Psychoanalysis of Fatal Attractions - Research Paper Example

? Psychoanalysis of Fatal Attraction’s character of Alex Forrest Fatal Attraction is a movie that not only presented the earliest example of postfeminist culture in America by focusing entirely on a female character, but also brought forth a breakthrough in the characterization of female protagonists in cinematic history. It also provided an interesting audio-visual platform for psychology and health care students in the form of its main character Alexandra Forrest. This paper is a psychoanalytic case study of the notable character traits, psychological abnormalities of Alex Forrest that were depicted in the movie, with an evaluative effort of understanding the type and nature of disorder based on the Five Axis Diagnosis. It will also include information about significant treatment and intervention procedures. Psychoanalysis of Alex Forrest Psychology is the branch of science that helps in excavating, evaluating, analyzing and understanding the hidden or inert realms of human mind. Psychologists are certain that human mind can grasp every activity, get influenced from significant hurtful memory, and can reserve every bit of emotional turbulence that a person goes through during the life course. The fact cannot be negated anymore that a person’s life events either positive or negative, impose great impact on his or her well-being as well as on their behavior and deeds. This happens because the human mind tends to store and pile-up every unsung torment, and problematic stances in a separate section. This brings forth the fact that people are immensely vulnerable to psychological dogmas, dilemmas, and confusions, which produces strong but negative emotions and compels an individual towards behavioral misconducts, and irresponsible attitudes. One aspect that has been generally proven is that the manner, affect, and outcome of an individual’s past experiences can vary substantially. Based on fictitious and real-life facts and data, psychologists provide us different categories of mental disorders and psychological crises that may emerge as a reaction to suppressed emotional negativities. The revelations of psychoanalysis theories and projections have been aptly utilized in movies, literature, and various other genres of art. From the latter half of twentieth century, cinema goers have been provided umpteen dosages of movies that largely focused on documenting the presence of numerous and diverse personality disorders within seemingly perfect and harmless characters. Any group of psychotherapist or theorist, if asked, would instantly provide a long list of movies that intensively demonstrate an array of personality disorders. Fatal Attraction is one such classic example of a movie that illustrated the prevalence of certain psychic disorders that might generate due to imperfections pertaining to previous experiences. The character of Alexandra “Alex” Forrest proved to be a path-refining one for post-feminist culture, since it presented the new-age woman who was independent, carefree, and enjoyed freedom and legal rights (Boozer, 2008). However, this was also a character that received immense attention from psychotherapists due to the varied shades of grey and black it inhabited. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the character of Alex Forrest, and conduct psychoanalysis from every possible aspect of her personality. Moreover, to determine the type of disorder/cognitive dilemmas that she became a victim of, will be based on the five-AXIS diagnosis. Over view of Fatal Attraction: Fatal Attraction “remains an extremely polemic film and nearly twenty years later this film still resonates because the issues which it aroused are still at large in our society" (Goldberg, 2007). Fatal Attraction is an English language American movie produced by Stanley R. Jaffe and Sherry Lansing and was released in 1987. The blockbuster directorial cinematic venture from Adrian Lyne is categorized as a psychological thriller, which was a genre that characterized most of the early 80s and late 90s era movies, mainly in USA. The character of “Alex Forrest,” which is the focus of this paper’s psychoanalysis objective, was played by actress Glenn Close. She portrayed the character with utmost conviction and due to her close to real performance of a psychologically disturbed woman; she won the academy award for the best actress in 1988. The movie was adapted from a year 1980 short movie named Diversion by James Dearden (Rea, 1991). It was later turned into a literature by Dearden and H.B. Glomour in 1988 called Fatal Attraction: A Novel. The movie is of utmost importance when it comes to depicting and understanding the traits and mannerisms of psychologically unsettled personalities. The position occupied by Fatal Attraction in this context is so solid and strong that Janet Cauchon unarguably declares it as “the best choice for a single film that touches upon almost every aspect of personality disorder” (2001, p.170). This movie is not just a classic, but has become a cult and valuable resource for health trainees and students of medical field. Character overview of Alexandra Forrest: An observation of Forrest’s character provides significant information about her ethnicity, current marital status and