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The Birds

444 statements
87 feature instances
38 referencing feature instances

The Birds	type	TVTItem
The Birds	label	The Birds
The Birds	page	TheBirds
The Birds	comment	The Birds is a 1963 suspense/horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. The film's innovative special effects, soundtrack, and apocalyptic theme influenced later "revenge of nature" disaster films.Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is a young San Francisco socialite who decides to follow lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) to his home in Bodega Bay, California. She apparently picks the wrong time to visit. The birds of Bodega Bay are becoming increasingly aggressive and soon every human being around comes under attack, with Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), a close friend of the Brenners, becoming one of the early casualties.Unlike most other films of its era, The Birds doesn't have a music score or an ending in the conventional sense. The soundtrack was supervised by composer Bernard Herrmann; bird cries and wingflaps were played on an expanded Trautoniumnote an early electronic synthesizer (called the Mixtur Trautonium) by Oskar Sala, assisted by the German composer Remi Gassmann.The screenplay was written by Evan Hunter. Ub Iwerks helped out with the special effects involving the birds. There was a made-for-TV sequel, The Birds II: Land's End (1994), with a new cast of characters (and Ms. Hedren gamely contributing a cameo as a shopkeeper). It fared poorly.
The Birds	fetched	2024-03-02T23:46:27Z
The Birds	parsed	2024-03-02T23:46:27Z
The Birds	processingComment	Dropped link to InNameOnly: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Birds	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Birds / int_11ee737	type	Artistic License â€“ Ornithology
The Birds / int_11ee737	comment	Artistic License â€“ Ornithology: The whole premise is that birds are not behaving like they always do. Birds attack humans in huge swarms for no apparent reason. Birds of different species start flocking together. Chickens refuse to eat perfectly good seed for no apparent reason. The sounds that birds make are heavily stylized and often sound more like snarling cats than birds.
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The Birds / int_127fc252	type	Creator Cameo
The Birds / int_127fc252	comment	Creator Cameo: In true Hitchcock tradition, the director can be seen walking two dogs out of the pet shop at the start of the film.
The Birds / int_127fc252	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_127fc252	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_137f467a	type	Hot Teacher
The Birds / int_137f467a	comment	Hot Teacher: Annie, the teacher of Bodega Bay, was once a lover of Mitch's. The character was rewritten to younger and sexier once the actress was cast.
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The Birds / int_1439161f	type	Heroic BSoD
The Birds / int_1439161f	comment	Heroic BSoD: Melanie enters a catatonic state after the final attack in the attic.
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The Birds / int_14ed6ab7	type	Does This Remind You of Anything?
The Birds / int_14ed6ab7	comment	Does This Remind You of Anything?: Annie is found lying on her back with her legs splayed—as if she's been raped. The attack in the attic can also have shades of this, some points looking like the birds are holding Melanie down as they peck different parts of her body as well as her gasping in pain.
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The Birds / int_1b65dfad	type	The Cameo
The Birds / int_1b65dfad	comment	The Cameo: Richard Deacon, well known to 1963 audiences as The Dick Van Dyke Show's Mel Cooley, as Mitch's neighbor in San Francisco.
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The Birds / int_1d2400e9	type	Green-Eyed Monster
The Birds / int_1d2400e9	comment	Green-Eyed Monster: Though she's completely forthright about her feelings and even encourages Melanie to do whatever she feels is right, Annie can't help but be jealous about Mitch's interest in Melanie. This is most pronounced when she grimaces when Melanie finally accepts Mitch's invitation to Cathy's party.
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The Birds / int_259064d9	type	Fowl-Mouthed Parrot
The Birds / int_259064d9	comment	Fowl-Mouthed Parrot: The reason Melanie orders the mynah bird at the beginning of the film. She planned on teaching the bird a few of the "semantics" she picked up in a college class at Berkley before giving the mynah to her uptight Aunt Tessa.
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The Birds / int_28cd01ca	type	Disappeared Dad
The Birds / int_28cd01ca	comment	Disappeared Dad: Frank Brenner, Lydia's husband and father to Mitch and Cathy, died some time prior to the events of the film. Lydia talks about missing him during a conversation with Melanie.
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The Birds / int_2af6bbeb	type	Break the Haughty
The Birds / int_2af6bbeb	comment	Break the Haughty: Mrs Bundy the ornithologist is a pompous Agent Scully who refuses to believe that the birds are attacking. The last we see of her is after the chaos in the town - and she's visibly stunned into silence.
