A
Certain Kind of Guy
It’s undeniable
that serial killers are interesting figures to learn more about, as they’re
essentially the opposite of how non-killers turn out. Looking to remove life
from the world rather than add or protect, they’re as terrifying as they are
peculiar. The history of serial killers in the world highlights certain
connecting factors about why and how they kill. In dissecting the serial killer
characters of Charlie in Shadow of a
Doubt (1943) and Harry in The Night
of the Hunter (1955), one of the most prominent connecting factors is their
harsh sexism.
Though
Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt has a
seemingly cheery relationship with his niece counterpart, little Charlie, the
targets of his murders are only women. And not only that, they’re rich widows,
which indicates a strange fashion of thought within Charlie. The level of
passion is revealed during a dinner scene, in which he describes them as “silly
wives” and “useless women”. His fixation on these female widows seems to root
from a classically sexist way of thinking, being that men are the breadwinners
in every marriage, and women only spend their money. He seems to feel entitled
to their late husbands’ money more than they are, which is highly ironic. This
is extended by his (mostly) joyful relationship with little Charlie, who is an
intelligent and independent young woman. Similarly, his relationship with his
sister has the appearance of a healthy one, indicating a strange cut-off of
targets, though perhaps this is simply limited by the fact that neither one is
a widow. An interesting thing to have seen would have been if his own sister
had been widowed, but unfortunately that dynamic was made impossible by his
violent demise. This contrast between affection for women and disdain for them
is an odd one, though serial killers are naturally odd.
Harry
in The Night of the Hunter is
similarly sexist in his film, though his is far more “religiously” motivated.
Thinking himself to be essentially an assassin for god, Harry’s murderous
fixation is on “unclean” women. Toward the beginning of the film, watching a
woman dance, Harry seems to get a murder-driven erection, indicated by the
ejection of his switchblade that cuts through his clothing. As a charismatic
traveler, he seduces the affection of Willa in his quest to steal her late
husband’s stolen fortune. On the night of their wedding, Harry refuses to sleep
with her, claiming a moral high ground with respect to sex’s function of
bringing children into the world being left for only that. Willa’s reaction
isn’t to question his character, but she instead slowly turns more and more
into the woman he wants her to be. Though she is eventually the perfect image
of what he wanted her to be, this ultimately doesn’t save her life, and in fact
her willingness to serve him makes it easier for him to take her life. This
strange blend of religion and sexism persists through Harry’s demise, though
the film ends upon the heroic actions of a woman.
Both of these films feature strange
blends of murder and sexism, and both end on the side of women, who ultimately
take down the serial killer figures in their respective films. Though these
movies each perhaps are telling of society at the time, different attitudes and
perspectives about women can still be seen even today. The patriarchal view of
women as second to men is a murder motivation in these films, but the demise of
both serial killers is perhaps indicative of the demise of that view.
This will sound silly, but I hadn't noticed the similarity between the two films. Thinking about it, why would these male serial killers be going after widowed women? In a sense, a widowed women has been freed from her husband. As if a widowed woman is liberated from the possession of a man. Considering the time period these movies were made, maybe its a kind of subconscious anxiety in men over women taking over the work force in the 1940's and replacing them. Though men eventually came back to work after the war, maybe they were unsettled that women could do everything they could just as well. So both murderers could be seen as the American mans ego trying to re-establish his dominance within society.
ReplyDeleteI like that you brought up the scene where Charlie talks about the rich widows. I thought it was a particularly chilling scene. Like a lot of later movies that follow serial killers, the movie wanted to try and explain why the serial killer kills. It is interesting that you connected his compulsion to kill with the sexism that is a lot more obvious in Night of the Hunter. Both films give a prominent role to widows: the women Charlie kills in "Shadow of a Doubt" and Willa, who marries and is eventually killed by the preacher in "The Night of the Hunter". Clearly, something is problematic in these films about being a widow. Like you say, it is likely that it is related to anxiety around women who have too much independence.
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