Alfred Hitchcock - The Birds (1963)

This film review will be analysing Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Birds produced in 1963, specifically
looking at how the birds could represent female anger in the film. Referencing to articles from; Jeff
Saporito, Ryan Thompson, Jonathan Simmons and Megan Burbage. Using these sources this
review aims to demonstrate how the birds can reflect the female anger particularly through Lydia’s
character, examples from the beginning and end of the film will used to show this.
Melanie Daniels meets Mitch Brenner in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him
home. She brings with her the gift of two love birds and they strike up a romance. However, when
she meets the rest of the women in Mitch’s life bird attacks start to happen on the small town.

Figure 1 - Melanie on boat, The Birds (1963)

Within the film multiple bird attacks happen and usually involve the protagonist Melanie, the first
attack to be shown is when Melanie sails across the lake to reach Mitch’s house (Fig 1)
“The first attack in The Birds comes after Melanie enters to drop off the love birds for Cathy. A
seagull attacks in a foreshadowing moment of warning, which Melanie is quick to
dismiss.” (Saporito, 2015). This particular scene is important to the film as it establishes the danger
which Melanie brings to Mitch’s character and the people around him. It also represents how
delusional and unaware Melanie is towards the situation. This attack can also be seen as a
warning towards Melanie from Mitch’s mother Lydia, as she is entering the families territory;
“The Birds refers not to the countless flying beasts terrorizing the town, but to the female
characters in Mitch’s (Rod Taylor) life” (Saporito, 2015). After this point, the bird attacks then
become more ruthless and aggressive towards Melanie.

The last bird attack that the audience are shown happens when Melanie investigates Banner’s
house, in the scene she left with multiple cuts with birds surrounding her. She soon loses hope as
she can not open door to escape, which then causes Mitch to come to her rescue (Fig. 2) “The wild
birds function as a kind of malevolent female superego, an indirect revelation of Lydia’s character.
She is a possessive mother, intent upon furthering a symbiotic, oedipal relationship with her
son” (Simmons, 2010)
 Figure 2 - Melanie end attack, The Birds (1963)

At this point in the film Melanie has grown a strong relationship with both Mitch and his younger
sister Cathy. Whereas Lydia, Mitch’s mother has grown a strong hatred and jealously for her as
she has become the more dominant female in Mitch’s life. “The wild birds function as a kind of
malevolent female superego, an indirect revelation of Lydia’s character. She is a possessive
mother, intent upon furthering a symbiotic, oedipal relationship with her son” (Simmons, 2010).
This quote from Simmons proves that Melanie's relationship with Mitch triggers Lydia as she has
lost control of her son and his emotions, and that she has lost that strong connection with him.
Therefore, allowing the attack to happen when Melanie is alone and not being able to escape
resembles how Lydia is reinstating her dominate and power she has on Mitch by personally
attacking Melanie.

Figure 3 - Melanie, Mitch and Lydia after the end attack, The Birds (1963)

Throughout the rest of the film after the attack for the first time Melanie becomes dependent on the
other characters of the film. “Any of the traits that made Melanie independent and unlike most
female characters in film at the time become stripped away” (Thompson, 2017). She is left weak
and helpless, her confidence fades, and no longer drives the narrative of the film (Fig.3). Seeing
her in this state, Lydia then soon begins to accept Melanie; “It is only when Melanie, the source of
the troubles, sacrifices herself to the birds that the attacks subside” (Burbage, 2017). Lydia is put at
ease therefore, the birds attacks stop. Burbage also states; “The end result is that status quo is
reinstated, Melanie is accepted” (Burbage, 2017). This proves how Lydia has gained back her
mother-role towards Mitch, as Melanie’s independent and strength has been taken from her.

In conclusion the birds can represent Lydia’s anger and jealously she has towards Melanie and her
relationship with Mitch. Only when her independent and ego is taken from her can Lydia truly
accept her into the family.

Bibliography

Burbage, M. (2017). What is Hitchcock’s The Birds really about? – Megan Burbage – Medium.
[online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@meganxburbage/comparison-in-the-film-
adaptations-of-the-birds-and-the-hunger-games-ef1b84c013e6 [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].

Saporito, J. (2015). What is the Freudian interpretation of "The Birds" | ScreenPrism. [online]
Screenprism.com. Available at: http://screenprism.com/insights/article/what-is-the-freudian-
interpretation-of-the-birds [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].

Simmons, J. (2010). The Pervert's Guide to The Birds: Of Hitchcock, Žižek, the Maternal
Superego, and Critical Confusion - Bright Lights Film Journal. [online] Bright Lights Film Journal.
Available at: https://brightlightsfilm.com/wp-content/cache/all/the-perverts-guide-to-the-birds-of-
hitchcock-zizek-the-maternal-superego-and-critical-confusion-of-hitchcock/#.XG7l8K2caT8
[Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].

Thompson, R. and Thompson, R. (2017). The Birds (1963) Analysis. [online] Celluloid Cinema.
Available at: http://www.celluloidcinema.com/post/the-birds/ [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].

Illustration List

Figure 1: Melanie on Boat, The Birds (1963) [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/
35958496995429548/ Last assessed: 21st February 2019

Figure 2: Melanie end attack, The Birds (1963) [online]Available at: https://reelclub.wordpress.com/
2014/07/27/birds-of-a-feather-mastering-suspense-and-metaphor-in-the-climax-of-the-birds/ Last
assessed: 21st February 2019

Figure 3: Melanie, Mitch and Lydia after the end attack, The Birds (1963) [online] Available at:
http://www.filmsufi.com/2016/06/the-birds-alfred-hitchcock-1963_23.html Last assessed: 21st
February 2019