Vertigo Psychoanalysis

Vertigo is a 1958 film directed by legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. The psychological thriller stars James Stewart and Kim Novak as the "protagonists". James Stewarts character John "Scottie" Ferguson plays a former police detective of whom we see suffer from Vertigo, a fear of heights, while on the job early on in the film. John quickly forms an obsession as a result of desire for Madeline (played by Kim Novak) after he is hired by her husband, Gavin Elster to spy on her. However, John and the audience at this point are unaware that Madeline is actually a false creation of Judy (also played by Kim Novak) in order to cover up the murder of the real Madeline (Gavin presumably killed her and wanted John to testify that Madeline committed suicide).

As with the use of nicknames and false identities would suggest, the film deals with the psychoanalytic theme of a lack of a unified self and balance between the id, ego and superego of the characters' personalities. for instance, Johns character would seem to have a hard to control id as he consistently seeks the pleasure of Madeline's attention. When exposed to the real "Madeline", Judy, despite being technically the same person, John refuses to except her as her true self: insisting that she must become more like Madeline (unaware that she was in fact his vision of Madeline all along). He starts to fetishize the image of Madeline onto Judy. This film is a classic case of misidentified love. The film shows how one should not chase after their desires, as Lacan advises, because after all what you think you desire is in fact never quite what it seems in reality. Despite the fact that as a detective he is supposed to be objective, like the superego, John instead follows the demands of his id. The word Vertigo comes from the Latin 'to turn', I think this could symbolise or foreshadow Judy's transformation into Madeline which is later revealed. He is even offered the unconditional love and support of his long term friend Midge, but refuses to offer her romantic love despite how well suited they seem. This is most likely a fear of repeated rejection after Midge previously called off their engagement while in college. Midge has also become a sort of motherly figure to John and this has also likely turned him off of having a romantic relationship with her. Before being told that Judy was in fact the Madeline John knew, he starts to take on the role of the ego in trying to achieve the truth.

The film makes lots of references that would indicate John is suffering from castration anxiety.  At the beginning of the film he is unable to 'perform' his job, I believe this is symbolisation for his lack of a romantic relationship. The bell tower in Vertigo is an obvious phallic symbol as it is thin tall and erect.