If Brandon and Philip, two men with the moralities of Nazi’s, represent the fears of America in 1948, one might assume that Hitchcock is implying that being homosexual is just as bad as being a communist or a masochist in general. Though this opinion was supported by ordinary American citizens and medical professions alike, I don’t believe it’s the message Hitchcock is trying to send to his viewers. He could not have been homophobic if he was so clearly fascinated with the nature of male homosexual relationships. In Rope, he explores a relationship that is clearly homosexual and he forces his viewers to explore it as well. Brandon does represent all that America fears- he is an elitist with a credo molded to resemble Hitler’s, he’s a murderer, and he’s gay, but he appears to be an average guy. He is the man that Joseph McCarthy feared and urged the government to fear. He’s the man Americans were taught to fear by their government. He’s also the man that America must confront. He can no longer be avoided. The Holocaust was real, America can no longer deny that. Hitler killed millions of innocent people until we decided to intervene long after we should have. The Cold War is approaching and communism is a horrifying threat which we will have to challenge in order to eliminate. Human sexuality isn’t black and white, proved by the statistics presented in Alfred Kinsey’s study. Homosexuality exists. Brandon is the fear, Rupert is the terrified American who is still partially in denial, and Hitchcock is the artist behind it all, urging American to wake up and face the fears that plague society. They cannot be escaped and must be acknowledged and confronted one way or another.
No comments:
Post a Comment