The film Melancholia by Lars von Trier gradually develops into the character's depression through their actions and choices that can relate directly to Lars von Trier's own depression and unfortunate childhood circumstances. The main protagonist of the movie, Justine, is depressed and this affects everyone around her. Lars von Trier, the writer and director, is depressed was depressed when creating this film and this depression is reflected in Melancholia. Freudian theories relate to Melancholia through Justine's life as well as her love life. She is constantly unsatisfied and immediately has an extramarital sexual encounter when she is vulnerable. Freudian theories are demonstrated through the depression from the characters in the movie …show more content…
Although Lars was diagnosed with depression in 2007, he had a difficult childhood. He did not know who his biological father was until his mother told him on her death bed. Freud believed that “our unconscious was influenced by childhood events”. Lars von Trier stated during an interview that “I come from a family of communist nudists. I was allowed to do or not to do what I like. My parents were not interested in whether I went to school or get drunk on white wine. After a childhood like that, you search for restrictions in your own life.”
Lars' childhood relates greatly to the character of Justine. Justine's parents did not seem to care for her. During Justine's wedding, her parent's self-absorption is reflected in their speeches about their marriage problems. As well, her parents did not care or take time for her when Justine specifically asked a few times to talk privately to her father and he could not find the time. In the bedroom, Justine was upset and asked her mother for help but her mother was no help at all. Her mom did not seem to care and her father left the wedding leaving only a note saying that he was leaving with another woman and to “forgive an old fool”. Lars' and Justine's parents have similar responses to their children of not caring. Claire was distraught and acted out of character, she
Eric G. Wilson was born in 1967, and attended Appalachian State University, Wake Forest University, and the City University of New York where he gained a Ph.D. Wilson is currently a professor at Wake Forest University who teaches courses on British and American Romanticism. He has written many books, and “The Miracle of Melancholia” was published in the Los Angeles Times. I have never really thought too much about the effects that sadness can have on people, especially the positive effects. After reading the first paragraph of this piece, I was a little skeptical but as I continued to read, the author’s argument further developed and I now agree that sadness can have positive effects.
Many individuals have the power to alter their perception, but many people have disorders to comfort and confront their psychological perspectives. In the film, Silver Linings Playbook, directed by David O. Russell explains how psychological disorders are maintained within Pat and Tiffany, and explaining their theoretical personalities to three sub categories: psychodynamic, biological and trait, and sociocultural. The psychodynamic perspective looks at the topographical and structural model created by Freud. In continuation, the biological perspective is based on the genetic traits, and the Big 5 personality traits. Finally, I'll discuss the sociocultural perspective which a based on the environment factors in one's life. All of these perspectives
The film Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond exemplified a Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) by being demanding, intense and unstable. These behaviors that are consistent with the elements of abnormality include suffering, social discomfort, dangerousness, and irrationality and unpredictability. The first element that is consistent with Norma Desmond’s character is suffering. Desmond being one of the greatest movie stars in history suffers as she experiences the fall from stardom. She also suffers from identity disturbance as she reaches an unstable self-image notion. In one scene when Desmond recognizes for a moment about her age, she claims, “Look at me. Look at my hands, look at my face, look under my
Psychological disorders are very real and present in many people we come in contact with daily, however, are very rarely talked about. Learning about these disorders can help us to understand others and ourselves better by telling us why we do and think the things we do. One effective way that we can observe and learn about psychological disorders is through movies. “Mommie Dearest” was directed by Frank Perry. It is centered around the actress Joan Crawford, who suffered from various psychological disorders. Joan’s daughter, Christina, wrote a book about her mother and her many problems and it was later turned into a movie. It is very effective to use movie analysis as a way of learning, especially in psychology, because it provides a great way to observe without distractions. When you’re looking at disorders, it’s difficult to find a person who has many of these disorders and will allow you to observe them. Psychological disorders can be split into two major groups, personality disorders and mood disorders. Personality disorders are patterns of traits that can get in the way of your social or work life and may interrupt the individual’s normal lifestyle. Mood disorders are inconsistent and unreliable changes in mood by the affected individual. (Rathus, 1998). With all of this being said, it brings me to my point that I will be talking about for the rest of this essay. Joan Crawford demonstrates the personality disorders of histrionic, narcissism, and OCPD. When it comes to mood disorders, Joan demonstrates bipolar disorder.
