Psycho Sex Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Psycho.

Quote #4

RICHMAN: 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!" Now 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!

This is a creepy moment, not least because Richman is telling Lila and Sam about how Marion sexually aroused her murderer. Does Richman find it a little sexy? Does the film?

Quote #5

SAM: Why was he dressed like that?

DA: He's a transvestite!

RICHMAN: 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.

The psychiatrist is kind of full of horse dooky. Not all transvestites get a sexual charge or satisfaction from dressing in women's clothes. Some men just like dressing in women's clothes, for whatever reason. The psychiatrist's confusion is telling though. He may claim Norman's actions weren't sexual, but the film is much more ambiguous.

The scene in the shower, with the thrusting knife, is very much sexual. Norman is triggered by his interest in Marion, and then he consummates that interest through violence. Basically, in Hitchcock, sex and violence are wadded up together. This doesn't tell you anything about transvestites, or transgender people, or the mentally ill—but it may tell you a little something about Hitchcock.