Grace Kelly [Haiku]

Hepburn may be chic

cutesy-like, but Grace Kelly's

pure stunning beauty.

Short Poetry

The Psychology of Lydia Brenner pt 2

Lydia Brenner: A Post "The Birds"

Prediction

Lydia as a Hitchcockian Mother archetype is not a flattering portrayal of woman or mother. The psyche displayed is one skilled in manipulation, vicious defensiveness and responsibility-avoidance.  

She takes from Frank:

you depend on someone else [Frank] for strength, and then... suddenly all the strength is gone, and you're alone.

While neglecting her part of the parental giving as well.  

You see, he [Frank] understood the children. He really understood them. He had the knack of entering into their world, of becoming part of them. That's a very rare talent.  

Lydia quietly blames nature itself rather than her own character deficits. She never developed her own personal qualities of giving to others, so she only lived off the strength & kindness of her husband first, then her son for her own well-being.  

So happens next as that car drives off at the end of The Birds?  

Melanie’s broken & Lydia feels safe. Melanie will get care at the hospital and Lydia, also having endured the attacks of the birds on Bodega Bay, will have all her excuses and needs for Mitch completely updated.  

She’ll certainly need help repairing the house & unboarding all those windows. Lydia, most assuredly, will have an even deeper need to feel protected every weekend by Mitch’s presence if not every night for the first few months. As Lydia has stated of Mitch:  

I feel safer with him here.  

Who will comfort Lydia into facing her barn full of chickens once more?   

In short time, Melanie will succumb to Lydia’s maddening attitude as Annie did:  

You know, her [Lydia’s] attitude nearly drove me crazy.  

Melanie will accept Lydia’s offer to be her friend in place of Annie. Possibly, Melanie may even find the meaning she was looking for earlier in the movie by teaching the children of Bodega Bay. 

If nothing else, Melanie will certainly be Cathy's caretaker in place of Annie as Lydia is not a giver. This will free Lydia up to start tracking down her next Dan Fawcett.

You see, she's [Lydia's] not afraid of losing Mitch. She's only afraid of being abandoned.   

Lydia’s thoughts are “only” for Lydia. 

So, in a few years time, Melanie will be leasing a room to Mitch’s next love interest...

...while all the birds take note and watch. 



Now, the real frightening part which Hitchcock may have already covered in great depth is: what will happen if Lydia should find a new husband?

Film Discussion: The Birds (1963)

Ingrid Bergman [Haiku]

Though Kelly has great

beauty, Ingrid Bergman is 

utterly dreamy.

Short Poetry

The Psychology of Lydia Brenner pt 1

Lydia Brenner: A Psychological Assessment 
of Hitchcock's Mother

So does The Birds end on a happy note? Unfortunately not. For most, a joyful resolution would be the perfect ending. However, a closer look at the footage with an honest admission of human nature and a different, darker ending emerges.   

As we’ve seen, the presence of birds is a symbol for Lydia Brenner’s glowering states of mind with the bird attacks representing her more aggressive feelings.  

The final image of the car driving away inspires no breaking up of the massive flocks watching passively. To be sure, those who wish to see a happy ending will do so. Yet...

...all the birds remain.

As the radio announcer states:  

It appears that the bird attacks come in waves, with long intervals between.  

The end image would seem to correlate to a “long interval”.  Annie confided to Melanie:  

Now that I'm no longer a threat, we're very good friends.  

It’s easy to see no birds were at Annie's house until she outright dismissed Lydia & her wishes (see Attack #3).  

With these massive flocks of birds still present in the last scene, one can easily conclude all Lydia would need on the road or at the hospital is but one word of undesired news and who knows what might be unleashed? Melanie, like Annie, could return to threat-status.  

Sadly, a human’s psychology can only change so fast. A compassionate-looking moment in a car is not enough to provide a human with an entirely new way of life. The desire to change may be birthed in a single moment, but not the change itself.  

To illustrate: an overweight person may be seized with an unwavering commitment to weight loss and healthy eating, That one moment, however, causes no weight to be lost.  

Lydia Brenner, sweet & sympathetic though she appears to be on the surface, is a different person at her core according to the reality of the film. She is a deeply contemptible human with no strength of character to affect a positive overhaul having been a bad seed her entire life. 

