#psycho1960

I was thinking about how if a movie tries to convey an important message but uses stereotypes or discriminatory jokes to back it up, it doesn’t really work for the message (I won’t give examples, but I have a few in mind). But then I thought about “Psycho” (1960), which has an actively anti-ableist message if you pay close attention.

Yet, Norman Bates fits the stereotypes. So why does “Psycho” work? Well, remember how Norman says that his mother may be mad but we ALL go a little mad? He basically implies that it would be unfair to put anyone who has moments like that into an asylum to be studied, as it would be stigmatizing what mental illness is: just dangerous madness. 

At the end of the film, when the psychiatrist explains Norman’s illness, he explains that the deepest part of Norman’s mind is aware that his mother is dead and is aware that he’s not right but he keeps pushing it down.

What if the reason Norman calls out the stigmatization is because part of his mind knows that he fits the stigma OR knows that his “mother” fits it?

If so, this would make the ending more tragic than it already is. When we see that Norman perfectly fits the stereotypes that society has created for mental illness, we are almost guaranteed that he will be mistreated the way he described during his iconic rant. He is everything the neurotypical society fears, and yet we don’t feel happy when he is put into the asylum because we remember his monologue.

We remember that he’s human and sick, even though he’s done these terrible things. He’s a murderer, he doesn’t deserve to walk free. But we recognize that he’s sick and doesn’t deserve to be mistreated.

“Psycho” has a powerful message because it not only calls out the way the neurotypical society’s treatment of the mentally ill but it challenges neurotypical society to face what it fears. It also challenges it to face how they could be wrong about their views of the mentally ill, even if it looks like they’re right from the outside. 

(One more thing, they say that Norman has ALWAYS been non-neurotypical or “disturbed” since he was young, implying that he was likely born with his mental illness but didn’t go off the deep end until the abuse from his mother started kicking in. This breaks another stereotype about how you can only GAIN mental illness.) 

In short, go watch “Psycho”.

archive moodboard for @psycho1960

send me the title for a playlist and i’ll pick 5-10 songs that i think would be in that playlist!

destroy me by mr. kitty 

nowhere to run by stegosaurus rex

out by 16, dead on the scene by machine girl

madness by goreshit (HUGE noise warning, it’s very loud)

biblical violence by hella

i’m sorry by brenda lee

I'm thinking zell!