I’m a Curmudgeon
When I was about 13 or so, I saw Vertigo for the first time and it surely went over my head. It’s not the only Hitchcock film to do this either. Both Strangers on a Train and Psycho did little for me at first and took repeat viewings for me to appreciate. It was my job to catch up to them. Interestingly enough, Notorious intrigued me from the beginning.
So in my grumblings over the mutual dedication of soul mates, I was reminded of Dr. Kennedy’s explanation on how dialogues do not work when it comes to love poetry:
“Shall I compare the to a sum-”
“No!”
Once someone answers, end of the courtship! Even if it’s “Yes,” what’s the point of continuing? In romantic relationships, one person simply cares more than the other. We all had different definitions of soul mate, so a couple will have two completely different ideas of what kind of bond they have. Obsession I get: One person yearning for something. Hitchcock’s dealing with obsession left and right. I assume we’ll get to his thing for Grace Kelly and his determination to recreate her through a number of tall blonde actresses including Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint, and Janet Leigh. A single person’s yearning is believable. Two peoples’ yearning
[...] What startling conclusions have I made? Well, I’ll tell you. All day today I kept my mind chewing on Vertigo, and not its plot. I was trying so hard to focus on everything except for the plot that I think I missed everything about the film entirely. That is, until I read a review of the film by Mr. Roger Ebert. He made it click for me. After reading this review, I began to focus on Vertigo as a part of the larger unit we are studying, and not just as an individual film. All of this led me to one, solid, conclusion: Eben and Scotty are the same person. Both are trying to create a woman who, arguably, does not exist. Hitchcock himself is doing that in the film (as Craig says in his post, all his leading ladies fit certain parameters). Boom. That blew my mind. That is now also the topic of my paper. Now to find an essay in the FTC book that’ll help me out with all of this… [...]
I completely forgot that little speech of Kennedy’s.