socio-demographic standing but little information on her legal, occupational, and religious background. Forrest, according to Time Magazine reporter Briton Hadden, is a “36-year-old year old Manhattan based book editor who is witty, athletic, adventurous, and a career woman whose forcefulness sheathes a precarious ego” (1987, p.72). Her character is shown to be a smart and intelligent one, but her look in the movie is given a slightly informal touch through curly hair, which has been deliberately done to showcase her jumbled up inner self, and her personality style is also projected as wayward. Jane Caputi pointed out that the director exemplified her hairdo as “snaky and wild” to provide the audience an initial acknowledgement about the shaky psychological stature of Forrest (2004, p.53). She is a White single woman of Caucasian origin living independently in an apartment in New York, and falls in love with a married lawyer Dan Gallagher, played by Michael Douglas in the movie. Ironically, Gallagher is only looking for a weekend fling, and after spending some quality time with Forrest, goes back to his family, which propels the negativity, wildness, and obsessive side of her personality. Forrest is an attractive, smart, intelligent, educated, career-oriented, sensually charged-up and financially stable woman. She is always shown smartly dressed, instead of provocative attires, which helps in drawing the conclusion that despite living a lonely life, she is not ready to throw herself on anyone anywhere. This can be proven from a scene in the movie, in which Gallagher’s colleague Jimmy tries to flirt with her, and in response to his advances, she “coldly dissects him with her stare, and then walks off with complete confidence” (Hirschberg, 2009, p.115). Her choice of colors in the early part remains black and white, which also determines the orientation of her current socio-emotional perceptions and elements of focus at this stage of her life. In another sense, it becomes difficult to evaluate from her appearance and looks that she is suffering from a dangerous psychological disorder or mental illness. Psychological history of Alex Forrest: The movie tackles only with the current happenings of the three main characters’ lives, and at no point, the audiences are delivered the information about her past-life endeavors, and the relationship she shared with her parents, family and friends. It can be hypothesized from the way she reacts after the breakup with Gallagher, that she might have been abused and tormented emotionally and sexually during her childhood and adolescence. Glenn Close, after the release of the movie, revealed that “all the research I did, showed that it was textbook behavior from someone who was molested at a very early age” (Goldberg, 2007, p.2). This conclusion can be drawn from the fact that Forrest is shown as a woman in her mid-thirties, but she is single, unmarried, and without a child or any concurring relationship. She also seems to be craving for attention, love, care, and emotional support as well, due to which she tries every possible way to trap Gallagher (Musolf, 2003). The scene in the beginning of the movie when she sees Gallagher family for the first time and later while she spies on them from behind the bushes ushers in the assumption that she is definitely longing for family and companionship (Musolf, 2003). She preferred Dan over Jimmy due to the simple fact that the former was a family man, and she understood the incompleteness that plagued her due to the absence of a strong support system in her life (Browne, 2010). Various significant aspects affiliated with her psychological background can be contemplated from the mannerisms and behaviors displayed by this character in the movie. These factors include lack of a proper family, childhood-related issues like abandonment from the father, troubling or complicated relationships in early teen or adolescence, and unsatisfactory love life. Instability of relationships throughout her life may also be the main reason behind her reactions in the movie, and the suppressed inner desires for a stable love life were aroused by the compassion shown by Gallagher. (Browne, 2010) This was also the same reason which aggravated her emotional state, and she revolted in an extremely violent, tormenting, and inappropriate manner. Her brief tenure on the job she currently occupies depicts yet another revelation that she has been shifting and changing her occupation continuously and abruptly. Presenting problems: It is important to understand the salient symptoms and factors that contemplate the presence of intense psychological abnormalities. Forrest’s physical or medical condition seems to be perfect. She is in good shape, which substantiates the fact that she is definitely careful about her looks, health, and lifestyle. (Goldberg, 2007) Cognitive functioning of Forrest is also perfectly synchronized. Although she lives alone, but her personality does not depict any sign of incompetence towards occupational matters, eating disorders, or inappropriate living standards. She appears to be goal-oriented, cooperative, and on some occasions fidgety as well. Mood swings are apparent in various scenes, and this can be attributed to the disturbing experiences she might have had while living