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The Birds / int_2aff6a25	type	Death of the Hypotenuse
The Birds / int_2aff6a25	comment	Death of the Hypotenuse: While Annie admits she still has feelings for Mitch even after their relationship failed, her death at the hands of the birds halfway through the film prevents it from culminating into anything.
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The Birds / int_2e8441c9	type	The Bad Guy Wins
The Birds / int_2e8441c9	comment	The Bad Guy Wins: The infamous ending, which indicates that the birds have succeeded in taking over the town, and quite possibly the entire country.
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The Birds / int_33029735	type	Dies Wide Open
The Birds / int_33029735	comment	Dies Wide Open: Annie's eyes are open when Mitch finds her dead. We see them only for an instant before he shields them with his hand.
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The Birds / int_33e48eb9	type	Hysterical Woman
The Birds / int_33e48eb9	comment	Hysterical Woman: After the big bird attack in town, one of these confronts Melanie and calls her the cause of all of this because the attacks started the day Melanie arrived.
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The Birds / int_35b241c0	type	Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping
The Birds / int_35b241c0	comment	Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Rod Taylor keeps lapsing into his natural Australian accent in the last half-hour.
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The Birds / int_381855db	type	Five-Second Foreshadowing
The Birds / int_381855db	comment	Five-Second Foreshadowing: Melanie sees a sparrow in the Brenners' fireplace just before dozens of them come pouring into the room through the chimney.
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The Birds / int_392372f9	type	Actor Allusion
The Birds / int_392372f9	comment	Actor Allusion: In Melanie's first scene when she's walking down the street, a kid wolf whistles at her and she gives him a smile. This is a reference to a commercial Tippi Hedren had done where the same thing happened. When Hitchcock saw her in the commercial, he put her under contract immediately.
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The Birds / int_3b6ffb7c	type	Stupid Scientist
The Birds / int_3b6ffb7c	comment	Stupid Scientist: At one point, the main characters meet Mrs Bundy, an ornithologist, who denies that the birds of various species are going out of their way to attack humans. She is seen with the other diner patrons after the first truly large-scale attack. She doesn't say anything, instead simply huddling against a wall and glancing over her shoulder. It's pretty obvious that she's realized how wrong she was.
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The Birds / int_3c0a4666	type	Noodle Incident
The Birds / int_3c0a4666	comment	Noodle Incident: Melanie's mischievous character is established by reference to a prank she pulled that resulted in the shattering of a plate-glass window. Though she supposedly had to appear in court because of it, the nature of the prank is never explained.
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The Birds / int_40cc0c7e	type	Bittersweet Ending
The Birds / int_40cc0c7e	comment	Bittersweet Ending: See No Ending below for the details. However, Lydia and Melanie share a tender moment in one of the last shots, implying that the old woman has come to care for her - and that the trauma may have actually bonded them.
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The Birds / int_41dd77d	type	Zerg Rush
The Birds / int_41dd77d	comment	Zerg Rush: A bird or crow isn't very dangerous by itself, but hundreds represent quite a threat. The ornithologist notes that there are billions of birds in North America alone. Humans wouldn't stand a chance in a war against them.
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The Birds / int_44f5d199	type	Pretty in Mink
The Birds / int_44f5d199	comment	Pretty in Mink: Melanie is a beautiful and high-class lady who wears a fur coat for much of the film. Her outfits were designed by famed costumer Edith Head.
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The Birds / int_45a387bc	type	Light Feminine and Dark Feminine
The Birds / int_45a387bc	comment	Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Playful blond socialite Melanie is Light, while no-nonsense brunette schoolteacher Annie is Dark.
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The Birds / int_46290b93	type	Manic Pixie Dream Girl
The Birds / int_46290b93	comment	Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Melanie begins the story appearing to be one, quirkily flirting with Mitch and getting into all sorts of scraps. It gets rapidly deconstructed when the horror starts.
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The Birds / int_479d4e5a	type	Would Hurt a Child
The Birds / int_479d4e5a	comment	Would Hurt a Child: The first two mass bird attacks happen to groups of children.
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The Birds / int_49d59be9	type	Scenery Porn
The Birds / int_49d59be9	comment	Scenery Porn: Hitchcock and cinematographer Robert Burks make good use of the photogenic Northern California coastline.
