The look on Lila's face is priceless. I imagine much of the audience were as stupefied during this scene in 1960. That's the great thing about it. Audiences then would have barely been able to get their head around what they had just seen. I doubt that they were any less mind-blown during the "explanation" scene.
I think people take it the wrong way as just a presumed necessary explanation for the audience. It's an "explanation scene" kind of like the coroner hearing in Vertigo, that puts a spin on things that probably conflicts with the emotional response the audience had while watching what's now being described to them. Sometimes it's desirable to hear the summation of your own experience from somebody who wasn't even there.
The thing that gets overlooked is that when we're put in Norman's cell with him, we're instantly reminded of the disconnect between how someone describes it and what it actually means. It means this crazy bastard staring at you and smiling.
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