Rear Window and Value of Voyeurism Jordyn Finch 12th Grade

Auteur director Alfred Hitchcock first introduced audiences to Rear Window, a film that would go on to reach both critical and commercial success, in the mid-1950s. With this, he left them pondering a question still being debated by viewers today: ‘Is voyeurism acceptable?’. Hitchcock's outlook on voyeurism, particularly whether he appears to endorse or condemn it, is nuanced. Instead of presenting voyeurism as thoroughly negative or positive, Hitchcock develops a variety of scenarios that show that the value of voyeurism is case-dependent.

Hitchcock supports voyeurism when undertaken in circumstances that will result in justice being served when it otherwise may not. Injured photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, the protagonist of the film, alongside his girlfriend Lisa and nurse Stella, believe they have uncovered a crime when observing the neighbours across the apartment complex. It appears as though tenant Lars Thorwald has murdered his wife: first, his wife disappears, then he begins to act incredibly suspect. It is later revealed that the trio were correct in their suspicions - Thorwald was guilty of killing his wife. Hitchcock displays the fact that good can result from spying on others, as an innocent victim receives...