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The Birds / int_4b316d47	type	Break the Cutie
The Birds / int_4b316d47	comment	Break the Cutie: This is Melanie's main character arc. She starts sure of herself, and her last line in the film is a PTSD-fueled Rapid-Fire "No!" when she sees that getting to the car will involve marching through a humongous bunch of birds.
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The Birds / int_4e7f703c	type	Wham Shot
The Birds / int_4e7f703c	comment	Wham Shot: Of the man's eyes pecked out. We've seen a few crows begin to congregate on the jungle gym behind Melanie's back. When she finally notices a crow flap its way to the playground and land on the jungle gym, it's covered in dozens of birds. In the end, when Mitch peaks out at the path from the doorway to the car, the ground is completely carpeted in birds.
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The Birds / int_50b05d30	type	Disproportionate Retribution
The Birds / int_50b05d30	comment	Disproportionate Retribution: One of Mitch's clients shot his wife in the head six times for changing the channel when he was watching a ball game.
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The Birds / int_550754dc	type	Improbable Infant Survival
The Birds / int_550754dc	comment	Improbable Infant Survival: The birds attack a group of children twice in the film, but all of them survive. There's mention of one needing to be taken to hospital, but ending up fine.
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The Birds / int_5924454b	type	Cerebus Call-Back
The Birds / int_5924454b	comment	Cerebus Call-Back: As everyone plans to flee the house, Cathy begs to bring the love birds Melanie got her as a present — reminding everyone of the reason Melanie ended up in Bodega Bay in the first place.
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The Birds / int_5a3b8032	type	The Un-Reveal
The Birds / int_5a3b8032	comment	The Unreveal: We never do learn exactly what is causing the birds to attack.
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The Birds / int_5b565147	type	Meaningful Background Event
The Birds / int_5b565147	comment	Meaningful Background Event: The birds silently gathering on the playground equipment behind Melanie.
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The Birds / int_60414102	type	Zombie Apocalypse
The Birds / int_60414102	comment	It's truly amazing how similar some moments in this movie are to a zombie horror film. With the masses of weak but overwhelming killers, the shock at the outlandish idea that such creatures could ever attack, barricading houses and hysterical survivors, you could easily see this as Hitchcock putting his own stamp on the conventions... but zombie movies wouldn't come about for another five years.
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The Birds / int_60aa4e65	type	Balloon-Bursting Bird
The Birds / int_60aa4e65	comment	Balloon-Bursting Bird: During Cathy's birthday party, the birds pop a number of balloons.
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The Birds / int_6627695f	type	Author Appeal
The Birds / int_6627695f	comment	Author Appeal: Bird motif (this more explicit than other films) and an icy blonde lead actress.
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The Birds / int_66dfe36a	type	Missing Mom
The Birds / int_66dfe36a	comment	Missing Mom: Melanie's mother has been gone for years. She's implied to be a Daddy's Girl as a result.
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The Birds / int_7286e96d	type	Idiot Ball
The Birds / int_7286e96d	comment	Idiot Ball: A bunch of people, including police, perform some first aid on a man while ignoring the gas pump gushing out fuel like a firehose onto the street. Melanie checks out suspicious flapping noises without letting anybody else know. No one makes any effort to shield themselves from bird attacks, like throwing a quilt over their head. Cathy is the only person who thinks of wearing extra layers, and she's only seen doing this in the very last scene of the film. Our heroes keep passing up opportunities to simply drive out of town, with weak justifications.
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The Birds / int_75678e1	type	Species Title
The Birds / int_75678e1	comment	Species Title: An Antagonist Title about a (literal) murder of various birds.
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The Birds / int_75bfffd4	type	Bat Scare
The Birds / int_75bfffd4	comment	Bat Scare: While the evil avians are a recurrent threat, their final attack, as Melanie enters a room and finds it's filled with them, must fit.
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The Birds / int_7831b670	type	Gaia's Vengeance
The Birds / int_7831b670	comment	Gaia's Vengeance: Characters speculate (and Hitchcock implies in the trailer) that the birds are attacking as vengeance for man's abuse of nature.
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The Birds / int_7f390ebc	type	Developing Doomed Characters
The Birds / int_7f390ebc	comment	One of the earliest films to use Developing Doomed Characters. Except here the horror comes as part of a Halfway Plot Switch, the attacks build up and the developing is all about justifying why Melanie is in Bodega Bay in the first place.
