Abstract
Bates Motel is a well-known series that is based on a true story. The events that occur in this program are greatly influenced by the events that were shown in the film “Psycho”. The show has 5 seasons and it begins with teenager Norman Bates experiencing what it seems like, an argument between his mother and his father. Much later throughout the seasons, we watch his character unravel and we gain knowledge on the disorders he has.
Both him and his mother Norma, struggled tremendously once they moved from Arizona to a small town called White Pine Bay. Once they settled there, they had all of these visualizations of running their very first family-owned motel. It took a lot of effort and persistence for the Bates to get what they wanted. However, although they achieved what they wanted most, neither were prepared for the huge nightmare that was waiting to happen.
Keywords: psychological disorders, psycho, bates
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Bates Motel is ranked as one of the best shows that deals with mental or psychological problems. The show reflects the 1960’s film “Psycho,” and it involves a young man Norman Bates and his life with his mother, Norma. Norman has suffered from hallucinations and blackouts that make him shift towards playing his mother’s personality. The show has portrayed many examples of mental disorders; it is the psychological problems that make the show so intriguing. From the first season up until the last one, the series develops a lot of drama. The mental disorders begin to mainly take place in season one, four and five. One of the various that are depicted is insanity.
Insanity is one of the most illustrated disorders in the show. It is a disorder where, for instance, the character Norman develops due to his experiences. He deals with some extreme madness that influences him to start doing abnormal things; like murder. At the beginning of the series, Norman begins to suffer from having ‘blackouts’. As the show continues, we begin to notice why and when these blackouts occur for him. His mother also seems to comfort him whenever we see this happen and fears admitting that her son is mentally ill.
In the first episode from Season 1, we see Norma Bates in her home arguing with her husband, while Norman peeked through the door. The situation escalated so quickly that she took whatever she could and bashed it against his head, instantly killing him. However, we are later exposed to the truth that it was not Norma who killed her husband, but Norman. Unfortunately, this situation was so burdensome for both, that this is why we witness Norma feel so much sympathy for him anytime he does something wrong. (Bates Motel, Season 1).
Season 1
Norman Bates is a 17 year old teenage boy who happens to develop an outrageous obsession towards his mother. As previously mentioned from the beginning of Season one, once Norman killed his father, he and his mother moved from Arizona to White Pine Bay. Both with gigantic hopes of living the life they have always wanted. Their biggest priority was running their own motel. There are various twists during this time for the Bates family.
Suddenly, the previous owner of their residence had returned to reclaim it. Norma was not going to give up the property of their dreams, resulting in the man to lash out and project vengeance onto her. Further into the episodes, we see Norma being sexually assaulted by this man and eventually, threatening to kill her. Norman fortunately intervened and helped Norma to kill him. After the realization of his murder, the two decided to dump the man’s corpse in the lake nearby.
Rapidly, we are introduced to the character of Alex, also known as Sheriff Romero, who decides to show up at the new Bates residence in hopes of gaining any information of the man they had just murdered. The tension arises once they discover that apparently they knew nothing about it, leading even more suspicion towards the pair (Bates Motel, Season 1).
Sheriff Romero ends up making more stops than usual around the Bates residence. During the investigation, they found Keith summer wrist submerged into the lake nearby, drawing the conclusion that Norma Bates was in fact, guilty. Norma is later taken to jail where she is shortly released after being proven that she is not guilty.
Season 2
Season 2 plays a big role in the development of Norman’s character. Although, not entirely relevant, it clarifies the connections and suspicions of Sheriff Romero towards him. In this season, we have more than just one death occur. Unfortunately, one of the people who died was Miss Watson, Norman’s teacher at school. Norman would occasionally have multiple hallucinations, and mainly sexually related, about Miss Watson. This only gave more of a reason for the sheriffs and deputies in town to suspect. Norman was eventually taken in to be questioned, where he later on denied knowing anything about her. However, later on into the episodes, Norman is seen confessing to his mother about having dreams where he’s killed Miss Watson (Bates Motel, Season 2).
Season 4
During this season, there is a tremendous amount of personality disorder occurring with his character. Norman tri, and his mother dies on that incident. After the death of his mother he does not want to accept the truth that she is dead, he digs a hole and buries the corpse and takes the personality of his mother to hide the scene. The action is up against normal, like you cannot kill your mother, have the guts of burying her and imitate her personality for the crowd to think she is alive. The young man does not want to face the reality of situations because of his mental conditions (Season 4).
Season 5
Lastly, post-traumatic stress shows up in the show. All the above murders are mainly attributed to by some trauma or event that makes Norman do them. Norman has been affected by the flashbacks of his father raping his mother. Sexual assault has triggered stress into this young man, he overthinks and as a result, things overwhelm and empower his mind. For this reason, Norman starts behaving in an abnormal way, hoping to satisfy his mind and overcome the level of stress. In his quest to fulfill his mentality, he has murdered many people because of the traumatic condition he is suffering.
Norman Bates has dealt with many psychological disorders throughout the show. He has also shown the various adverse effects of the mental conditions. Therefore, most people don’t want to face the reality part of life; they need a perfect experience all through not knowing that they can get into the above-mentioned psychological problems. Mental conditions should be treated early, for instance, if Norman’s situation would have been handled early all those murders that he did could not have happened. Mental conditions begin with some small stress, and they pile up to be one major one, therefore through the show, it is vital to control your emotions, thoughts, and actions, and to seek help if needed.
References
- Bloch, R. (2018, October 22). Norman Bates. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bates
- Littlefield, K., McCulloch, D., & Flanagan, K. (n.d.). The Curious Cuse of Bates Motel. Retrieved from https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/scriptwriting/curious-cuse-bates-motel/
- Bates Motel (season 1). (2018, November 13). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_Motel_(season_1)
- Bates Motel (season 2). (2018, September 14). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_Motel_(season_2)
