{"id":1151,"date":"2013-05-02T16:06:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T20:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/~reviewing\/?page_id=1151"},"modified":"2013-05-02T17:22:27","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T21:22:27","slug":"ultimate-mamas-boy-norman-returns","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=1151","title":{"rendered":"Ultimate Mama’s boy, Norman, returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted May 2, 2013<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By MELISSA CASTILLO<\/p>\n

Norman Bates was an unusual man who kept his mother\u2019s rotting corpse in his house, materialized arguments with her, and took on her personality during which he murdered a woman as she showered.<\/p>\n

\"Norma<\/a>

Norma Bates comforts Norman as it sinks in that his father has died<\/p><\/div>\n

He was so attached to her when she was alive that once she passed away, he became her. Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s fictional character from his masterpiece \u201cPsycho\u201d poses the question, what could lead a man to such insanity?<\/p>\n

Hitchcock is best known for directing classic psychological thrillers from the 1940s to the 1970s, including \u201cBirds\u201d and \u201cNorth by Northwest.\u201d<\/p>\n

And \u201cPsycho,\u201d released in 1960, is considered to be among his best and well-known films. Since then, a frame-by-frame remake was released in 1998 starring Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates.<\/p>\n

The plot begins with a secretary, Marion Crane, steals $40,000 from her job that she was supposed to deposit into the bank and flees town in hopes of meeting up with her boyfriend, who is in need of money. But as she\u2019s driving, it begins to pour and she pulls over to a secluded motel where she meets the proprietor, Norman Bates.<\/p>\n

And as is the case with many of Hitchcock\u2019s films, the plot is simple but there\u2019s always an unforeseen twist at the end. In comparison, the television show is far from simple.<\/p>\n

Carlton Cuse, executive producer and screenwriter for the hit series \u201cLost,\u201d and Kerry Ehrin, producer for another hit series \u201cFriday Night Lights,\u201d have taken on the challenge to answer this question through the new A&E television show, \u201cBates Motel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The series is meant to be a prequel to display Norman\u2019s dysfunctional upbringing that led to his eventual mental demise. It seems as though this concept of telling the unknown background has become a trend, such as with the television show \u201cThe Carrie Diaries,\u201d based on the \u201cSex and the City\u201d character Carrie Bradshaw and the movie \u201cOz the Great and Powerful,\u201d which shows how the Wizard of Oz came to be.<\/p>\n

Norman Bates, played by Freddie Highmore from \u201cCharlie and the Chocolate Factory,\u201d is a modern day 17-year-old boy in high school with an iPhone. A queen bee of the school has developed an interest in him, an awkward misfit is yearning for his attention, an overbearing mother forbids him from going to a party, and he has regular quarrels with his older half-brother. That seems like a fairly average teenage life.<\/p>\n

Except, the queen bee\u2019s father is a middleman for a $5 million marijuana enterprise and is burned alive as retaliation for angering someone. The awkward misfit and Norman come across clues that imply a possible sex slavery operation in town. He also attempts to slam his brother over the head with a meat tenderizer. And within the first episode he witnesses his mother repeatedly stab a man.<\/p>\n

Norman\u2019s mother, Norma Bates, is played by Oscar-nominated actress from \u201cUp in the Air,\u201d Vera Farmiga. The challenge with this role is that she must be able to show subtext and maintain a cryptic demeanor. She portrays this within the first few scenes of the pilot.<\/p>\n

Norman finds his motionless father lying on their garage floor with blood seeping out of his head and a storage shelf on top of his body. When he yells for his mother to come, she is oddly calm and shows no sign of shock but her eyes still water with despair. She bends down and repeats, \u201cNorman, Norman,\u201d as he cries. She then hugs her son and says with sincerity, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry.\u201d Within the first five minutes of the series, there\u2019s already mystery.<\/p>\n

Another characteristic of the mother that Farmiga successfully portrays is her dramatic temper. Norma says in a broken-down tone, \u201cWe came here to start over. We came here to start over,\u201d and in an instant she has a fierce expression and raises her voice, \u201cI am starting over!\u201d<\/p>\n

Highmore is equally skillful at playing the complex Norman Bates. Just like Norman from \u201cPsycho,\u201d the 17-year-old is tall, lanky and socially awkward. In public he comes off as a shy and decent. When the queen bee Bradley Martin, played by Nicola Peltz, takes him to a party, he stands off to the side while girls dance on tables in skimpy, neon clothing and other teens pass around a bong for smoking marijuana. Bradley walks over to him when she notices him alone and says with a smile, \u201cYou\u2019re different, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

While Norman sometimes seems so innocent, there are instances when his eyes scream death. In one scene, he\u2019s walking over to Deputy Shelby\u2019s house late at night to break in and steal evidence that could link Norma to the murder. His walk is stiff, his head is tilted slightly forward, with a subtle grin, and his eyes look as though he\u2019s possessed. A motorcycle is driving in the opposite direction, causing the headlight to shine over him and create a haunting effect.<\/p>\n

This would not be a \u201cPsycho\u201d prequel without the strangely close bond Norman has with his mother. He professes his love to Norma while they\u2019re dumping a man\u2019s corpse into a body of water. \u201cMom you\u2019re everything. Everything to me,\u201d he says, \u201cYou\u2019re my family. My whole family, my whole life, my whole self.\u201d That last part, \u201cmy whole self,\u201d is particularly interesting since Norman\u2019s memory of his mother in \u201cPsycho\u201d takes over his mind.<\/p>\n

Besides the main characters, the other significant similarity is the setting. Using the same ominous house, the never-ending stairs, and the shoddy motel is a beautiful touch.<\/p>\n

Although \u201cBates Motel\u201d is based on Hitchcock\u2019s brilliance, it has hardly paid homage to \u201cPsycho\u201d beyond the famous setting and the timeless characters, Norman Bates and Norman as his mother. The mother in \u201cPsycho\u201d is domineering. This has been effectively displayed through Norma forbidding him from going out with his friends and being disappointed when he joins the track team since it means he won\u2019t be home as much.<\/p>\n

Norman in \u201cPsycho\u201d is socially awkward and refers to his mother as his \u201cbest friend.\u201d This is seen in \u201cBates Motel\u201d through Norman\u2019s willingness to do exactly what she says and showing jealousy when Norma goes on a date.<\/p>\n

Only four episodes have aired so far and it\u2019s already addictive. The slow-paced plot development of \u201cPsycho\u201d had to be replaced to fit the overly stimulated modern day viewers. To capture the audience, each episode begins with a shock and to keep them wanting more, each episode ends with a shock.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cBates Motel\u201d
\n\u2022 Aired: March 18, 2013
\n\u2022 Network: A&E
\n\u2022 When: Monday 10 p.m.
\n\u2022 Length: One hour
\n\u2022 Actors: Vera Farmiga (Norma Louise Bates), Freddie Highmore (Norman Bates), Max Thieriot (Dylan Massett), Olivia Cooke (Emma Decody), Nicola Peltz (Bradley Martin)
\n\u2022 Executive Producers: Carlton Cuse, Kerry Ehrin
\n\u2022 Genre: Drama, thriller<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted May 2, 2013 By MELISSA CASTILLO Norman Bates was an unusual man who kept his mother\u2019s rotting corpse in his house, materialized arguments with her, and took on her personality during which he murdered a woman as she showered. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":24,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1151","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1151"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1163,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1151\/revisions\/1163"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}