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The Birds / int_7febc23b	type	Establishing Character Moment
The Birds / int_7febc23b	comment	Establishing Character Moment: Melanie pretends to be a pet shop clerk to have an interaction with a handsome man. After Mitch calls her out, he notes that she's been in legal trouble for a prank. Both of these points establish that Melanie is a free-spirited and bold young woman, the kind of person to drive 60 miles for a flirtatious game. Mitch reveals that he already knew that Melanie wasn't a pet shop clerk and was simply messing with her because he recognized her from court. This establishes Mitch as a lawyer who is nonetheless playful.
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The Birds / int_863fa679	type	What Happened to the Mouse?
The Birds / int_863fa679	comment	What Happened to the Mouse?: Melanie gets a pet for her aunt that she is implied to pick up before she buys Cathy the love birds. She says later that she was going to teach it to talk before giving it to her aunt, implying it's back in her apartment in San Francisco. She had only planned to stay in Bodega Bay a couple of hours, which means the pet went the whole weekend without food (unless Melanie phoned a friend to look in on it). Fridge Horror if that one went ballistic like the other birds too.
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The Birds / int_8b1a664	type	Kill All Humans
The Birds / int_8b1a664	comment	Kill All Humans: The birds only attack humans and do so indiscriminately every few hours.
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The Birds / int_8ed5c6e4	type	Asshole Victim
The Birds / int_8ed5c6e4	comment	May also apply to the guy from the bar in the gray hat and suit who was ranting about how nasty birds were before going out to lead the lady with her kids out of the town, who lights his cigar over spilled gas which he somehow didn't notice as a result of the attacking birds. Given that he was also kind of a jerk he may also count as an Asshole Victim.
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The Birds / int_916c72b3	type	Rule of Symbolism
The Birds / int_916c72b3	comment	Rule of Symbolism: The story practically invites you to interpret the birds as an allegory for whatever you find threatening in the real world. Especially the restaurant scene, where you have unresolved arguments between someone who thinks the world is doomed, someone who denies that the threat could even exist, someone who claims the threat has always existed, and someone who points out that the important thing is to try to stop the threat. Especially keeping in mind that the original short story was allegedly inspired by the Nazi air raids on Britain during World War II.
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The Birds / int_93168fb1	type	It's Quietâ€¦ Too Quiet
The Birds / int_93168fb1	comment	It's Quietâ€¦ Too Quiet: There is no music at all in the soundtrack, not counting the singing children.
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The Birds / int_96a33f11	type	Riddle for the Ages
The Birds / int_96a33f11	comment	Riddle for the Ages: Why the birds are attacking and why they seem to attack in waves are famously never resolved. We don't even know if their attacks will ever end or if they'll spread across the country. We never find out why the chickens wouldn't eat and if this is related to the attacks. Did all of the birds suddenly turn into strict carnivores? We never learn whether Cathy's lovebirds are afflicted by the same issue. Is it because they're from San Francisco and not local to Bodega Bay? Is it because they're domesticated birds? Is it because they're in a cage and simply never had the opportunity to go crazy? Did Melanie go skinny dipping in the Roman fountain like the newspapers said, or did she get pushed into it while fully clothed? Melanie points out that the newspapers have a good reason to drag their competitor's daughter through the mud, but she's also lied about herself before. We never find out the truth.
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The Birds / int_970c790a	type	Big Bad
The Birds / int_970c790a	comment	Big Bad: The birds themselves. Interestingly, they don't quite cause the conflict so much as they are the conflict itself; their attacks kickstart and drive the plot, and they are not as much characters as they are a full-scale living doomsday scenario.
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The Birds / int_97ee273	type	Momma's Boy
The Birds / int_97ee273	comment	Momma's Boy: Mitch spends every weekend with his mother, and Annie asserts that Lydia is overly protective of him.
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The Birds / int_984cbd13	type	Absurdly Elderly Mother
The Birds / int_984cbd13	comment	Absurdly Elderly Mother: If the character's ages are the same as their actors, 54-year-old Lydia has a 33-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter. Which is actually completely possible, but the vast age difference between the siblings (plus Lydia looking much older than 54, as well as Cathy actually being younger than her actress) has led to considerable speculation that Cathy is actually Mitch's daughter.
