJvWVGqRN6wpsHJJkihbWfqwo3p_lp4IYRk/s1600/mary+pickford+1.jpg

 [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Fig. 4 'The 1960's Campaign for Tipalet Cigarettes' [Poster]. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3318841/Shocking-posters-1950s-60s-sexist-racist-campaigns-seen-acceptable.html [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Fig. 5 'The Birds' (1963), [Film Still], Available at: http://cinesourcemagazine.com/images/uploads/7_11_Cvr3_DogBirds_ph4.jpg [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Fig. 6 'The Birds' (1963), [Film Still], Available at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2vvoGorHkvidbm5aGkDh4XR_z8-RaLwf3DL92Q4NZMOvcM1bAZEapLtdTlyvirSyVcex2Uo6NbXcU-ih9z1ghnnn3OOcOg1fIUFUKW96K7wmC70isnC4-O74fYkLtYon7vKJdaPH_ho/s1600/Birds+7.jpg [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Fig. 7 'The Birds' (1963), [Film Still], Available at: http://images.static-bluray.com/reviews/6912_5.jpg [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Fig. 9 'The Birds' (1963), [Film Still], Available at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvFdqN-MV00iiP4ADhkInisYGng-H3_bqhylU5kwsXjj7j0DPV_eaCIGUp0shgJztD85wUM8WSBFl8-9wAa5u4kVqDdKx6-bDIa1Mmoa7U99GrlVgWQvD-aR7-kcpxgPt7-6dz0GkYPs/s1600/The+Birds+3.jpg [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Books
Block, Marcelline (2008), 'Situating the Feminist Gaze and Spectatorship in Postwar Cinema', England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Websites
'BBC' (-2016), 'Second Wave Femimnism', [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/70sfeminism/ [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]
Bidisha, (2010), 'What's Wrong with Hitchcock's Women', [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/21/alfred-hitchcock-women-psycho-the-birds-bidisha [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Cochrane, Kira (2013), '1963: The Beginning of the Feminist Movement', [Online]. Available at:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/07/1963-beginning-feminist-movement

Eng, Matthew (2015), 'The Inevitable Endangerment of Womanhood in Hitchcock's The Birds', [Online]. Available at: https://tribecafilm.com/stories/the-inevitable-endangerment-of-womanhood-in-alfred-hitchcock-s-the-birds-tippi-hedren-horror-truffaut-documentary-jessica-tandy-truffaut-documentary-cinephile [Accessed Date:  24/04/17]

Hutchinson, Pamela (2016), 'Mary Pickford: America's first screen megastar', [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/25/mary-pickford-silent-film-megastar-gladys-smith-actor-producer-mogul [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Min, Shen (2010), 'Feminism in American Films Since the 1960's', [Online]. Available at:

http://202.121.96.136:8800/openfile?dbid=72&objid=54_55_54_53_50&flag=free [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]
'NPR' (2016), 'For Tippi Hedren, Hitchcock's Scares Came Off-Screen', [Online]. Available at: http://www.npr.org/2016/11/05/500668082/for-tippi-hedren-hitchcocks-scares-came-off-screen [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Ricciardi, Michael (2012), 'The Idea of Nature in Revolt- Revisiting Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds', [Online]. Available at: http://planetsave.com/2012/07/15/the-idea-of-nature-in-revolt-revisiting-alfred-hitchcocks-the-birds/ [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]Saporito, Jeff (2015), 'How does Hitchcock's camera techniques and use of space in "The Birds" build the film's atmosphere', [Online]. Available at: http://screenprism.com/insights/article/how-does-hitchcocks-camera-techniques-and-use-of-space-in-the-birds-build-t [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Sharma, Rekha (2012), 'Parallels in Opposition: Examining Duality in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt and The Birds', [Online]. Available at: https://mapaca.net/gazette/2012/summer/parallels-opposition-examining-duality-alfred-hitchcocks-shadow-doubt-and-birds [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

'Tate' (-2016), 'Sir John Everett Millais, Bt. The Knight Errant. 1870', [Online]. Available at:

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millais-the-knight-errant-n01508 [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

'Tavanna' (-2017), 'The 1960's-70's American Feminist Movement: Breaking Down Barriers for Women', [Online]. Available at: https://tavaana.org/en/content/1960s-70s-american-feminist-movement-breaking-down-barriers-women [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]

Walsh, Kenneth T. (2010), 'The 1960's: A Decade of Change for Women', [Online]. Available at: https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/03/12/the-1960s-a-decade-of-change-for-women [Accessed Date: 24/04/17]