So what will happen next as that car drives away?...

Film Discussion: The Birds (1963)

The Birds (1963) pt 11 - Attack 11: Melanie Conquered

Attack #11: Mitch gets pecked getting the car at the movie's end.

In view of Melanie's condition, Mitch decides she needs hospitalization. Lydia disagreed and - again - Mitch chides her into his way.

Though not all these attack have the same severity, they all serve the same purpose: that of revealing Lydia's will on an issue. 

Considering Melanie's even laid out arms crossed like a corpse... 

why would Lydia object to hospital care? We've already seen Lydia doesn't care to understand others. She told Melanie as much to her face:

I don't understand you at all,

But care is not on Lydia's mind. From here it seems Lydia, having administered her "bad cop" side to Melanie is now going to seal the master-slave deal with Melanie by bringing out the "good cop."

Lydia herself would care for Melanie and provide the "mother's care" Mitch told Melanie she was in need of at Cathy's party. Melanie, now broken, would fall in line.

Mitch's plans are a nuisance to Lydia, but nothing that can't be accommodated. Still, Mitch also under Lydia's thumb, needs some small reminders of his place. And so, going to get the car...

Mitch gets a nip on his hand...

...and one on his ankle.

Nothing major, but impressively timed. Lydia, though initially resisting Mitch's idea, reconsiders something and then consents.

What was Lydia thinking?

The closest hospital was mentioned earlier in the restaurant after the school attack:

One little girl was seriously injured and taken to the hospital in Santa Rosa.

Lydia has this covered though as Mitch hears on the radio:

there are reports... of minor attacks on Sebastopol and a few on Santa Rosa. 

So, resources seem available there. Lydia's might even count on a delay to Mitch's hospital plan as Mitch also hears reported:

Bodega Bay has been cordoned off by roadblocks.

There might yet be a chance for Lydia to be hero. But Mitch is not interested in Sebastopol or Santa Rosa. Mitch wants San Francisco. Is that a place too far away for the reach of Lydia Brenner?

One need only go to the very opening of the film...

...to see the foreboding answer. Even Melanie can recognize it and mentions it to Mrs MacGruder, the petshop owner, right before Melanie meets Mitch Brenner:

Melanie:                    Have you ever seen so many gulls? What do you suppose it is? 

Mrs MacGruder:        There must be a storm at sea. That can drive them inland

One need only ask Annie Hayworth or Mitch himself if Lydia's reach can hold influence over someone in San Francisco. 

But Lydia gets a break. Though she doesn't see it yet, Mitch's idea will accelerate Lydia's wishes.

Melanie is terrified of facing the birds as they escort her to the car. It is here that Melanie snaps and in the car, she gives up.

This is not the expression of Melanie saying "I need you." Rather, as she grasps Lydia's arm, it is an overwhelmed & hopeless girl in resignation saying: "Mercy, please. I surrender."

And Lydia's reaction?

"Score!"

"Of course, I will relent. I approve of you now. The Bodega Bay school will be needing a new teacher. Perhaps you can move into Annie's house and take care of Cathy for me while I sponge off Mitch in search of my next Dan Fawcett."

Lydia's smile is not a joyous redemptive glow of motherly compassion. That it could be maternal instinct is highly questionable. Consider what Annie said of Lydia & daughters:

Melanie:         Someone ought to tell her [Lydia] she'd be gaining a daughter.   

Annie: [Chuckles] No. She already has a daughter.

A daughter has no value to Lydia. Just consider how she's treated Cathy; a child Lydia has stated outright she neither understands nor has attempted to enter her would.

Besides, as Annie already pointed out, why would Lydia need a thing she already has? Were a daughter so precious a thing to Lydia, why does Lydia leave her actual daughter alone in the front seat with no comfort but a bird cage? 

Wouldn't an eleven year old girl would need even more support than a grown woman?

Lydia has not once been portrayed as a selfless giver. If she's never bothered to enter the world of her own children or try to understand them, why then would she exert herself on behalf of a rich, spoiled girl she appraises thus:  

Yes, I know, dear... but when you bring a girl like that...    

