Rhetorical Essay
Alfred Hitchcock and Narcissism

 in this quote is saying that he believes that narcissism is on the rise due to television making everything it should be about them and not others. Hitchcock's films suggest a very deep understanding of narcissism and its traits. For example, his treatment of actors particularly women. Hitchcock was described as controlling and manipulative and had a lack of empathy (Bergstrom, 2023). He was obsessed with Tippu Hedren who played an actress in “The Birds and “Marnie” in the film he directed. The lack of empathy that he showed towards Hedren when she endured five days of filming where handlers hurled live birds at her, she writes that “it was brutal and ugly and relentless” (Warner, 2016) which suggested narcissistic behavior. Hitchcock said, “I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle” (Ken Van Camp, 2023). He thought he was inferior to everyone else and that they should do what he said. After watching the film “Rebecca,” Hitchcock's characters portray narcissistic behavior when    Mrs. Danvers is obsessed with Maxim's first wife, and he later remarries. Mrs. Danvers will not accept her and makes things very uncomfortable for her by constantly comparing her to the late wife. Mrs. Danvers's character in this film shows a very intense narcissistic personality by Hitchcock's. During many of his films, Hitchcock's storytelling and absurd fiction he has a huge controlling issue and manipulates the audience into believing certain things. “Psycho” shows a very good example of this. Most of Hitchcock’s films show narratives that include many elements of narcissism. Janet Leigh plays a secretary on the run for embezzling money and hides at a secluded motel in California owned by a repressed man played by Anthony Perkins who thinks at certain moments that his overbearing mother is the killer inside of him. Hitchcock used sound and music to heighten emotions throughout the films one example is when he used screeching violins in the shower scene in the film “Psycho”. This film narrative is known for playing a role in maintaining suspense throughout the film and keeping the audience constantly on the edge of their seat. The quote “To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script and the script.” -Alfred Hitchcock (Scripts et al., 2018).Hitchcock's absurd films like “Vertigo” after watching showed how narcissistic and controlling he made his characters in these absurd films. When Scottie forces Judy to dress and look like Madeleine this shows the controlling and shaping of a person that narcissist is known for. “Vertigo” film   is about a former police detective named Scottie suffering from acrophobia and vertigo is hired to follow a mystery woman and he becomes obsessed with her. This shows how narcissistic Individuals try to control you and make their behavior seem like it is acceptable. Scottie needed her to look perfect for his own peace of mind (Provost, 2023). Scottie was shaping her into what he wanted her to be like in his head he thought this was normal behavior.After analysis of Hitchcock’s work, the characters in many of his films were very controlling and obsessive with lacked empathy in these absurd films. Hitchcock loved to control the audience throughout his films in a way that Hitchcock would understand that narcissism is an epidemic. Narcissism personality disorder is a condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance and they tend to deny flaws in themselves and put the blame on others. One of Hitchcock's famous quotes “In feature films, the director is God; in the documentary films, God is the director.” This quote itself is aimed toward the power and control a narcissist has over you and it shows throughout his films. Even though most of his films and main characters showed narcissistic traits, it does not mean Hitchcock was a narcissist but maybe he just knew what one was and wanted to portray that in his films to get the attention of the audience. His films are known for being suspenseful and having intense character development. Hitchcock used camera angles and techniques that would build suspense and tension during the film. He was known for the “dolly zoom” technique to create a sense of disorientation and unease in the audience (Wfcn, 2015). The point of view shots he was well known for this would help the audience see the world from their perspective (Wfcn, 2015). Hitchcock was famous for manipulating the audience in his films. He liked to test the limits of filmmaking and liked to be able to control the audience in a certain way for them to experience emotional stress and intrigue the audience he also showed obsessive manipulation in his work and own personal relationship with others. Hitchcock touches on many characteristics of narcissism through his storytelling.  Each of  the  characters in his films show control,obsessiveness,manipulation,