All of the negative stereotypes of castrating mother come to mind with Mrs. Bates. Of course, Mrs. Bates only still exists in Norman's mind, but that does not make her actions any less real. I could whip out some Walter Lipmann theory here from my Mass Persuasion and Propaganda class to ground that last statement but saying that even when folks react to a fabricated reality (aka, they're batty) the effects their actions have on the real world are no less real, regardless of the initial stimuli that prompted them.
But back to Mama-Bates. She is threatened by any women that come into Norman's life, just as either Dil or Jude would be. (recap: Dil's "a man," and Jude's a bit too hard for her own good.)
So by striving to protect their femininity, all these women--real or not-- condemn themselves in conventional film lingo and condemn narratively any real women that are around them.
The only untouched characters are the men who stay men.
Hmm. OK.
Correction:
ReplyDeleteNo one reaaaaally stays untouched. Fergie-Ferg off of The Crying Game is coded as effeminate--recall the scene where he's tied to the bed and such...yep. So it's all sorts of gender-bender awesome.