That’s an excerpt of a longer discussion in which Lydia quite politely, repeated & surreptitiously engages in character assassination of Melanie. 

Benign though it may appear, this is a distasteful revealing of the Lydia Brenner character. Given her trend, the above image would seem to be showing the euphoria of a junkie getting their fix.

Now that all's well with Lydia: Mitch is still hers, Annie's been paid back for her betrayal & Cathy has a new friend & babysitter in Melanie...

...it's off into the sunset but, make no mistake, the birds remain. If Lydia had some unmet need met, the birds would leave. The birds are the proof that all has returned to the way Lydia wants it and to ensure it remains this way, she has The Birds.

Film Discussion: The Birds (1963)

The Birds (1963) pt 10 - Attacks 9 & 10

Attack #9: The entire Brenner house is attacked at 1:40:30

After placing Annie’s body in her home, Mitch, Melanie & Cathy return to the Brenner's house where Mitch promptly boards up all the windows.  

Nothing happens.   

While Lydia sits alone on a chair, Melanie sits on the couch comforting Cathy who becomes ill. Melanie helps her and, as they return, Lydia notices the sheer amount of comfort Cathy is taking from her. Lydia gives a quick disapproving glance...

...and the next onslaught begins.

Significance? This is Lydia at her most jealous. Not that Lydia cared for Cathy’s comfort. During the attack, Lydia was more than capable of uselessly pinballing Cathy about the rooms in a panicked & mindless state while the birds attacked.

What Lydia would not consciously put up with is watching Melanie exhibit a quality Lydia neither possessed no desired: that of being able to enter Cathy’s world or of understanding Cathy. 

That was a talent Lydia considered “rare.” A talent possessed by Frank alone. The offense of seeing that trait - far from begin rare - exhibited by tabloid princess Melanie was an insult to injury Lydia would not endure.  

It was time for somebody to pay...

But no one did pay in this attack. So, what ended the birds' assault?

The movie would have you believe it was the power going out. It's true that a bird shorted out the electricity. but the flocks continued on just a bit. What ended this attack was more sinister.

Attack #10: Melanie Daniels is attacked in an upstairs room at 1:47:42.

Though it may only seem as though Lydia was unable to unconsciously accomplish what she could consciously react to, Attach #9 merely set the stage for Lydia's true purpose and final phase in her plans for Melanie.

Time passes...

Mitch sleeps.

Melanie sits awake, Cathy sleeps. 

Unfortunately...

...Lydia also sleeps and in a most not-natural position. Likely, whatever's going to happen next should involve Crows.

Hearing noise upstairs & unable to waken Mitch, Melanie goes into the upstairs bedroom and discovers the point of the last attack.

The birds found a way into the upstairs bedroom. The same bedroom where Melanie was intimate with Mitch? How did Cathy word her invitation?

I think you ought to stay the night, Melanie. We have an extra room upstairs and everything.

While Mitch was distracted downstairs, the birds punched a hole in the roof and got into the bedroom and waited. They sat & waited until everyone but Melanie was asleep. Waited until Melanie stepped fully back into the bedroom to experience what Lydia has been planning:

A little one on one time for Melanie with Lydia's full feelings, both consciously from the Seagulls...

...and subsconsciously from the Crows.

These birds literally do not attack until Melanie has fully stepped into the room. Their calmness is a bait to the foolishly curious Melanie.

Rescued by Mitch, accompanied by Lydia who has left Cathy downstairs, Melanie is in shock, in a stupor - ripe for Lydia's final move of conquest, 

Film Discussion: The Birds (1963)

Rutger Hauer

Kurt Russell's MacReady from John Carpenter's The Thing would easily have been my very first - and therefore most beloved - antihero were it not for...

...Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. 

Ironically, both movies were released on the same day: June 25th, 1982. There was so much hype about the gore in The Thing, that sneaking in to see Blade Runner (also rated R) was a bit easier.

Interestingly, Blade Runner is still my most cherished science fiction film. 

My thanks to Rutger Hauer, my very first  - and therefore most beloved - antihero.


Film Discussion

The Birds (1963) pt 9 - Attacks 7 & 8

Attack #7: Annie is discovered killed after the school attack at 1:13:28.

