Norman Bates

Real Name: Norman Bates
Date of Birth: Around 1940
Place of Birth: Fairvale
Race: Caucasian Sex: Male
Height: 6"(est)Weight: 155lbs(est)

Current Location: Norman Bates still lives in the same old house where he grew up, close to Fairvale. It seems like a typical phenomenon for serial killers to "stay home" as long as possible. Oh well, if Norman is tired of his old bed, he can always go inside one of the 12 usually unoccupied cabins in his motel. Hey, who would complain about a free night at the motel?

(YET ANOTHER) LITTLE MOMMA'S BOY

Nobody’s afraid of old little women. Or wimpy hotel managers. Especially when they look like Norman Bates. But when there is a split-personality between the two, the results are nothing short of messy. Oedipus complex? Not exactly, but just as tasty and fascinating for the viewers. It seems that Norman Bates felt guilty about poisoning his mother. So, to compensate for her absence, he decided to “be” her, as well as being himself. But can one single brain handle the responsabilities of two very different people? After all, Norman’s mother was a very dominant person while Norman was just a weak little puppet. The clash could not be avoided, and when Norman gets angry at mother and vice versa, the consequences are deadly!

Since dealing with problems can be a difficult thing when you’re an insecure person, Mother took over when necessary. But the easiest way to solve problems is to eliminate them. Playing two people at the same time can be an exhausting thing, so Norman, to save his energies, unconsciously took the easy solutions. What better way to get rid of unwanted visitors than stabbing them with kitchen knives? After all, everyone has a kitchen and some knives in their house don’t they?

The fancy part is the disguise. But can we really call the “Mother” outfit a disguise? Norman never tried to hide his identity with the disguise. Everyone who got the chance to see Norman is his battlesuit didn’t get the opportunity to talk about it to his next door neighbor. A tall old cotton dress, a very ugly wig and a kitchen knife was all it took to help Norman forget that his mom was dead and buried.

The conflict in Bates’ head is just awful when you carefully think about it. Try to imagine someone very strong and mean taking over your head when you’re a calm and shy person. This is why the battle was always uneven. Mother took over quite often, leaving Norman behind, locked up in the corridors of the mind.

Split-personality disorders are not that rare. Norman Bates’s case is a complex one and demands a lot of studies. This is Univerity-type stuff. With a specialist and 10 or 20 students, all trying to figure out where this comes from and if there is a cure. Think about it the next time that you will watch a movie from the Psycho series. Your neighbor might seem like a shy recluse and quiet person but deep inside, lies an awful maniac, waiting for the appropriate time to come out...

Psycho Analysis by Sibastien Lamothe © 2003