Hitchcock's "The Birds" WHY Did They Attack?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109275/

 

God told them to.

 

I remember reading a full-on psychoanalytical review of the movie which I found interesting. I like the idea that they attack for no reason - this is a common occurrence in Hitchcock's films : random acts of violence or situations that upset the natural order. I take the last shot to mean only that the birds are choosing not to attack, for the moment. Tension never lets up in the movie - there's jealousy, misunderstanding, egocentric acts and a general sense that though the characters are adults, they haven't realised that they shouldn't make other people's decisions for them. Mitch's mother fears being forgotten about and that affects them all. A lot to pack (successfully) into a mainstream movie.

 

I read somewhere that the birds represent some kind of "gay revolt"

Mitch is actually gay (that woman teacher even said she did not know if there was ever anything between Mitch and a woman). Tippi Hedren is seen as a threat to the gay community. They want to get rid of her because she's seducing one of them.

I think the term "bird" is a british term that refers to gay people? There are many jokes about San Francisco too...

 

I think it works best if we have no idea.

 

To the best of my knowledge a "bird" in British slang is a young woman not for being gay.

That's an interpretation I doubt Hitch would support.

 

They attacked as payback for humans cooking chicken, turkey etc., how else to explain this guy getting cooked.