a socially isolated kind of lifestyle. (Goldberg, 2007) Forrest’s mental orientation can be easily determined as X3, since she seems to be fairly alert and conscious of her identity, circumstances, acts and demeanors (Sue et al, 2003). Psychologically, she is wild, aggressive, irrational, hyper, and an extremely sensitive and anxious person (Cauchon, 2001). Along with these issues, she also has an inclination of stalking. The dominating impact of irritability on her nature and natural urges was revealed only after the interval of the movie. The basic problem is that she possesses a dual-faceted type of personality, which lets her easily shift between well-behaved and evil personas as per the situation. This was the aspect that helped her in gaining the trust and interest of the man she wanted to be with, and later, as she felt herself being devalued and rejected, she turned on the violent and uncontrollable facet of herself. There is a definite diligence prevailing in every persona that she willfully endorses, which makes her a probable patient of an abnormal mental condition. Another issue is that she is impulsive and possesses poor tolerance towards stress. This can be proven from certain examples, such as, the intense anger she shows in response to Jimmy, her recurrent job losses, and self-mutilating behavior. (Goldberg, 2007) Forrest's suicidal attempt in the first half clearly distinguishes her mental approach from the rest of the cast, and the obsession that she shows at every stage also reveals her disturbed subconscious state of mind. Interpersonal and social aspects of her personality are not properly devised into the plot of this movie; however, it can be accumulated that she is not having a strong network of friends or family to support and guide her. At no point during the movie has she discussed her family, and is always interested in Gallagher’s life, family and daughter, which substantiates this finding. (Sue et al, 2003, p.231) Diagnostic Impression: Listed below is an evaluation of the condition of Alex Forrest on the five-Axis Diagnosis. Axis I: No indication of Axis I disorder. Axis II: Borderline Personality Disorder, Delusional disorder: Erotomanic type Axis III: None. (No such identification in the movie) Axis IV: Poor or non-prevalent psychosocial support, but legal issues are apparent. Desperate attempts to diminish feelings of abandonment. Highly impulsive, practices self-mutilation, untimely anger, heightened emotional instability and feelings of desolation. Axis V: GAF 50, (Below average level due to notable complications in social, occupational, and interpersonal functioning). Formulation and reasoning behind the psychoanalytic approach: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental condition that generates strong feelings of self-worth, impulsivity, hyper-sensitivity, aggression/intensified anger, and high-tendency of mood swings (Hyman, 2001). An analysis of Alex Forrest’s mental approaches depicted in the movie suggest that she is most definitely suffering from BPD syndrome, however; this does not mean that she is a psychopath, but the condition is actually an outcome of hurtful or tormenting experiences from her past. Many studies on the nature of disorder affecting Alex Forrest have revealed similar diagnosis, for instance, Sue et al (2003) and Wedding et al (2005) concluded that “the character Alex Forrest exhibits many traits of borderline personality disorder.” It has been proven that suicidal and homicidal inclinations form the bottom-line of Borderline Personality Disorder. This type of mental paranoia brings an individual’s psychological state to a point that self-destructive and life-threatening attempts appear as feasible options, which also happens with Forrest. One of the chief symptoms which link this disorder to Forrest is the theoretic revelations about BPD. This implies that people who possess BPD can nurture a deceptive personality easily. Switching between displaying an amiable and docile persona and being behaviorally violent comes naturally to them (Goldberg, 2007). Urging for companionship is Alex Forrest’s primary obsession in the movie, and it is a medically proven fact that people suffering from BPD cannot live alone for a lengthy period (Chapman, 2002). Feelings of abandonment are the chief prompter of this type of mental disorder, and hugely surmounts Forrest’s psychological environment. (Mahari, 2006) Impulsivity affects a person’s ability to focus on any particular thing; it makes behavior and reactions irrational, and causes frequent changes in the thought process as well. Anger, vengeance, and the urge for companionship are the drives that largely dominate the screen time occupied by the character of Alex Forrest. Furthermore, Randy and Lori Sansone concluded in their study that there is “a possible association between stalking behavior and borderline personality disorder” (2010). When a person having BPD becomes obsessively involved in a task or sets a target for him/her then stalking, spying, and threatening becomes their favorite choices. Since Forrest threatens and stalks Dan Gallagher precariously and continuously in the movie, this substantiates the diagnosis that she is a patient of BPD. Delusional disorder: Erotomanic type: Delusional Disorder is a mental