In every great piece of art there is usually an inspiration of some sort that gave the artist influence on their production. In contemporary society, we often see modern artists use influences from past theories, ideas, designs, etc. Inception, the 2010 sci-fi action film, is a movie about illegal spying by entering the minds of certain individuals by sharing dreams. Dom Cobb and his partner, Arthur, use this tactic to extract or plant desired information from or into their unconscious. Mr. Saito, an exceedingly wealthy business owner, asks Cobb and Arthur to perform “Inception” (imbedding an idea inside a person’s mind without them recognizing) on his only remaining business competitor, Maurice Fischer. Saito wants Cobb to implant the
As the Heart of Darkness snakes its way into the savage shadows of the African continent, Joseph Conrad exposes a psycho-geography of the collective unconscious in the entangling metaphoric realities of the serpentine Congo. Conrad’s novella descends into the unknowable darkness at the heart of Africa, taking its narrator, Marlow, on an underworld journey of individuation, a modern odyssey toward the center of the Self and the center of the Earth. Ego dissolves into soul as, in the interior, Marlow encounters his double in the powerful image of ivory-obsessed Kurtz, the dark shadow of European imperialism. The dark meditation is graced by personifications of anima in Kurtz’ black goddess, the savagely magnificent consort of the underworld,
So, naturally, she fell in love with him. Perhaps the one quality that unites everyone is that they all have trouble with their parents. Claire’s problem is that she is used as a weapon to the other “spouse” of her parents and the only way she can escape that destiny is to be with friends as much as possible, liking going to the mall and doing other stuff that she has built up in her mind of being cool. Bender was hated by his parents and probably was an “accident.” The way his parents treated him built up this image of himself in his mind that was negative; and therefore, made him negative. Brian was pushed to over achieve by his parents and so when he finally got an “F” he thought that it was the end of the world, when in fact he most likely doesn’t care. He does not think for himself, he thinks, “What are my parents going to think?” Andrew thinks the same way. He stated openly that he does not care if he wins or loses, and that he sometimes wishes that his leg would give so that he would not have to wrestle anymore. Last, Alison was ignored by her parents; forcing her to think that everyone must ignore her.
American Psycho is a movie adaptation directed by Marry Harron released in the year 2000 that was based off of the 1991 novel of the same name authored by Bret Easton Ellis. The movie focuses on the main character Patrick Bateman who is an investment banker in New York in the era of the early 1980’s. Patrick is a perfectionist whose life by day seemingly rotates between his picture-perfect job, his superficial relationship with his fiancée Evelyn, and his shallow interaction with his co-workers and peers. By night, Patrick is a textbook Psychopath and a serial killer.
In psychology personalities are developed through several theorist, but from these personalities can become skewed, causing a psychological disorder on a person's personality. These personality disorders can commonly be seen in about 31 million Americans, which densely equals out to 15% of our population population (Davis, n.d.). Psychological disorders are seen as behavior patterns or mental processes that creates a difficulty for oneself or a hinder on an individual's strength to endure certain situations that take place in life everyday. Disorders are primarily discovered through psychological testing, however, it is possible to identify them through watching psychological films or thrillers. In this case, the character Joan Crawford will be analyzed for her dominant personality disorders in the movie Mommie Dearest. While watching the movie Mommie Dearest the audience can easily recognize obsessive cleaning rituals, a fantasy over one’s own success, and dramatic changes of moods that swing up and down. The main character, Joan Crawford, displays dominant characteristics of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and a narcissistic personality disorder. As an audience we see that these disorders become very upsetting to those that are close to her, affecting her relationships with everyone and everything, specifically with her daughter Christina.
Depression can be defined as part of a psychological state of mind that a person might encounter. Most famously recognized psychiatrist Sigmund Freud is known for his Psychodynamic theory. His psychoanalysis theory is known to be successful for treating patients with mental illness. Sylvia Plath, the author of the Bell Jar, makes the main character Esther go through a psychological transformation. Esther’s transformation can be realized through Freud’s psychoanalysis theory as the story unfolds from the beginning to end. The influences of people and events around Esther have affected her transformation.
Gregor Samsa from “The Metamorphosis” is a man that wakes up from his sleep as a bug, there is no exact reason for this but cause, it still remained as a mystery. Gregor reminded me of another character from a book called “The Perks of being a Wallflower” this character named Charlie had depression and is set aside from all social groups at his school. The differences between Gregor and Charlie are quite grand, for example the fact that gregor was turned into a bug, where as Charlie only deals with his depression. They’re different in another way because Gregor was a responsible man who provided for his family, and Charlie was a highschool freshman.
Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman” and Franz Kafkas “Metamorphosis" are both stories that challenge the idea of reality. Diary of a madman depicts the idea of an insane first person as he starts to visualize texts in his reading that say humans are going to eat him. “Metamorphosis” keeps the reader guessing weather Gregor is an actual insect or not through his slick metamors and vague use of language. Although “Diary of a madman” is told in first person and “Metamorphosis” is told in third person they both exemplify the human thought process and help us challenge the idea of sanity within a human being.
In the Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka, the style enhances sad but good work. “he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin” (Kafka). This is sad due to the fact that if you were to wake up one morning and you were a insect, that would be sad and nasty. When Gregory wakes up he doesn’t even know if he was in a dream. Even though he wakes up insect, he has to start questioning himself how did this happen.
Understanding mental illness for the average person can be challenge or even unattainable. Unknown aspects from each individual illness grasps differing urges that are unrelated to the majority of people. The film industry, however, is used as a productive machine of creating empathetic relationships between its audience and the people being portray in the film. A combination of the film industry and the implementation of characters struggling with mental illness delivers a provoking message to an audience of people willing to learn the situations of all people. The movie A Beautiful Mind manages to fulfill the dramatic effects of a film and the realities within an individual suffering through mental illness.
Fight Club is a movie that is based on a Chuck Palahniuk novel of the same name. The movie adaptation was written by Jim Uhls, directed by David Fincher and released October 15, 1999. The movie is about the life of the narrator, a depressed insomniac who works as a recall coordinator for an automobile company. The narrator is refused medication by his doctor, he turns to attending a series of support groups for different illnesses and uses these support groups for emotional release and this helps to temporarily cure his insomnia. This newfound cure ceases to help him when a girl, Marla Singer who is not a victim of any illness for which the support groups are offered begins to attend the support groups. The narrator returns from a business