When it comes to filmmakers, one of the most unique and oftentimes controversial is Alfred Hitchcock. Born in England, Hitchcock came to the United States and quickly rose the ranks to be one of the most well known independent filmmakers alongside Walt DIsney among others.
However, I will say that Alfred Hitchcock has produced films that are usually very against sensory friendly individuals such as myself. But that hasn’t stopped teachers from making them as part of their curriculum. In fact, when I was a junior in high school, my English teacher showed Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960) just as Halloween was getting closer. Just the idea of the music and the visuals were enough to make me feel a sense of uncomfort at the time. I was only 16 years old at the time and while I have accepted Hitchcock’s work for what it is, it hasn’t stopped me from wondering if they should even be shown as part of a teacher’s curriculum.
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To me, there are two Hitchcock films that stand out to me the most and they are “Psycho” (1960) and “The Birds” (1963). Both films are unique in their own way because to me, there are two scenes in the film that I vividly remember making me uncomfortable.
In “Psycho,” the infamous shower scene where Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) disguised as his “mother,” brutally stab Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) as she is taking a shower. While I never displayed it, there were times where I thought someone was going to come into the shower with a knife in their hand to brutually butcher me up. Nevertheless, when I saw this film in junior year, I didn’t look at the scene because I knew what was going to be happening. Everything about it was shocking, the knife being plunged, the blood coming out of Janet Leigh and then the moment when her eyes are wide open after she is dead…enough to make my skin crawl.
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Then there is “The Birds” (1963) where Hitchcock makes birds go wild on a small northern California town. Much like the shower scene in “Psycho,” the one scene that stood out to me was the scene where crows attack the fleeing schoolchildren and their teacher Annie (Suzanne Pleshette) along with the protagonist Melane (Tippi Hendren). Just seeing the crows cawing and pecking at the children gave me a sense of unease and it made me wonder to myself if this type of situation could ever happen.
Plus, the sight of the children being attacked made put myself in their shoes wondering if there was ever a time for danger, would I be in the path of fire of something worse than birds?
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Now, I get why some teachers would put these films into their lesson plan, given the fact that both films of Hitchcock’s would demonstrate the manner of a short story that is themed around Halloween where scary stories would reign supreme.
However, when it comes to sensory friendly students, Alfred Hitchcock’s films may not be the best fit for them. But if teachers do want to show the film to their special education students, then they should do so as a way of teaching the students to face their fears and knowing the difference between fact and fiction. But films like Hitchcock’s may be difficult for some students to process and it’s a good idea to come up with an alternative for students that can’t take his films.
Do I think Hitchcock films belong in the classroom? I can’t really say. Some are worth showing, but some are not. This is one of those situations where I say that its important to consider what is best for the student and Alfred Hitchcock, as great as he is, may not be the best filmmaker for special education and sensory friendly students.
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Catch you all later!!
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