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The Birds / int_99c36bb5	type	Ironic Nursery Tune
The Birds / int_99c36bb5	comment	Ironic Nursery Tune: Sung by the schoolchildren as crows gather on the jungle gym.
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The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_99c36bb5
The Birds / int_9d12bbc1	type	Foreshadowing
The Birds / int_9d12bbc1	comment	Foreshadowing: There's plenty of actual foreshadowing in the first half of the movie — Melanie taking time to notice a swarm of seagulls in San Francisco, and attention to lots of birds sitting on telephone poles.
The Birds / int_9d12bbc1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_9d12bbc1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_9d12bbc1
The Birds / int_9d174dc0	type	Hates Being Alone
The Birds / int_9d174dc0	comment	Hates Being Alone: Lydia's turmoil stems from this, due in large part to her husband passing away. She reveals to Melanie that this is why she's reluctant to accept Mitch getting together with anyone, since it could potentially mean he'll also leave her.
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The Birds / int_9d174dc0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_9d174dc0
The Birds / int_9ee065ab	type	Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday
The Birds / int_9ee065ab	comment	Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Cathy's Birthday is the day the birds attack in full.
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The Birds / int_9ee065ab	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_9ee065ab
The Birds / int_a2b38d3b	type	Eye Scream
The Birds / int_a2b38d3b	comment	Of the man's eyes pecked out.
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The Birds / int_a2b38d3b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_a2b38d3b
The Birds / int_ab5eea65	type	Dramatic Irony
The Birds / int_ab5eea65	comment	Dramatic Irony: We see the crows congregate behind Melanie as she ignorantly smokes a cigarette.
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The Birds / int_ab5eea65	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_ab5eea65
The Birds / int_abc60c5d	type	Harmful to Minors
The Birds / int_abc60c5d	comment	Harmful to Minors: The birds attack children at Cathy's party and the school.
The Birds / int_abc60c5d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_abc60c5d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_abc60c5d
The Birds / int_ace24b2c	type	Halfway Plot Switch
The Birds / int_ace24b2c	comment	Halfway Plot Switch: It starts off feeling like a romantic comedy, and takes its time getting to the real point. Then lots and lots and lots of angry birds happen, turning into a horror movie.
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The Birds / int_ace24b2c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_ace24b2c
The Birds / int_ad1db87c	type	Oh, Crap!
The Birds / int_ad1db87c	comment	Oh, Crap!: Melanie has this reaction when she sees a single sparrow flying down chimney...just before a whole flock of them swoop down and attack everyone in the house. Melanie's face after seeing a massive flock of birds gathered next to the school. Lydia, though a subdued version, when the man who sold her the chicken feed mentioned he had a call from another customer that his chickens wouldn't eat either (and had a different feed brand).
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The Birds / int_ad1db87c	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_ae79c5af	type	Grudging "Thank You"
The Birds / int_ae79c5af	comment	Grudging "Thank You": Lydia thanks Melanie in this way for taking care of her after a nervous breakdown.
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The Birds / int_ae79c5af	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_ae79c5af
The Birds / int_b352279a	type	Attack of the Killer Whatever
The Birds / int_b352279a	comment	Attack of the Killer Whatever: In this case, birds.
The Birds / int_b352279a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_b352279a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_b352279a
The Birds / int_b58b4e3c	type	Too Dumb to Live
The Birds / int_b58b4e3c	comment	Too Dumb to Live: May also apply to the guy from the bar in the gray hat and suit who was ranting about how nasty birds were before going out to lead the lady with her kids out of the town, who lights his cigar over spilled gas which he somehow didn't notice as a result of the attacking birds. Given that he was also kind of a jerk he may also count as an Asshole Victim. None of the characters takes even basic precautions against getting pecked bloody, such as wearing gloves or wrapping their arms with cloth.
The Birds / int_b58b4e3c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_b58b4e3c	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_c2cedc1c	type	Big "NO!"
The Birds / int_c2cedc1c	comment	Big "NO!": Well, how would you react if you were attacked by birds in a small room, sending you into a catatonic state, and then your friends tried to guide you outside into a landscape of staring birds to get to the car? Naturally Melanie flat-out refuses, at first.
