Zoe Beazley
The Use of Mirroring in Rear Window as
an Inversion of 1950s America’s Capitalist
Culture
The binary dispositions of American ideals become present within Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear
Window through the mirroring effect of the 1954 film’s setting of a Greenwich Village
apartment complex. Within this essay, the mirrored effect refers to the presentation of the
film’s protagonist’s apartment, L.B. Jefferies (commonly referred to as Jeff), and inversely,
the apartments of his neighbours, producing a metaphorical mirror between the two. The
concept of mirroring can be seen through this setting as the apartments that Jeff observes,
and thus the viewer, which become understood as projections of Jeff’s inner psyche. Here, it
is the setting of film which invokes a deeper understanding of the American political
climate, reflecting the film’s potential for critical discourse, as a medium of allegory within
film. Hitchcock presents this film as discourse on the capitalist regime of 1950s America’s
socio-political system. Therefore, through the film’s setting, Hitchcock utilises the leitmotif
of reflection and mirroring to invert and thus, subtly criticise the values of American society.
Within Rear Window, Hitchcock presents viewers with the depiction of narrative through
the closed and restricted “lens” of the protagonist’s, Jeff’s, perspective, presenting a
solipsistic understanding of the film. This is depicted through Hitchcock’s specific use of
setting and perspective as the film’s setting does not veer past Jeff’s point of view and never
reaches past his sight. This, in essence, forces audiences to remain complicit with Jeff’s
understanding of plot, presenting the film as one under Jeff’s authority. This control of plot
can be further understood through Jeff’s refusal to understand others’ perspectives,
specifically when concerned with the perspective of Lisa. Constantly throughout the text,
Lisa presents Jeff with alternative understandings to what he observes. When discussing the
possibility of Jeff “[settling] down”, Lisa states that she is able to get him a job as a portrait
photographer, whilst Jeff redirects her perspective by telling her to “not speak anymore
nonsense”. Indeed, Jeff has reasserted his authority, and thus, persisted with his solipsistic
understanding of the world around him. Physically, this idea of redirecting perspective
manifests within Jeff once again as Lisa points out Mrs Lonelyhearts’ window and Jeff moves
hear head to direct her view towards Thorwald. This, in a literal sense, refuses audiences of
obtaining and further knowledge than that of the film’s protagonist, and thus, places
authority on Jeff as the film’s creator of active diegesis. Here, Hitchcock’s use of a forced,
individual perspective allows for allusion into the individualistic culture of 1950s America,
recognising the extremely restricted mindset that pervaded American society.
Therefore, as viewers are presented the narrative of Rear Window through the forced
position of a spectator of Jeff’s view the events within the apartment can thus be
understood as projections of his inner psyche. This is evident through use of mirroring,
which creates a reflection of Jeff’s ideals and values. On one side of the set, we see Jeff, the
passive object, being immobile while his female counterparts, Lisa and Stella, are the active
objects effectively creating plot. However, across the courtyard, viewers see Lars Thorwald
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and his sick, immobile wife. Thus, a mirrored effect is created as in one apartment, the
gendered binaries see the man as passive and the female as active, in the other, these roles
are reversed. Thus, it can be seen that the Thorwald apartment depicts Jeff’s inner need for
movement and control. This internal need for control is linked back to the aforementioned
forced perspective, however, his inability to maintain an active role within gendered power
dynamics reflects a deeper flaw within Jeff’s ideals. Indeed, these projections of Jeff’s
internal belief systems can be depicted within set design through the creation of a physical
hierarchy in apartment layout; the top holding the heterosexual, white couple whereas the
bottom holding the single, older female. This symbolic construction of set depicts the values
of Jeff, whether conscious or unconscious, as he recognises those who he deems
marginalised within society. This presents a layer of irony within the text, as, though
generally seemed as a bohemian, progressive suburb within New York, Greenwich Village
still falls to the hegemonic values of a 1950s American society. Thus, Hitchcock works to
invert the conditioned understanding of American society as not one of progression and
advancement, but rather, as a dividing environment that inhibits those within society.
However, through a further contextualisation of this projection of Jeff’s ideals, views and
inner psyche, the apartments of the text’s setting can be further understood as an allegory
depicting the views and values of the points of authority within 1950s America. In showing
this, it can be understood that the apartments Jeff observes are a microcosm of the
capitalist world, where nothing exists in supportive relation, but rather as mere senseless
juxtaposition. Juxtaposition, or rather referred to as mirroring, can be seen constantly
throughout the text, not only through the aforementioned example of Thorwald and Jeff’s
apartment, but also throughout the apartments of his neighbours against each other. Ms
Torso’s apartment can be directly observed as a direct contrast to Ms Lonelyhearts; in one
we see a young, popular woman and in the other is a lonely, older woman. Further, Ms
Lonelyheart’s melancholy disposition can be contrasted against the initially happy
newlyweds, however, as the newlyweds become increasingly happy, their apartment can be
juxtaposed against the long-time married couple at the top of the complex. Thus, the use of
setting throughout Rear Window allows for insight into the inner workings of a capitalist
society, such as that of 1950s America that sees people as in direct opposition to eachother.
Therefore, as plot within the text introduces themes of horror, such as the killing of
Thorwald’s wife and the couple’s dog, as well as Ms Lonelyheart’s suicide, readers come to
understand the insatiability of capitalism. Specifically, Ms Lonelyheart’s attempted suicide
symbolises the worthlessness and inefficiency felt within a capitalistic society when one is
unable to fulfill the expectations put upon them by society. Further, the concept of division
between society through capitalism is emphasised through the killing of the neighbour’s
dog. After finding their murdered dog, the neighbour states that “neighbours like each
other, speak to each other, care if anybody lives or dies. But none of you do!”, emphasising
the lack of community within society as division supersedes communal trust and efficiency.
Thus, Hitchcock’s text Rear Window presents readers with countless dichotomous
relationships between a divided social system as an allegory for the insatiability of a 1950s
capitalist society, understanding the hegemonic superstructures of America to be
detrimental to the relations between humans.
Therefore, through the presentation of mirrored juxtaposition, Hitchcock presents Rear
Window as an allegory for a capitalistic society in which division trumps community.
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Through perspective and plot, Hitchcock forces readers into the perspective of Jeff,
symbolising the authoritative and individualistic culture of 1950s America. However, it
becomes recognised that, through the use of setting, Hitchcock presents projections of Jeff’s
inner psyche, becoming symbolic of the values of American society. Thus, through this
newfound perspective on the text, the downfalls of character and plot can be understood
the downfalls of society. Ergo, Rear Window becomes an allegory for the insatiability of
capitalism within 1950s America, inverting the archetypal presentation of America within
film.