Rope by Alfred Hitchcock (Part I:The "Deeper Meaning" Part)

Alfred Hitchcock made many films in his long career that spanned decades, from the early days of silent films to later movies that were uncensored by the association. He covered many topics, however his dark humor always seemed to go back to crime, corruption, voyeurism, and especially murder. In Rope Hitchcock seems to take a overwhelming joy in using many themes that brings one to question their own morals.

Rope is a story about two university students who commit murder. However, their murder is not for revenge or over a girl, but to prove a point. The smarter and more composed of the two, whose name is Brandon, kills merely to kill and assert his authority over a lesser being. As with all movies that tend to follow the higher road, the two students are caught in the end. However, their actions bring up a very interesting idea.

Can man really judge others? Who is to say that one is superior to the other? In the movie the idea that the superior man could kill off the lesser man is brought up as a discussion topic, which is good food for thought. Should we limit those who can live and those who cannot? Our current populations are all progressing towards a median due to our government which seems to stress passing tests which are designed for the middle road. Should we try to progress our nation by allowing the gap between the lower levels of intelligence to be pushed even farther away from those elitists? Personally I find this concept incredibly difficult to think of. I mean more smart people would always be nice because without people who have that drive to learn how can we remain a powerful nation? On the other hand, I know many people who are far more brilliant than any elitist I have ever met. They lack the memorized knowledge that many of the "smarter" people, but are more mentally sharp.

This brings up questions such as how can we measure worth? Is worth based on wealth? Is worth based on social class? Is worth based on influence? I mean I personally think we cannot truly measure worth because every person has their own special talents. I know that sounds cheesey, but is it not true? I mean no one can be amazing at everything. Every person is able to contribute something to the sick, twisted society that we live in. Whether that be through physical labor, mental labor, or some other form we all have some worth. Even the man who sits and does nothing, but get yelled at helped our overall society. Is he not acting as a target for the yelling man? Perhaps his nothing that allows the man to yell is essential for that man's day and it stops him from committing horrible crimes or giving into the pointlessness of his existence that he sees.

Hitchcock's Rope may cause none of this speculation in you, but it is certainly worth the watch. If you are not one for the "deeper meaning" stuff, I suggest you give it a watch anyway.


(One can see the scene that created these thoughts at about 6:30)