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The Birds / int_c2cedc1c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_c2cedc1c
The Birds / int_c40c8b74	type	And Starring
The Birds / int_c40c8b74	comment	And Starring: "And Introducing 'Tippi' Hedren." Technically not true, since she'd had a small uncredited role in 1950's The Petty Girl.
The Birds / int_c40c8b74	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_c40c8b74	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_c40c8b74
The Birds / int_c76f81b8	type	Non-Idle Rich
The Birds / int_c76f81b8	comment	Non-Idle Rich: Mitch is surprised to learn that the wealthy socialite Melanie has a job. In fact, she also studies at Berkley and does charity work. She explains that she got fed up with not having any purpose.
The Birds / int_c76f81b8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_c76f81b8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_c76f81b8
The Birds / int_cde51255	type	Antagonist Title
The Birds / int_cde51255	comment	Antagonist Title: The titular flocks of birds that attack the townspeople.
The Birds / int_cde51255	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_cde51255	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_cde51255
The Birds / int_cdfe12c3	type	Nothing Is Scarier
The Birds / int_cdfe12c3	comment	Nothing Is Scarier: A classic example. the movie never reveals why the birds are attacking. This only serves to make it prime Paranoia Fuel.
The Birds / int_cdfe12c3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_cdfe12c3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_cdfe12c3
The Birds / int_cead2a47	type	Cassandra Did It
The Birds / int_cead2a47	comment	Cassandra Did It: Melanie is the one who argued against the ornithologist who said birds lack the ability to flock together and attack, and immediately after an attack is blamed because the attacks started after she arrived.
The Birds / int_cead2a47	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_cead2a47	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_cead2a47
The Birds / int_cf92fea8	type	Cassandra Truth
The Birds / int_cf92fea8	comment	Cassandra Truth: It takes a very long time for the main characters convince the law enforcement that birds are attacking, them chalking it up to coincidence. Not until the largest attack on the town occurs do they start investigating.
The Birds / int_cf92fea8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_cf92fea8	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_d08595d3	type	Broken Bird
The Birds / int_d08595d3	comment	Broken Bird: Pun aside, Melanie is reduced to a catatonic wreck after getting attacked by birds in the attic. It was a similar situation for her actress in real life too.
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The Birds / int_d08595d3	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_d2d09ff6	type	After-Action Patch-Up
The Birds / int_d2d09ff6	comment	After-Action Patch-Up: Mitch treating Melanie's head wound in the diner. This scene depicts the beginning of a friendlier relationship between the two of them.
The Birds / int_d2d09ff6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_d2d09ff6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_d2d09ff6
The Birds / int_d5139ac	type	Reality Has No Soundtrack
The Birds / int_d5139ac	comment	Reality Has No Soundtrack: Uses diegetic sounds and electronic bird noises in place of a musical score.
The Birds / int_d5139ac	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_d5139ac	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_d5139ac
The Birds / int_d9cf40fa	type	Screw This, I'm Outta Here
The Birds / int_d9cf40fa	comment	Screw This, I'm Outta Here: A lot of people realize that the bird attacks are confined to the local area, so they flee. Our main characters refuse to, with Melanie even calling her father to tell him that she can't leave due to the emergency. A mother dining in the cafe with her two children decides to make a b-line out of town, but the birds attack her on her way to her car, forcing her back inside. In the end, our heroes finally decide to just drive away. A news report indicates that they're one of the last people. The final shot is of them hitting the road.
The Birds / int_d9cf40fa	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_d9cf40fa	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_d9cf40fa
The Birds / int_e13156e1	type	Mama Bear
The Birds / int_e13156e1	comment	Mama Bear: Lydia is said to be overprotective of Mitch, though Annie asserts that she's just scared of being left alone.
The Birds / int_e13156e1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_e13156e1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_e13156e1
The Birds / int_e936259b	type	Wolf Whistle
The Birds / int_e936259b	comment	Wolf Whistle: In the opening scene Melanie gets one of these from a little kid, to whom she turns and smiles. This was apparently an Actor Allusion to a diet soda commercial Tippi Hedren had appeared in, which Hitchcock had seen.
The Birds / int_e936259b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_e936259b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_e936259b
The Birds / int_ea2e9f2d	type	No Ending
The Birds / int_ea2e9f2d	comment	No Ending: The birds enter their resting phase and allow the characters to leave the besieged house. You never find why they started, or if they'll start attacking again.