condition that makes people imagine or idealize non-bizarre situations that although do not exist in the current scenario, but are not” out of the realm of possibility” (Grohol, 2013). Delusional Disorder has several different types, and Erotomanic is the one which compels an individual to idealize that someone, most probably from a higher status like a famous personality or celebrity, is in love with him or her (Grohol, 2013). Alex Forrest may also be suffering from Delusional Disorder of Erotomanic type, and this assumption can be substantiated, firstly, by the presence of symptoms that lead to BPD. It is a fact that BPD’s signs are almost identical to delusional disorder (Goldberg, 2007). Secondly, she mainly possesses Erotomanic type within the context of Delusional Disorder because of the additional, imaginary and obsessive conducts that she displays about Dan Gallagher. Alex Forrest imagines Dan as constraining his likeliness due to his family and responsibilities or social liabilities, and attempts to act violently in order to make him acknowledge this fact publicly. When the signs of BPD and Delusional Disorder E-type are combined, then the individual tries to not just flatter or entice the person he or she is attracted to, but can go to any length to make their delusions a possibility. In this syndrome, the urge and desire to acquire importance in someone else’s life, heart and home become the utmost priority. What that person actually goes through is a certain self-formulated state of mind which produces those fictitious assumptions. Moreover, gaining someone’s love is not their only goal; people react so because they become subservient to their cognitive and psychological demands. These demands are of attaining a peaceful, protective, and caring family life which those suffering from BPD craved for the most. Feelings of abandonment aroused within Forrest post her past-life experiences could potentially be the originator of a certain kind of defense mechanism, which compelled her to imagine Dan as the perfect comforter/protector. Idealization is the basic phenomenon related to delusional disorder, and in the movie Fatal Attraction, Alex Forrest certainly shows signs of this type of disorder. Treatment and Interventions: Treating a patient of BPD and Delusional Disorder is difficult since no specific therapeutic procedure and medication are suggested by psychotherapists. However, treatment is possible and various choices are available. Firstly, it is important to understand that “people with mental disorder do need treatment. They are not villains; they are ill. Empathy is an essential ingredient in delivering mental health treatment successfully” (Goldberg, 2011). Forrest had a wounded soul, which produced paramount impact on her emotional and mental stability. She should be immediately hospitalized, to prevent people and society from her violent outbursts. Second step should be the unravelling of past-life turmoil and problems that are the immediate and ultimate prompter of such syndromes. By gaining her trust, a therapist can easily gain significant knowledge and can devise effective treatment procedure. Psychotherapy is an appropriate and suitable option for treating BPD patients; hence, seeing a psychiatrist should be the next stage of her treatment (National Institute of Mental Health, 2013). Dialectical Behavior therapy (DBT) helps BPD patients overcome intense emotions, mood swings and curb the urge of self-mutilating and life-risking conducts, and could be applied on Forrest. Schema-focused therapy may also be applied, which will help her in reforming the negative mentality created due to abusive childhood experiences. Medications are not clinically advised for treating BPD due to the probability of reactionary effects; however, reliable antidepressants, and medicines can be prescribed to control anxiety, anger and impulsiveness. Studies reveal that Omega-3 fatty acids greatly help in controlling BPD syndrome among women aged between 30 and 40 and could be used for treating Forrest (National Institute of Mental Health, 2013). There is no systemized pattern available for treating Delusional Disorder: Erotomanic Type (Frances & Ross, 2001). However, antipsychotics and antidepressant medications have proven to be useful in treating patients (Frances & Ross, 2001). One important conflict that prevails among psychotherapists pertaining to counseling patients with delusions is regarding confronting their unreal nature. If the patient is asked to realize that, their imaginary situation is untrue, then they might react irrationally/aggressively, and not doing so will confirm the belief. Hence, a manner of gentle probing and smooth operation should be adopted to treat Alex Forrest. The best treatment strategy has been devised by Alford and Brad (1994) who concluded in their study that instead of “psychoanalytic therapy," the cognitive therapist should rely on the “cognitive-experiential self-theory.” Through this technique, Forrest will gradually learn to distinguish between logical reasoning, and emotional drives in a situation. References Alford, B. A., & Beck, A. T., (1994). Cognitive therapy of delusional beliefs. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 32(3), 369–380. 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