Psycho Night: 3 Hours
The character, regardless of intent, acts as a queer and acts outside of gender performance roles and is essentially a transvestite.
Goals:
I have 3 hours to write as much as I can for this damn Psycho paper. My motivation is being done with that hell-hole of a class (believe me).
The thesis of my paper will explore issues of gender nonconformity and bring into light the concept of gender performance. I will also tackle themes of homosexual stereotypes and how Norman Bates more closely fits into the concept of ‘queer.’ Using the materials I have, I think it’ll be interesting to also delve into the private life of Anthony Perkins (who played Norman) and see if him being gay IRL affected his performance.
Books:
- Frightening the Horses: Gay Icons of the Cinema - Anthony Perkins’ personal life.
- Queer Images - Short sentence on him being a ‘queer’ representation.
- Flaming Classics - The bulk of my paper on issues that the film brings up and the question of if Norman is a transvestite.
- Transgender History - Short Susan Stryker piece that details the founding of the Society of the Second Self (Tri-Ess) started by transgender woman Virginia Prince.
Prince believed that cross-dressing allowed men to express their “full personality” in a world that required a strict division between the masculine and the feminine (55)
What do you think? What are some other important issues I should point out in my paper?
