What Does This Mean for the Viewer?

          A moviegoer in 1948, during a time when homosexuals were considered gender anomalies in need of medical intervention, would probably be totally oblivious to the underlying theme of homosexuality in Rope. This is because it simply wasn’t discussed. People wouldn’t think to question Philip and Brandon’s relationship because being homosexual was out of the question unless they were to be considered mentally ill.

            Which, in a way, they are. Surely one must be mentally ill to murder a so-called friend.

            If a viewer in 1948 picked up on the theme of homosexuality, he or she would probably be horrified and immediately reject the thought in self-disgust. Modern-day viewers are able to analyze Brandon and Philip’s gay relationship because homosexuality is much more commonly discussed. It is mostly socially acceptable to be homosexual, and there seem to be more gay-rights activists than there are gay-rights condemners.

            Still, a straight male viewer, when watching Rope and wondering if Philip and Brandon are going to kiss or have sex on screen may feel slightly unsettled when he realizes that he is actually imagining two men having a physically intimate relationship. As stated by D.A. Miller in her extensive analysis of the film, an essay appropriately titled Anal Rope, “Rope excites a desire to see, and a fear of seeing” (Miller 125). By manipulating his audience with suspenseful scenes in which Brandon and Philip come one hand-hold or cheek-stroke away from physically proving their homosexuality, Hitchcock sparks the imaginations of his viewers and causes them to think things we may not normally feel comfortable thinking. There is a desire to see more of Philip and Brandon’s relationship- do they sleep in one bed? Do they kiss? What is it like when they have sex? Viewers want confirmation that, yes, they are most certainly gay but at the same time, it’s very unsettling because they’re not supposed to want to see these things. Hitchcock succeeds in instilling a forbidden desire in his audience, and in this way succeeds in upsetting them as well.