Lydia, returning home after finding Dan, lies in bed discussing her deceased husband Frank with Melanie. As her seeming concern for Cathy mounts, she confides quite openly about her character shortcomings largely paralleling all that Annie has said of Lydia.

[Lydia Crying] But, you see, l - I don't want to be left alone. I don't think I could bear to be left alone! [Sobbing] Oh, forgive me. Oh, forgive me. This business with the birds has upset me, l... I don't know what I'd do if Mitch weren't here.  

This is not confession, but manipulation... of the most skillful kind.

Agreeing to go to sleep, Lydia falls into an unconscious state. Melanie agrees to check on Cathy at school who - for the moment - is the responsibility of Annie's. 

With Lydia asleep, her subconscious is yet again unleashed. The last such unleashing resulted in Dan Fawcett's death.

If the Crow represents Lydia's subconscious & Lydia is asleep at the time of the school attack, what bird ought we expect to be at the school?...

No seagulls or sparrows - just crows. This should indicate something more severe as it's coming from the true & unrestrained passions of Lydia's subconscious.

Significance of this attack? Likely three-fold:

1) Lydia admits her flaws to Melanie plainly before going to sleep. This, in the scheme of Mother, is bestowing a new role upon Melanie right before removing that same role from Annie.

2) Retribution. Annie, like a dog biting its master, has betrayed Lydia (see Attack 3). The dead seagull at Annie's door heralded this consequence. Time for Lydia to make good on this threat.

3) Replacement. Knowing the time has come to put Annie down, Mother has decided to replace Annie with Melanie beginning with the first duty Lydia dumped onto Annie: caring for Cathy.

It is reasonable to assume the information Annie shared about Lydia was given to her by Lydia in friendship in precisely the same manner Melanie received the same information during her friendly tea chat with Mother.

Lydia literally sends Melanie to take Cathy from Annie. Note that the bird attack does not occur until Annie has left her school and note Cathy's description of how Annie met her end:

All-All at once the... the birds were everywhere! [Sobbing] All at once she [Annie] pushed me inside... and they covered her!

Not until Cathy was safe did the crows then swarm Annie.  From here, Melanie stays very close to Cathy. Almost as if Lydia wanted it so.

Attack #8: Bodega Bay is attacked by birds at 1:24:38.

It's only seagulls attacking the town: an unconscious response to a conscious reaction of Lydia to her public environment.

What then is Lydia reacting to?  

Very likely, the attack on Dan Fawcett and the attack on Bodega Bay are two parts of the same attack: Mother's anger against the men of her community.

But whereas Dan's death was more personal and far more severe, the attack on Bodega Bay would be less so & would not make the same point had it  occurred during the night.

In this attack, only men are harmed. There is a fatality: a man drops his cigarette onto some gasoline on the ground (which of course turns his car into an immediate fireball) but no bird was involved in him creating the explosion.

And this is a huge clue.  

All the men in the restaurant scene, all of whom run out to combat the bird attack, have various forms of contempt for Mother (or birds). 

1) There is a bible-quoting drunkard who views the birds (Mother) as the end of the world. 

2) Mr Sholes is irritated with birds for their being a nuisance to business. Furthermore, Sholes sees no point in exerting any effort to address them.

3) There is a travelling salesman who despises birds & thinks they should all be destroyed. 

4) There’s the male staff who are simply clueless and 

5) There’s also an ornithologist who, although a female, is very dispassionate & intellectual - a more stereotypical male quality.

The only man not harmed in the attack was Mitch: the one man Lydia wouldn't have held her grievance against: none of the men of Bodega Bay supported Lydia in her time of emotional need, especially Dan Fawcett.

To make matters worse, rather than providing emotional strength, they dismissed her contemptuously.   

Interestingly, in this part of the movie, there is a mother of two small children who at first is on Melanie’s side when Melanie insisted birds attacked the school.

If the young lady said she saw the attack at a school, why don't you believe her?  

After the next attack, however, this same mother of two has a different view of Melanie.

Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this? They said when you got here, the whole thing started! [Crying] Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? I think you're the cause of all this. I think you're evil! Evil!  

