Laura

My Own Perception:
I have been re-watching the film, and seeing a lot of things I had not seen before. Right at the beginning of the film, Waldo Lydecker is giving a voice over, introducing himself and Detective McPherson. Lydecker mentions how he is watching McPherson, and his attention is upon the clock. He then goes on to say that there is only one other like it, in the room where Laura was murdered. That makes me realize how important the clock is, which the audience doesn't understand until way later in the movie.
I was looking at the character of Lydecker. He has a lot of money and a lot of objects, but he is very lonely. He can buy everything in the world, but he will never be happy. I think he is just a miserable person. He was always by himself before Laura came along, then was with Laura constantly, then when she left he was by himself again. Also, before he "killed her", he still had the same idea that "if i can't have you no one will". He didn't do it with a gun, but he did it with his newspaper columns. He would write about Laura's new man, so that she would dump that man, and then be alone. I think he tried to make her be alone if he couldn't be with her. On top of that, i still couldn't figure out if he even was physically with her, i couldn't tell what his sexual orientation was.
Class Discussion:
I thought it was interesting how it was mentioned that Laura is an object to Lydecker. I find that very true. He thinks he can purchase everything in the world, including love. She is just another trophy object on his glass shelf.
Someone in class mentioned how there really isn't one solid relationship throughout the whole movie. Laura can't decide from one day to the next who she loves and who she is going to marry. I find that ironic, because i would think that after all of this trauma that she has gone through, she would want to find one steady person that wouldn't cheat on her. It does seem like all of the men in her life thus far seem to be a letdown.
This also brings up the point that Laura doesn't really have a "type" of man. All of the men she loves are so extremely different. She never goes for the same type of person, and never stays with that person either.
It was weird how McPherson goes through her things (and her underwear drawer especially) when he thinks she is dead. It must have made things really weird for him when Laura showed up alive. He fell in love with her portrait as if she was some sort of made up beauty, a figment of his imagination. Now she shows up alive and he almost doesn't know what to do.
The "Laura" Review:
It was really weird how Lydecker introduces himself to McPherson by exiting the bath tub naked. I also found it weird that McPherson didn't care at all about it. If I were a detective investigating a murder, I'd want to be a little more professional that that.
I did think that this film was a critique on high society. It shows how money can't buy happiness, and how the richest people can be the most miserable. The not-so-rich, down to earth detective is the seemingly least miserable.
McPherson may be the least miserable, but i think he is the most complicated. The article says "...and examination of man's penchant for projecting their fanciful visions of idealized femininity onto women". It is extremely true for McPherson, who builds an image of her from her underwear drawer and love letters. The article says he falls in love with Laura because "she inspired such ardent male attention". I think this is very true. The article mentions McPherson's desire to save Laura from these upper crust jerks. He falls in love with her even more because he is on a rescue mission. I find that to be true. He wants to be her knight in shining armor and save the day, be the hero.
The article mentions the three different masculinity types- Lydecker is asexual, McPherson is the tough guy, Carpenter is the idiot. They all were obsessed with Laura, and she couldn't ever make up her mind between them.