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Ashley Oman
Concept Linking Essay
Poe, Norma, Vincent
February 7, 2020
Shadow play and a distinct lack of color are some of the most distinguishing features of
the 1950s’ noir film, Sunset Boulevard. The film really lends itself well to the dark world of
Edgar Allan Poe and also to Tim Burton’s stop action film, Vincent. Burton also deploys similar
stylistic cues that were defined by the film noir era. That isn’t to say that Poe hasn’t painted
some incredibly vivid pictures with his words. There is a lot of similarity between Norma
Desmond, Edgar Allan Poe and even the protagonist from Burton’s film Vincent – a dramatic
melodrama that is beautifully melancholy. Although Desmond, as a character, does seem to
display more manic tendencies. In one scene Norma Desmond, played by the 50-year-old Gloria
Swanson, gets caught up in her own thoughts and delusions of grandeur, exclaiming “Without
me, there wouldn’t be any Paramount Studios!” According to the Fundamentals of Abnormal
Psychology textbook, “People with depressive disorders only suffer from depression, a pattern
called unipolar depression. They have no history of mania and return to a normal or nearly
normal mood when their depression lifts. In contrast, those with bipolar disorders have periods
of mania that alternate with periods of depression” (Comer & Comer, 2019). While Edgar Allan
Poe and Vincent definitely show symptoms of unipolar depressive disorders, I believe that
Norma Desmond leans more toward a bipolar disorder.
The emotional rollercoaster of a deluded mind, desperate for a shift but convinced by
either the illusion of powerlessness or facilitated by learned helplessness, that nothing can be
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done. Edgar Allan Poe has an obvious obsession with death, sex and beauty. Norma Desmond’s
passionate obsession with being youthful and relevant in an industry that had cast her aside
could be considered unhealthy or abnormal. In Burton’s film, Vincent, the protagonist longs to
be the great Vincent Price, such a powerful desire that he adapts his lifestyle to embody the
fantasy.
Edgar Allan Poe’s color choices paint a gothic scene, dismal and dreary at times in his
poems and stories. His most prevalent color choices are red, gold and black, this could be
interpreted as sex, beauty and death. His focus was primarily on contrasting black with red and,
according to the Psychoanalytical study of Edgar Allan Poe, may symbolize sex and death
(Pruette, 1920). His use of black ships, clocks of ebony and black wings of pestilence contrasted
to red lights, the red eye of the sun and blood red metal. In the Masque of Death, Poe covers
scarlet windowpanes with black drapery and set lights outside the windows so that the light has
to pass through the red glass – this imagery sets a scene, a hazy reddish hue to the seventh
chamber. In Sunset Boulevard, even though it is in black and white, one can see the opulent
luxury and the decadence of a forgotten lifestyle in the home of the reclusive Norma Desmond.
She is practically living in a short story by Poe. For her monkey’s funeral she demands the coffin
be lined in flaming red satin, and later that night Joe has the vision of the monkey draped in
black. This foreshadows his ultimate demise, a demise that Poe seemed to long for.
The scathing black comedy of Sunset Boulevard and its bitter look at the end of the
silent film era narrated by the unfortunate Joe, at times reads like a short story by Poe. Norma
Desmond lives a very secluded existence. One day Joe stumbles upon her home, down on his
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luck and in need of financial assistance. He has been unable to make ends meet as a writer and
is quickly sucked into a distorted reality with Norma in her fantasy world built on a foundation
of delusion and refusal to accept her mortality.
Approximately 6% to 15% of people with depressive disorder die by suicide and for
people suffering with bipolar disorder, about 10% to 15% eventually die by suicide (Comer &
Comer, 2019). According to the DSM-5 – a major depressive episode is a period of two or more
weeks marked by at least 5 symptoms of depression, some of which include: decrease in
enjoyment or interest, insomnia, feelings of worthlessness or delusions or bizarre ideas with no
foundation, hallucinations and perception of things that are not present (Comer & Comer,
2019). According to Beck’s theory, some people suffering from depression have a stream of
automatic thoughts that suggest negative connotations. Examples of this are feelings of
inadequacy or of hopelessness – and is described similar to a reflex. A person’s ruminations
swirling endlessly in their mind that can become concrete truths, at least from their
perspective.
In Sunset Boulevard, the use of a narrator creates the illusion of an inner dialogue or a
poem. Even if the inner dialogue is for a character that isn’t alive to tell the story. Vincent Price
creates the same illusion with Seuss-like precision, in the film Vincent. That blend of style and
the metered rhythm is paying homage to Dr. Seuss while intertwining Poe’s style in the
melancholy and grotesque. Vincent Price referred to Burton’s film, in which he voiced the
narration as “the most gratifying thing that has ever happened, it was immortality – better than
being a star on Hollywood Boulevard.” (The Artifice, n.d.)
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Can anyone truly claim that another person’s desires or passion is abnormal? Where is
the line between obsession and drive? An aging movie star, melancholy teen or a starving
writer that desire a different reality but are unable to will it into existence, any of these
narratives could be written by an author like Edgar Allan Poe. Each of these are from very
different eras, different creative teams, borrowing technique and stylistic choice to tell a story
of madness.
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Bibliography
Comer, R. J., & Comer, J. s. (2019). Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology (Vol. 9th Edition).
New York: Worth Publishers.
Pruette, L. (1920). A Psychoanalytical Study of Edgar Allan Poe. The American Journal of
Psychology, 370-402.
The Artifice. (n.d.). Why Sunset Boulevard Still Captures the "Eyes of the World' Today.
Retrieved from The Artifice: https://the-artifice.com/why-sunset-boulevard-still-
captures-the-eyes-of-the-world-today/