With a slap, Melanie ends the mother’s rant & it is immediately noted that the attack had ended and the birds were leaving.  

Who is this mother of two? And how does she fit in this scheme of things?  

This mother clearly represents the women in Bodega Bay. Though this particular woman seems only a visitor, she's clearly involved enough to know the gossip regarding Melanie.

The town attack represents Lydia’s disdain for the emotional contempt of Bodega Bay’s men. In the same manner, Melanie, who has been wrongly judged since the beginning of the movie (starting with Mitch no less) also stands up for herself against such unfair treatment.  

So why - exactly - does the attack end with Melanie slapping this judgmental woman?

Lydia, having accomplished her most recent transition of Melanie into Annie's shoes, now sees through Melanie's eyes.

With the men chastised and the representative of the judgment women silenced  - the attack ends in accordance with Lydia's approval.

Film Discussion: The Birds (1963)

The Birds (1963) pt 8 - Attack 6: Dan Fawcett

Attack #6: Dan Fawcett is discovered killed by birds at 1:00:36

Arguably, the most fascinating of all the bird attacks. Though only the aftermath is ever shown, it is the victim and the severity of bird aggression that beg a closer look.  

This is the first fatality of course, but why Dan Fawcett? A single individual & a character only referred to indirectly? Let's consider Dan for a moment.

Likely, Dan Fawcett is a man Lydia has known for years. When Lydia goes to see Dan, her behavior entering Dan's house gives no indication that there's a Mrs Fawcett anywhere in the picture.

But Hitchcock does give a connection between Lydia & Dan...

The porcelain cups.

Hitchcock quietly, but deliberately, spends considerable time - while Mitch speaks with the officer -  showing Lydia picking up broken cup pieces after her living room attack (see attack #5) giving generous time to note Frank's portrait above the piano.

What immediately precedes Lydia discovering Dan is her noticing broken cups in Dan's front room.  At the very least, the cups signify that Dan & Lydia have something in common. Dan's wife may have bought those cups before Dan lost his spouse as well.

Broken cups no longer viable - broken marriages ended from a death?

Farmer Fawcett - like Lydia- raises chickens. A bird hidden in this film & a bird famously associated with cowardice.

Let’s take this involved scenario one step at a time.  

1) Dan was most certainly attacked some time after the assault in Lydia’s living room and, in all honesty, probably around the time Lydia became aware of Mitch & Melanie being intimate.

2) What precipitated Lydia’s living room attack was the notion of bedroom & intimacy and her opposition to it. Not opposition to intimacy itself, but the fear of Mitch's intimacy leading to Lydia being abandoned. 

3) Those intimate notions were definitely on Lydia’s mind as she went to sleep. So how does this concern Dan Fawcett? If you'll follow the clues, they point a clear finger at Lydia's unmet desires for an intimate life with Dan Fawcett.

Unmet can mean any of four scenarios:

          A) Lydia desires Dan, but hasn't indicated her desires to him.

          B) Lydia has been dropping hints which Dan has not recognized.

          C) Lydia's made her desires known & Dan has flat out rebuffed them.
          D) Dan has feelings for Lydia but both parties are too cowardly to act on it.

Option D is interesting to consider as both parties are associated with their chickens: a bird & obvious symbol for cowardice,

Option C is the least likely option. Nonetheless, one can easily hear Lydia Brenner quietly weeping to herself alone in her bed that night whispering: "Why aren't you here with me, Dan?!?" 

As thoughts - or even sounds - of Mitch finding new love hit Lydia, her thoughts become angered. Anger possibly at hearing Mitch but, more cogently, anger at Dan Fawcett for not fulfilling the role Lydia wanted him in.

Anger that would emerge in her now riled thoughts: "You should be here with me, Dan!" 

However, having drifted into sleep, the truly authentic, frighteningly dark & wrathful feelings of Lydia's subconscious emerge.

Too dark for Lydia to admit in any waking state, she would likely - in her sleeping state  - give expression to her true feelings of indignant rage & merciless retribution.

Punishment for Lydia's personal circumstance of widowhood remaining unremedied will now fall on Dan Fawvett for keeping her there: "Damn you Dan Fawcett! Damn you for leaving me like this! Can't you see!" 

