The Maggot

“….perhaps I'll go back to my room, now...

...Norman, it's been lovely to chat.

Terribly sorry about your loneliness….”

Well, I run the office 

and tend the cabins and grounds 

and do little errands for my mother.

The ones she allows 

I might be capable of doing.

Do you go out with friends?

….well, a boy's best friend 

is His Mother.

I'm Norma Bates!

“I love that there's a 

Hole in The Wall 

the exact size of His FACE — 

Which tells you that 

he's been doing this 

more than once 

and that 

he's made it comfortable for himself.”

Alfred Hitchcock :

“I'll bet you nine people out of ten...

if they see something across, like a woman undressing and going to bed, or even sometimes a man pottering around his room doing nothing.

Nine people out of ten will 

Stay and LOOK.

They WON’T Turn Away and Say,

‘It’s none of My Business’ and pull down their OWN curtain.

They won't DO it.”

In the beginning of the movie you're flying into a [hotel bedroom] window with the blinds closed, so you're starting out as a voyeur.

….And if you think about it, 

of The Movie's opening from the point of view of A FLY, 

it •changes• the whole context 

of what meaning of The Movie IS.

MOTHER :

I'm not even going to swat that fly.

I hope They ARE watching.

They'll SEE, They'll see 

and They'll KNOW, 

and They'll Say...

“...why, SHE wouldn't even 

harm a FLY…..”

The Sheriff :

If anyone gets any answers 

it'll be the psychiatrist.

Even I couldn't get to Norman 

and he knows me.

You warm enough, miss?

Yes.

The Sheriff :

Did he talk to you?

Psychiatrist :

No. I got the whole story, 

but not from Norman.

I got it from his mother.

Norman Bates no longer exists.

He only half-existed to begin with.

And now the other half has taken over, probably for all time.

Did he kill my sister?

Psychiatrist :

Yes. And, No.

The Sheriff :

Well, now look, if you're trying to lay

some psychiatric groundwork

for some sort of plea, this fellow would like to cop...

Psychiatrist :

A psychiatrist doesn't lay the groundwork.

He merely tries to explain it.

But my sister is...

Psychiatrist :

Yes. Yes, I'm sorry.

The private investigator, too.

If you drag that swamp somewhere

in the vicinity of the motel, you'll...

Have you any unsolved missing persons cases on your books?

Yes, two.

Psychiatrist :

Young girls?

Did he confess to...

Psychiatrist :

Like I said, The Mother.

Now, to understand it 

the way I understood it,

hearing it from The Mother,

that is, from the Mother-half

of Norman's mind,

you have to go back 10 years —

to the time when Norman murdered

his mother and her lover.

Now, he was already dangerously disturbed, had been ever since his father died.

His Mother was a clinging, demanding woman,

and for years the two of them lived

as if there was no one else in The World.

Then she met A Man, 

and it seemed to Norman 

that she threw him over 

for this man.

Now, that pushed him over the line

and he killed them both.

Matricide is probably the most unbearable crime of all, most unbearable to the son who commits it.

So he had to erase the crime,

at least in his own mind.

He stole her corpse.

A weighted coffin was buried.

He hid the body in the fruit cellar,

even treated it to keep it as well as it would keep.

And that still wasn't enough.

She was there, but she was a corpse.

So he began to Think and Speak for her, give her Half His Life, 

so to speak.

At times he could be both personalities, carry on conversations.

At other times, The Mother half took over completely.

He was never all Norman,

but he was often only Mother,

and because he was so pathologically jealous of her, he assumed that she was as jealous of him.

Therefore, if he felt a strong attraction to any other woman,

The Mother Side of Him would go wild.

When he met your sister, he was touched by her, aroused by her.

He wanted her.

That set off the jealous mother,

and Mother killed the girl.

After the murder, Norman returned as if from a deep sleep, and, like a dutiful son, covered up all traces of the crime he was convinced his mother had committed!

Why was he dressed like that?

He's a transvestite.

Psychiatrist :

Not exactly —

A man who dresses in women's clothing in order to achieve a sexual change or satisfaction is a transvestite.

But in Norman's case, he was simply doing everything possible to keep alive the illusion of his mother being alive.

And when Reality came too close,

when danger or desire

threatened that illusion,

he'd dress up, even to a cheap wig he bought.

He'd walk about the house,

sit in her chair, speak in her voice.

He tried to be his mother.

And now he is.

That's what I meant when I said

I got the story from The Mother.

You see, when the mind

houses Two Personalities,

there's always a conflict, a battle.

In Norman's case, The Battle is over,

and the dominant personality has won.

The Sheriff :

And the $40,000? 

Who got that?

Psychiatrist :

The Swamp.

These were crimes of passion, not profit.

Young Sheriff’s Deputy :

He feels a little chill.

Can I bring him this blanket?

The Sheriff :

Oh, sure.

All right.

Mother :

Thank you.

It's sad when a mother has to speak the words that condemn her own son, but I couldn't allow them to believe that I would commit murder.

They'll put him away now,

as I should have years ago.

He was always bad, and in the end he intended to tell them

I killed those girls and that man,

as if I could do anything

except just sit and stare,

like one of his stuffed birds.

They know I can't even move a finger, and I won't.

I'll just sit here and be quiet,

just in case they do suspect me.

They're probably watching me.

Well, let them.

Let them see what kind 

of a person I am.

I'm not even gonna swat that fly.

I hope they are watching. 

They'll see.

They'll see and they'll know,

and they'll say,

"Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly."