Besides being at the brink of madness caused by her self-denial of the passing of her fame, Norma Desmond had also become rather sexual-transgressive. Some male traits shown in Norma consist of her dominance - she demands over Max, financial independence - owns factories which constantly makes profits and her assertive nature - she fearlessly confronts her passion for Joe. The way Norma is ridiculously insane to a degree of dark humour brings sympathy, entertainment and a corrupted depiction of celebrity to audiences.

Her dramatic movements, superficial appearances and script-alike dialogues reveal this. This is an illustration the self-possessiveness of celebrities as a result of the illusions of fame.
Joe Gillis, is a laconic character who interacts with Norma in a reciprocally dependent relationship. Without Gillis, Norma feels lifeless, loveless and powerless, she depends on him emotionally,
Max, who is entirely devoted to Norma. He accepts reality however chooses to conform to Norma's insane world of delusions and even supports her - "Madame is the greatest star of them all."
Norma is repeatedly filmed as a silhouette, which gives a feeling of eeriness as well as depicting perhaps the notion that Norma Desmond's fame is merely a silhouette, a shadow, an illusion.
The angles in Sunset Boulevard positioned the audience to see Norma as an alienated character time and again filmed from a lower-angle view, with her standing on the top of a staircase. This alienation of Norma causes the audience to see celebrities as people who are isolated and unfitted revealing the corruption of Norma, and highlighting the emotions character may experience. The opening scene of the film consists of a debris-flying gutter with the street sign Sunset Boulevard on it, followed by the sirening police car chase. This implies that the life of the celebrity living on the street parallel to the gutter.
Some memorable scenes regarding Norma in the movie include the reflection of Norma in the mirror talking to herself, which signifies that her fame is barely a delusion in the mirror - it is meaningless.
The movie ends with Gillis shot by Norma back in the swimming pool, cycles back to the beginning, which implies the regular and empty pattern of fame. Norma walks toward the police camera and performs snobbishly with the scene full of her - this again implies self-indulgence.
Norma’s two-sidedness begins with the “ideal” part of her: the person who smiles in the pictures that litter her walls throughout her mansion. It is the part of her that has never left the camera and has always desired to return
This “screen self” is a faulty, superficial, and two dimensional side that gives her confidence and a reminder of the love and adoration of her youthful “silent” days onscreen. The other part, her “real self,” is the truth. It is aged and decrepit as it is unable to stand in the spotlight and is incapable of holding up the desperate desire of the “screen self” to return to that camera frame.
“Norma’s fanatical devotion to her own image renders the rift between her Self and the ego-ideal nearly unbearable” and “whenever her true status as a washed-up actress begins to overmaster her mind’s capacity for self-deception, threatening to obliterate the image of Norma Desmond, the movie goddess, she attempts suicide,”
Norma’s self-centered behavior is not just an extension of screen self, however, because it is also what comforts her and gives her that needed antidote for her fear of reality, and, by extension, that authentic persona from creeping into her mind. That screen image, or framed picture is, even if for a moment, able to mask the ever-present and aching wound of truth.
One of the most prevalent camera techniques throughout the film is the use of a subjective, non-omniscient, camera view. In numerous instances the camera seems to “hide” from Norma in her less-powerful states (like when she is distraught after a New Year’s party gone bad; she is seen only through a mirror until she recovers herself) or viewing her fully when she is completely in control.
After hearing about the cameras downstairs, she is displayed looming over her balcony in a distinctly conspicuous low-angle. Her power over the screen has grown, and she is suddenly threateningly large and dominant. Yet she is not just expressing power over the characters, she has also mastered the audience as she continually stands above them. Even while she makes her final, long trek down the stairs, she is still slightly above the camera (in a low-angle), triumphantly walking towards her director and towards complete suppression of her authentic sense of reality, and the literal rising of her screen self.
Not only is she “transfixed,” but she is also using mirrors as a way to see her past self, the one that is in those celluloid pictures scattered throughout her house. Granted, her face by no means holds the amount of beauty and grace that once shone through her silent screen image, but the very act of looking in the mirror reminds her of those pictures.Further evidence of this is in Norma’s actions while she uses this mirror. As Norma grasps her handheld mirror, she does not talk into or towards the reflection, but looks away to speak. This is just what she did in the silent days as “talk” had not yet been spilled, and silence still ruled the screen.Norma sees who she wants to see, her image from long ago, yet she remains an older woman within that frame.
In terms of attire, this scene also portrays a sort of deceptive duplicity in Norma’s outfits. As Norma sits at her desk, she wears the same black dress she wore when she killed Joe; it is plain and basic, a minimally expressive piece. Black, even in the earliest days of cinema, is usually associated with evil, just as her outfit in the scene indicates her guilt in the murder. However, once she learns of the cameras downstairs waiting to capture her on film, she changes into a shimmering, white ensemble with sparkles littering her cheeks, hair, and shoulders. In a deeper sense, the basic, true black (guilt) that should be indicative of her true character, her authentic self, morphs into a sparkling, luminous ensemble. This creates deceptiveness, as, logically, white and light clothing should define someone who is innocent, or who believe themselves to be. The side of her that longs for that celluloid image is overpowering, and the reality of Joe’s death has disappeared; she is entranced by the “cameras” and the possibility of her complete return.
Norma is most definitely duplicitous, yet would one categorize a person so wrapped up in an illusion and false vision of themselves as “ruthless?” A person who “yearns to be seen” but “also fears the gaze of the outside world, which would ‘remind her that time has passed,’”
Norma’s character has an internal conflict between her “ideal self,” or the part of her focused on that fateful screen image from long ago, and her “real self” which has become worn with age and time.