All these thoughts become externalized & realized as we'll see returning back to Dan's place...

4) We clearly see Dan Fawcett was killed in his bedroom. So, let's examine the scene.

First we have a seagull. So, the attack comes from Lydia & has to do with Lydia's public concerns. In this case, her remaining a widow in a community undesired by the men of Bodega Bay.

Oddly positioned across from the seagull is a display of mounted birds tipped over not unlike the one in Norman Bates' parlor. 

If the living birds from The Birds represent real qualities & feelings of Mother, then dead birds would most likely represent unreal or idealized qualities of Mother. Qualities that do not or cannot exist, one might see them as "dead" qualities mirrored by the dead state of the birds.

In Norman's case, all his birds represent a Mother that Norman protects, fawns over, remains faithful to and is genuinely concerned for. Consider Norman's statements of pity, affection & defense for Mother.

Well, a boy's best friend is his mother. 

Well, a son is a poor substitute for a lover.

Who'd look after her?
She'd be alone up there.

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=psycho

Who'd look after her? She'd be alone up there.The fire would go out... If you love someone, you don't do that to them, even if you hate them. You understand, l... I don't hate her.

A madhouse?...  Have you ever seen the inside of one of those places?...  My mother there? But she's harmless. She's as harmless as one of those stuffed birds.

Making this connection, a clear way to interpret those mounted birds on Dan's table is that Dan Fawcett had idealized notions of woman or, in Lydia's case, Mother. Dead notions that Lydia either disagreed with or simply could not meet in the eyes of Dan Fawcett. 

An irrational judgment on Lydia's part against Dan? Let's keep examining.

We know the attack in general came from Lydia on some consciously observable level. Hence the gull is the first, isolated visible bird. 

From here, a new bird, a new aspect of Mother is introduced. 

First, we had the Seagull: Lydia's conscious ideas of her public life.

Second, the Sparrow: Smaller in scale and so smaller in scope, they represent Lydia's conscious ideas of her personal or private life. Life in her home, under her roof.

And now, thirdly, the Crow: Lydia's subconscious ideas, desires, feelings.

The Crow is what Lydia disapproves of most intensely, too intensely for polite society. So intensely that, like the rest of us, she has her denial imprison these dark currents in her subconscious.

The crow, the black bird which represents the black recesses of Lydia’s subconscious mind. But what could Lydia possibly want from Dan?

Just look what that crow is lying on: Dan's bed. Dan himself is against the wall away from his bed. One look at the extended wing pointed towards Dan in a gesture of invitation and seeing Lydia’s sexual desire for Dan becomes easier to see.

Now put all this together. The Seagull on the dresser: a symbol for Lydia's sorrow. Her dashed hopes. A conscious understanding of her being a widow bereft of a man with whom to share a bed.

Lydia's subconscious desire for Dan is the Crow. Itself on the bed beckoning to Dan with an unreciprocated outstretched wing. Dan Fawcett is never in the same image with these birds.

Dan Fawcett, like his opportunity for Lydia, is dead. Likely Dan never saw in Lydia what Lydia wanted him to see. Looking at Dan's room, one can almost hear that sentiment echoing in Lydia's voice: "Why the man has no eyes in his head!" 

Returning to the Seagull on the dresser out of reach of the bed, just as Dan's body is. Seeing it all, the Seagull hangs its head in doleful sorrow.


Now compare that seagull with the conversation Lydia will have while in bed in the next scene. Lydia will talk with Melanie about missing her deceased husband Frank. In view of such placements in Dan Fawcett's bedroom, is the interpretation laid out here too far afield?

Film Discussion: The Birds (1963)

The Birds (1963) pt 7 - Attack 5

Attack # 5: Lydia Brenner’s living room is invaded at 54:45

Another straightforward event. The party is over & Lydia is graciously rushing through dinner in order to hurry Melanie out the door.  

Hurry up with yours, Mitch. I'm sure Miss Daniels wants to be on her way.   

What follows is Cathy inviting Melanie to stay the night, Mitch concurring, Melanie planning on leaving, Lydia trying to expedite Melanie leaving & Mitch roundly chiding Lydia for it. 

