7. Norman Bates in Psycho (1960)
Anthony Perkins iconic portrayal of Norman Bates is one that should pop to mind of any cinema enthusiast. If we analyze Hollywood cinema of the early 1960s, Bates is one of the very few exceptions to the conventional villain. He massacres what the audience believes to be the protagonist halfway through the movie, we discover that he is responsible for the several deaths in the films resolution, and most importantly he is more of a victim than an actual villain. Although his acts are unquestionably brutal, Bates was only present in physicality; his psyche possessed him into committing the atrocities. It all began with Normans very isolated upbringing at the Bates residence. The only person in Normans life was his mother. According to Freud, a toddlers subconscious develops when he realizes that the pleasures only a mother can supply are no longer on tap. Normans mother, however, dammed his tap as soon as she found a lover. Freud also claims that a toddler commonly views the father-like figure as a competitor for the mothers affections. Norman had no competition up until that point, though. Imagine releasing a dog in the wild after being is spoiled with meals, grooms, and walks in the park for years. How does a living thing, whether a dog or a human, cope after such an abrupt cut of affection? Maybe not like Norman, who killed his mother and her lover as a result. To make matters worse, something in Normans psyche knew that his doings were wrong and therefore resurrected his mother as a duplicate personality in order to erase the ordeal. The forensic psychiatrist claims that Normans jealousy was like two sides of the same coin. She also felt begrudged whenever Norman was attracted to another woman, which led to her murders. Norman in a sense had nothing to do with them, as he was his mother whenever the ghastly deed was done. Although he remembers nothing about his murders, his mind fabricated a self-mechanism capable of erasing his ghastly deeds. When a person is unaware that he is a killer, and when his subconscious can tell that he is wrong, how can one not feel sorry for him? What suprised me most, though, is that Norman Bates in his own persona is actually a very decent man.