For a long time, I’ve heard the term “gaslighting” and never truly understood what it meant. Recently, I learned that it originates from a 1938 play written by Patrick Hamilton with multiple film adaptations. It was time to put my film degree to use and check it out.
In the 1940 version of Gaslight, conveniently available on YouTube, husband and wife, Paul and Bella move into a home in which decades earlier an elderly heiress had been murdered. As they settle in, it is revealed that Bella believes she is going insane because Paul continually accuses her of stealing things she doesn’t remember taking. At night when Paul mysteriously disappears, Bella reports that the gaslights in her room grow dimmer, which everyone dismisses although they (spoiler!) become a key piece of evidence later.
After watching Gaslight, I now understand “gaslighting” to mean an act of manipulation, often with an intent to attain power, through a means of deceit and lying to cause the victim to question their sanity. Throughout the film, Paul slyly steals objects and hides them elsewhere in the house. He then accuses Bella of taking them and tells her she is mentally unstable and might need to be institutionalized. She tries to protest that she didn’t take the things, but when they appear suspiciously she almost surrenders to thinking she might be crazy. If anything, this film deeply disturbed me by how little effort it can take to psychologically abuse someone.
Watching this film made my blood boil. I wanted to reach into my computer screen, grab Bella’s hand, and pull her to safety anytime she was around Paul. While I quickly spotted multiple red flags in Paul’s behavior, from flirting with the young maid in front of Bella to his coy smiles whenever she cried tears of frustration that she hadn’t stolen anything, the film proved how hard it can be to escape an abusive relationship. After an inspector tells Bella that Paul is deceiving her and asks that she provide evidence against him, Bella responds, “I couldn’t betray my husband.” Initially, I found this response shocking to hear after watching Paul verbally and emotionally harass Bella. But, the more I thought about it, Bella could have been experiencing denial by trying to hold onto the possibility that their relationship could improve, or go back to their “honeymoon stage” where they had no problems.
Although this film only observes gaslighting in a marital relationship, it’s important to note that it can also happen to young survivors both by their abusers and institutions. It may appear more subtle than in Bella’s case, but in our daily lives today, gaslighting can take form as a way to dismiss certain people’s experiences by lazily discounting their perspective. Think, for example, of the Brock Turner sexual assault case that occurred at Stanford back in 2015, where people argued that his “mistake” would negatively impact his “promising” swim career rather than listening and helping the victim of his crime. In this way, the court, who gave him a measly 6 months in prison, and those who denounced the scale of his crime, both participated in forms of gaslighting that manipulated the survivor’s story by making her experience out to be “less than”.
Because gaslighting is still a big issue today that can take many different forms, a useful way to defend oneself against it is through an awareness of what it can look like. Paul gives many examples during the film, so I’ve compiled a list of what signs to watch out for in both relationships and the world around us:
- Habitual Lying: Practically every word out of Paul’s mouth is a lie, and these lies are consequently destructive to Bella as they distort her reality.
- Social Isolation: He goes out of his way to cut off all communication from friends and family to Bella. This form of isolation makes it harder to escape and, as well, singles out the abuser’s voice to give it more power, making it more influential and harmful.
- Denouncing Accusations: Paul also cuts conversations short with Bella, especially when she brings up how he is treating her, showing a lack of respect and taking the opportunity to further demoralize her. At one point, she asks why he married her, and he responds that things were different when she was “normal.”
- Random Acts of Kindness: Between moments of neglect and abuse, Paul treats Bella with fake kindness, playing the piano for her and offering a night out to attend a concert. These moments can confuse the victim into believing their partner is not “all bad,” further skewing their sense of reality.
- Diagnosing Insanity: Openly claiming that the victim is crazy is the biggest red flag of gaslighting. Paul makes it known to everyone who sees Bella that she is mentally unstable, dismissing her point of view and altering people’s perceptions of her to the point where it begins to get to her head.
This film sends the false message, however, that only terrible criminals gaslight, as Paul turns out to have an ulterior motive to his manipulation as he attempts to keep Bella from knowing about his dark past. In reality, it doesn’t have to be that deep. Anyone is capable of gaslighting which makes it especially valuable to be cognizant of warning signs. No one deserves to be belittled and downtrodden like Bella.
At the end of the film, Bella’s only way out of her relationship is through interference from a nosy inspector who believes he’s saved the day, eagerly praising himself by saying, “I’ve saved you! Oh, I’m a marvelous man” after piecing together his case. We all can’t have the luxury of an inspector hiding in the bushes with a pipe, waiting for the right moment to hop out and exclaim, “bingo!” but, in the long run, the first step to combating gaslighting is awareness.
Alyssa Henderson
My name is Alyssa, and I’m a graduate from the University of California, Davis with a degree in English and film, currently working in the tech industry. When I first learned about Survivors to Superheroes, I was instantly touched by its goals to educate, support, and empower survivors because, unfortunately, there aren’t as many safe and helpful resources for young survivors online as there should be. Writing has guided me through challenging times and, with our literary journal, I’m especially excited to help cultivate a space where survivors and their loved ones can creatively express themselves through art and literature as a part of their healing process. In my spare time, you can find me cheering on the San Jose Sharks, attempting to play the bass guitar, and relaxing at the beach.