Cathy:        I think you ought to stay the night, Melanie. We have an extra room upstairs and 

                 everything.   

Mitch:       That road can be a pretty bad one at night.   

Melanie:      If I go across to Santa Rosa, I'll come out on the freeway much earlier, won't I?   

Lydia:      Yes, and the freeway is much quicker.   

Mitch:      But she'll be hitting all the heavy traffic going back to San Francisco.

A mere second or so later and living room is flooded with small lovebird-sized sparrows whose color resembles the two lovebirds Melanie bought for Cathy.  

Connection? Melanie staying the night, for Lydia, is a certain symbolic gesture of an intimate life for Melanie with Mitch. Lydia balk’s at the idea as she fears greater intimacy will pull Mitch further away leaving Lydia abandoned.

Why would Lydia be afraid of being alone if she still has Cathy? Because being abandoned for Lydia does not mean being solitary. Rather, it is being left without an emotional resource from whom she can sponge off strength of character.  

Cathy is inadequate to provide such emotional nourishment so, whether Cathy was there or not, Lydia would starve for emotional strength all the same. Hitchcock's concept of Mother as vain, detracting & dominating now includes the role of emotional leech.

What follows Lydia being chided is birds: an unconscious reaction to a conscious realization.

But these aren't seagulls flooding in. Why the change in species? As stated earlier, all birds are Mother so different species represent different aspects of Mother.

Seagulls are large, open-aired & public birds with a broad domain. They perfectly symbolize Lydia's view of her public environment & circumstance.

The much smaller Sparrows, on the other hand, more correctly represent Mother's thoughts on the smaller scale, the personal - rather than public - qualities of her existence. In this case, the personal impact on Lydia's life of Mitch dumping Mother for Melanie.

Hence, the attack is carried out by a much smaller - but no less assertive - bird. And the attack itself is limited to a single room in Lydia's own home. Private & personal.

Though the birds could easily have broken through the windows and entered the room that way, they flood down through the fireplace - a symbol of warmth and light. Sadly, Lydia's home is emotionally cold & dark.

The rush in of the sparrows is like a cloud, like smoke backed up from the fireplace.

Melanie ends up staying the night. The movie later suggests Mitch & Melanie were intimate during that stay. 

Starting at 1:01:58, Melanie tells Mitch she's taking Lydia some tea. Mitch responds with a small but intimate kiss on Melanie's neck, they embrace & speak to each other in a manner befitting two people who had just been recently - and newly - intimate. 

 Doubtless Lydia knew of it and so the next immediate attack is extremely revealing.

The Birds (1963) pt 6 - Attacks 3 & 4

Attack #3: Annie’s door hit in a gull suicide dive at 47:18.

Melanie has been implored by Cathy not to abandon her as she celebrates turning eleven. Melanie has also witnessed Lydia’s cool disapproval of this invitation. Returning to Annie's, Melanie has the following exchange:

Melanie: Do you think I should go? 

Annie: Well, that's up to you. 

Melanie: No, it's really up to Lydia, isn't it? 

Annie: Never mind Lydia. Do you want to go? 

Melanie: Yes. 

Annie: Then go.

Melanie: Thank you, Annie. 

Immediately after Melanie's reassured "Thank you", a seagull crashes into Annie’s door killing itself. A seagull: an unconscious reaction of Lydia-Mother to a conscious observation - a threat inspired by Annie in Annie’s home. 

Yes, Lydia knew Melanie was staying at Annie’s. Lydia knew that Cathy wanted Melanie at her birthday party, but - up until that very second - Lydia did not know Annie would oppose Lydia’s wishes by dismissing Lydia & supporting Melanie.

How did Lydia know the contents of Melanie’s discussion with Annie? Through the eyes of Annie. She, like Mitch has already been dominated by Lydia. Annie explains:

Annie:      You know, her attitude nearly drove me crazy. When I got back to San  Francisco, I

spent days trying to figure out what I'd done to displease her. 

Melanie: Well, what had you done? 

Annie: Nothing. I simply existed. So what's the answer? A jealous woman, right? A 

clinging, possessive mother? Wrong. With all due respect to Oedipus, I don't

think that was the case. 

Melanie: Then what was it?   

