Critical Film Analysis - Research Paper Example

Therefore, reading the human mind is like going through a sea of feelings, emotions, behaviors and life styles developed at different point of time and age. Further, this correlates with the study of human behaviorism. As B. F. Skinner argues in his ‘Theory of Behaviorism’, human behaviors as demonstrated under different situations and circumstances, provide various learning perspectives for the individual in his developing years. These behaviors are shaped and developed while reflected by both internal and external environments of the individual eventually contributing to his cognitive development.

This paper briefly addresses the various behavior patterns of the human mind as evolved with age and time. It mainly highlights a brief evaluation of the Freudian Psychology as well as the theory of behaviorism developed by Skinner while illustrating the behavior patterns and conflicting roles and life styles along with the character portrayal of Mickey from the movie Basketball Diaries. Released in 1995 and directed by Scott Kalvert, the film is an American drama based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Jim Carroll, the high school basketball player who fell into the harrowing world of drug addiction to the extent of prostituting himself in order to afford his habit.

The film portrays his early rise as the all-star basketball player, who loses himself in the dark world of drug addiction and eventually comes back as a survivor. Coming back to the notion of psychoanalysis, the predominant psychoanalytic theories can be grouped into several theoretical schools including Skinner and Carl Rogers. The most important psychological theory is the one developed by Freud. It adopts a systematic approach to address different developmental stages of the human mind. Psychoanalysis: Theories and issues With regard to describing the developmental phases of the human mind, Freud’s name comes to the forefront for his remarkable contribution to the study of psychoanalysis.

The Freudian psychoanalytic theory is primarily concerned with the psychological functioning and behavior patterns of the human mind. Freudian psychoanalysis discusses how the human mind develops, behaves and verbalizes thoughts including free associations, fantasies and dreams. Freud is more specifically concerned about analyzing the behavioral abnormalities of ‘confused’ and ‘lost’ adults. While explaining the behavioral patterns of abnormal adults, Freudian theory explores the connection between association of ideas and dreams.

Freud’s psychoanalysis includes a wide range of themes and notions such as the following: ? Unconscious, repression and defense mechanisms ? Trauma, fixation, regression, sublimation ? Projection, ambivalence, identification ? Transference and the compulsion to repeat ? Psychosexual stages of development Skinner’s theory on behaviorism also focuses on the functioning of the human mind. Especially, his theory of radical behaviorism discusses behavior as a function of environmental histories of reinforcing consequences.

External environment has a strong impact on the shaping of human behavior. In this context, Skinner offers operant conditioning dealing with behavior modification the two core tools of which being ‘reinforcement’ and ‘punishment’. The character of Mickey in Basketball Diaries is a perfect