![]() ![]() This is a practice called love bombing, a manipulative tactic in which an abuser bombards a victim with excessive attention, compliments, and gifts with the intention of building feelings of dependence and obligation. She becomes so consumed with her new beau that she’s unable to focus on her singing and gives up her lessons altogether. He showers her with praise and adoration insisting they spend as much time together as possible. Paula’s relationship with Gregory begins on cloud nine. She depends on him for support before they ever begin a romantic relationship, planting seeds of trust he will later exploit. Gregory begins his manipulation with music, literally shaping the environment in which Paula uses her voice. But some take charge of the music themselves, taking over decisions about tempo and dynamics that the singer is then forced to match. A good accompanist will follow the vocalist and subtly adjust his playing to support her interpretation of the song. He is her accompanist and the two begin a secret love affair under the nose of her voice teacher. ![]() Paula first meets Gregory through her vocal lessons in Italy. We later learn that Gregory has been intentionally causing her to doubt her perception in order to commit her to a mental institution, removing her from the home so that he can pilfer through Alice’s belongings. Jewelry and objects keep coming up missing and she has no recollection of taking them. Even worse, Paula seems to be losing track of reality. The gaslights dim every evening without explanation and she hears strange noises coming from the boarded up attic. No sooner have they returned to London than Paula begins to see and hear strange things in the house. Years later, she marries a charming man named Gregory after a whirlwind courtship and the young lovers move back into Alice’s abandoned estate filled with the dusty possessions she left behind. With no other guardians, Alice’s young niece Paula moves to Italy and begins to study music. Set in 1875 London, Gaslight begins with the aftermath of a murder: famed opera singer Alice Alquist has been strangled and her killer is still on the loose. Gaslight hit theaters 78 years ago, but Gregory’s tactics are all too familiar today, an intimate and terrifying version of the large-scale manipulation we see all around us. ![]() The dictionary’s official definition is “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage ” a perfect description of the way Gregory abuses his wife in the film. The film’s title has since been verbified to describe an extended period of psychological manipulation designed to make the victim doubt their sanity and “gaslighting” was recently named the Merriam-Webster word of the year. Adapted from Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play Gas Light, George Cukor’s 1944 film follows a young newlywed named Paula ( Ingrid Bergman) as she’s slowly driven to the brink of insanity by her nefarious husband Gregory ( Charles Boyer). Nearly 80 years after its premier, Gaslight has never felt more relevant. ![]()
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