Annie: Lydia liked me. That's the strange part. Now that I'm no longer a threat,  we're very

good friends.

In the vein of Norman Bates, one has to wonder if Annie has not - in fact - gone a little crazy. Leaving her life in San Francisco to Bodega Bay which Annie describes thus:

There's a lot of spare time in Bodega Bay.

and again

I suppose it [Bodega Bay] doesn't offer much to the casual visitor, unless you're thrilled by a collection of shacks on a hillside.

The remarkably strange part is that Annie never explains how she became “no longer a threat” to Lydia. But we do know the when:

Annie: I was seeing a lot of him [Mitch] in San Francisco. One weekend, he invited  me

up to meet Lydia.   

Melanie: When was this?   

Annie: Oh, four years ago, shortly after his father died.

And we do know the final effect on Annie:

Actually, I'm an open book, I'm afraid. Or, rather, a closed one.

In the mind of Lydia, one can see the order of events. Once Frank was gone, Lydia assigned Frank’s role to Mitch. Lydia then has Mitch bring Annie up to subjugate her as Annie would eventually be the reason for Mitch to abandon Lydia.   

And in the meantime, Annie can be useful caring for the one person Lydia cannot leech strength from: her daughter Cathy.

Lydia doesn't bother with her kids' needs:

I don't fuss and fret about my children.

Being only a taker, Lydia left the role of giving to Frank.

When Frank died... You see, he understood the children. He really understood them. He had the knack of entering into their world, of becoming part of them.

But with Frank suddenly gone & Mitch assigned to Lydia, Mother needed someone to dump Cathy on. Rival for Mitch's love no more, Annie would enter into Cathy's world in place of Frank.

Now, serving as Lydia’s extra eyes, Lydia learns of Annie’s betrayal through Annie just as she learned of Mitch’s sudden interest in Melanie through Mitch. Lydia’s disapproval was swift and implies a terrible price for Annie. One symbolically & literally brought to Annie’s front door.

Attack #4: Cathy Brenner’s hair clipped during her party at 52:00. 

Now comes the party. Melanie & Mitch go off alone and have a bonding conversation about Melanie & her pains over her mother. Mitch even tells her outright:

You need a mother's care, my child.

As though addressing Melanie’s inner-eleven year old, Mitch calls her “child”. (It is creepy to consider what role Mitch may be playing in acquainting Melanie with Lydia.)


Returning to the party, Lydia sees the two, deduces what’s transpired & gazes disapprovingly.

Not a second or so later a seagull swoops down and hits Cathy, almost in the exact spot Melanie was hit on the bay.

Why would Lydia lash out against her own daughter? Technically, she isn’t. Cathy is a symbol for who Melanie truly is: a little girl in need of a mother’s care. A role of giving-mother Lydia wants no part of.

This is a problem as Lydia, with her history of leeching off others' strengths, does not want to be a giver.

Only seagulls attack and no real damage is done except to cause the birthday party - the event facilitating the bonding between Mitch & Melanie that Lydia does not want - to come to a screeching halt. Once the party is cancelled, Melanie has no reason to remain as Lydia points out a bit later:

Hurry up with yours, Mitch. I'm sure Miss Daniels wants to be on her way.

As has been stated, the lovebirds are symbols for Lydia & Melanie. Bearing in mind that Lydia needs the strength of others to sponge off of & the fact that Mitch is gone five days a week, consider the following desires of Mitch at the beginning of the film:

Mitch:          Well, these [the lovebirds] are for my sister for her birthday, and as she's 
                    only gonna be 11, I wouldn't want a pair of birds... that were... too 
                    demonstrative. 

Melanie:       I understand completely. 

Mitch:           At the same time, I wouldn't want them to be too aloof. 

Melanie:       No, of course not. 

Mitch:           Do you happen to have a pair of birds that are... just friendly?

Is Mitch unconsciously recruiting for Lydia's need? A friend neither too involved not too aloof?

It is a screwy proposition to think about if one looks no further than the characters as people. As metaphors, though, a whole new way of perceiving these events emerges quite clearly. So clearly, that to dismiss it entirely as coincidence becomes unreasonable.

Film Discussion: The Birds (1963)