The Birds / int_ea2e9f2d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_ea2e9f2d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_ea2e9f2d
The Birds / int_edaedf90	type	Vomit Discretion Shot
The Birds / int_edaedf90	comment	Vomit Discretion Shot: Cathy gets nauseous with anxiety after a bird attack, prompting Melanie to take her off screen to the bathroom. The sound of her puking is euphemistically rendered as coughing.
The Birds / int_edaedf90	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_edaedf90	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_edaedf90
The Birds / int_f0c4ce7d	type	The Lost Lenore
The Birds / int_f0c4ce7d	comment	The Lost Lenore: Gender-inverted. The true cause of Lydia's reserved attitude for much of the film stems from how much she's been struggling to move on from her husband's passing and how she feels inadequate to fill the void in the family's lives left by him on her own.
The Birds / int_f0c4ce7d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_f0c4ce7d	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_f0e85546	type	Unbuilt Trope
The Birds / int_f0e85546	comment	Unbuilt Trope: It's truly amazing how similar some moments in this movie are to a zombie horror film. With the masses of weak but overwhelming killers, the shock at the outlandish idea that such creatures could ever attack, barricading houses and hysterical survivors, you could easily see this as Hitchcock putting his own stamp on the conventions... but zombie movies wouldn't come about for another five years. One of the earliest films to use Developing Doomed Characters. Except here the horror comes as part of a Halfway Plot Switch, the attacks build up and the developing is all about justifying why Melanie is in Bodega Bay in the first place.
The Birds / int_f0e85546	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_f0e85546	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_f13a0451	type	Suicide Attack
The Birds / int_f13a0451	comment	Suicide Attack: Whether or not they know they'll be killed, some birds die ramming onto doors and glass.
The Birds / int_f13a0451	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_f13a0451	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_f13a0451
The Birds / int_f3106ce	type	Eyeball-Plucking Birds
The Birds / int_f3106ce	comment	Eyeball-Plucking Birds: One scene depicts a person whose eyes are pecked out by a flock of birds.
The Birds / int_f3106ce	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_f3106ce	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_f3da74ff	type	Creepy Crows
The Birds / int_f3da74ff	comment	Creepy Crows: A fair segment of nature's battalion here, and are strongly associated with this movie.
The Birds / int_f3da74ff	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_f3da74ff	featureConfidence	1.0
The Birds	hasFeature	The Birds / int_f3da74ff
The Birds / int_f96f188c	type	Drives Like Crazy
The Birds / int_f96f188c	comment	Drives Like Crazy: Melanie races down the windy road to Bodega Bay, her engine roaring and tires squealing. The lovebirds in the car are shown leaning left and right with each corner.
The Birds / int_f96f188c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Birds / int_f96f188c	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Birds / int_fe614133	type	Beauty Is Never Tarnished
The Birds / int_fe614133	comment	Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted and played straight. Melanie's hair does (eventually) get disheveled, and she gets some nasty head wounds towards the end. But for all the running and falling down, her clothes are always perfectly clean and free of wrinkles.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Birds	hasFeature	Alan Smithee / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Artistic License â€“ Ornithology / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Balloon-Bursting Bird / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Bat Scare / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Canary in a Coal Mine / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Creepy Children Singing / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Creepy Crows / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Definite Article Title / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Developing Doomed Characters / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Disaster Dominoes / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Entertainment Below Their Age / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Eyeball-Plucking Birds / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Feathered Fiend / int_9db82263
Films By Alfred Hitchcock	seeAlso	The Birds
The Birds	hasFeature	Films of 1990â€“1994 / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Fowl-Mouthed Parrot / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Grudging "Thank You" / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Homage / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Homage Shot / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Horror / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Ironic Nursery Tune / int_9db82263
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The Birds	hasFeature	Malignant Plot Tumor / int_9db82263
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The Birds	hasFeature	Monster Misogyny / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Never Work with Children or Animals / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Oireland / int_9db82263
100 Scariest Movie Moments	seeAlso	The Birds
The Birds	hasFeature	Reality Has No Soundtrack / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Rotoscoping / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Safe Zone Hope Spot / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Species Title / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Stupid Scientist / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	The End Is Nigh / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	The Swarm / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Third Act Stupidity / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	What the Hell Are You? / int_9db82263
The Birds	hasFeature	Wolf Whistle / int_9db82263

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