Vertigo: Masculinity

Scottie starts off the scene injured to emphasise his weakness and is shown trying to balance his cane while Midge works, this shows the glaring differences between the two as Midge is employed and working while Scottie is presented as child-like as he is playing with his cane and is unemployed. Scottie’s cane is intended to show that he is not only physically diminished but it is also intended to be a phallic symbol, by having him try to balance the cane and failing he is shown to have lost virility as he literally “he can’t keep it up”. Scottie is positioned as a feminine character; this is shown through how he needs to be protected by Midge who catches him as he falls. The fall itself is over-exaggerated and is presented in a way that is similar to female character during the golden Hollywood era; this reverses the roles of masculine and feminine and positions Midge as the masculine character while Scottie is feminine. Midge is positioned as being motherly towards Scottie, this is shown through how she has to explain to him what a bra is an says, “You know about these things. You’re a big boy now!” Midge is also represented as being unappealing to Scottie as a love interest, she is not given a POV from Scottie’s perspective and because of this we are unable to ‘gaze’ at her like we do with Madeleine. During the scene Midge encourages Scottie to climb the ladder, this is similar to how a mother would encourage their child which reinforces Midge's representation as the mother figure. When Scottie falls he lands in Midge's arms in a way that is reminiscent of romantic films during the golden Hollywood era, this is typically performed by the female character and by having this visual link it presents Scottie as being more feminine as a result.