Hitchcock’s Rear Window provides a snapshot of life in post-war America, giving insight into the social, political and cultural landscape of the time. Following WW2, and in the lead-up to the Cold War, there was a prevailing fear in America of the influence of Communism and Soviet espionage that resulted in the heightening of political surveillance, including the screening of government employees for association with organisations that were deemed treasonous to the American government and its institutions. What emerged from this era was McCarthyism, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy who introduced it, which involved hundreds of Americans being blacklisted as Communists and brought to trial on questionable evidence or mere suspicion, with many losing their employment and some imprisoned. In modern day usage the term refers to the practice of attributing subversive tactics, without evidence, to one’s political adversaries and, in some way, may be compared to the political ideology of Trumpism.

The general sense of suspicion that McCarthyism bred within American society is seen through protagonist Jeff’s ethical indifference to watching his neighbours and forming conclusions about them based on speculation. Jeff’s accusation to Lieutenant Doyle that Lars Thorwald has murdered his wife reflects the social reality of the time in which ordinary people, wanting to prove their loyalty to the government, accused their neighbours on loose evidence.

Jeff’s profession as a photojournalist working for Life magazine mirrors a time when the use of images to tell a news story was at its height. The now discontinued Life was in its prime, producing photographs on large, glossy pages and setting the standard in quality photography. Photojournalists view and tell stories through the lens of a camera which, in a sense, distances the photographer from his subject and probably explains how Jeff can rationalise his voyeuristic habits.

The subjects of Jeff’s voyeurism tell the viewer a lot about social and cultural life in 1950s America. Following the war, there was a general shift in attitudes toward marriage and having children; many young adults were starting families earlier, which, incidentally, contributed to the emergence of the ‘baby boomer’ generation that preceded Generation X. Generally, it was men who provided for the financial security of the family and if women were employed, it was often in lesser paid work. The importance attached to marriage and family can be seen in the lives of Jeff’s neighbours, including the Newlyweds, the Man and Woman from the Fire Escape, and in the attention Lisa, Miss Torso and Miss Lonelyhearts give to the men in their lives.