Analyzing Between a Film and Freudian Theory - Movie Review Example

Analyzing between a Film and Freudian Theory Introduction Sigmund Freud Thesis ment: “One thing only do I know for certain and that is that mans judgments of value follow directly his wishes for happiness-that, accordingly, they are an attempt to support his illusions with arguments” (Freud pg 111). Sigmund Freud is regarded as the father of psychoanalysis. As a psychologist, Freud did a lot of research considering the behavior of humans in relation to certain environmental conditions. Civilization and its discontents was produced in 1929. The book by Freud widely discusses the conflict between the human perception and the environmental changes leading to civilization (Freud). The book has been widely used in reference to most of the psychoanalysis on human behavior. Scientists and psychoanalysts regard Freud as an important person shedding lots of information regarding human behavior. According to Freud, human beings are under control of the id, the ego, and the super ego that controls the desires and satisfaction of humans. Civilization and its discontents largely dwell on the super ego, ego, and the id nature of human kind that mainly aims at benefiting ones desires but fails to protect the surrounding environment (Heffner). The super ego character makes humans lazy and selfish. For this reason, human crave for sexual desire and the best things in the society at all cost. This leads to theft, killing, rape, and drugs and substance abuse in the society. The desire to satisfy one’s own wishes makes life hard and disappointing. For this reason most people resort to ways which are harmful both individually and the whole society. According to Freud in his analysis of Civilization and its discontents, civilization is built upon human instincts. This is mainly aimed at getting pleasure. This is practically evident from James Whale’s film the Frankenstein of 1931. On the contrary, civilization is against all these odds in the society and therefore set rules in the society that protect one individual from one another and establishes the need to have common interests in the society. The rules set by the society have severe punishment if broken. For this reason, human beings become discontented by the simple act of civilization. According to Freud, love will sometimes lead to humility, self-injury, and limitation of narcissism. In the case of the film Frankenstein, this is true. James Whale James whale directed a horror film by the name Frankenstein in 1931 (Michael Brunas). The film is about Frankenstein, a scientist is wishing to fulfill his egocentric motives. The young man withdraws himself from the normal life and restricts his life to the lab where he is keen to nurture and develop a human being. His fiancée Elizabeth gets concerned about his sudden change of behavior and decides to consult Dr.Waldman to help in reclaiming Frankenstein’s life back. Under certain coincidental circumstances, lighting strikes and the armature comes into existence in the presence of Elizabeth, Fritz, Frankenstein, and Dr. Waldman. However, this proves to have a negative effect since Fritz developed a brain that was incomplete for the armature. The ghost is welcomed into the lab but its behavior makes its inventor to shut it in a dungeon believing it is harmful to the society. The ghost quickly turns into a monster when it strangles Fritz while trying to lock it down. However, its situation is contained but not for long. The ghost is injected with a drug that makes it unconscious for some time but on his awakening, it strangles Dr. Waldman and escapes into the world. Due to its incomplete insensitive brain the, the ghost murders a young girl by throwing her in the lake thinking that the girl will vote just like the flowers they have been throwing in the lake. While Frankenstein is preparing to happily get married, bad news arrives informing him of the death of Dr. Waldman by the suggestively ghost. A search is launched immediately and three groups move out to search for the creature and neutralize it. Frankenstein himself leads one of the three groups. During the search, Frankenstein is attacked by the monster and carries him to the hill. The monster throws Frankenstein from the top of the cliff down the hill in trying to kill him but the young scientist is saved by the vanes of the windmill. His colleagues save him and the creature is burnt to death. Justification From the above film, it is clear that the love desire and egocentric motives by Frankenstein eventually leads to murder, humility, and self-hurt. The painful and mortal part of human beings expresses itself in the film by the behavior of Frankenstein. Through death of Fritz and Dr. Waldman, the cruel nature of the natural world reveals itself. This supports the works of Sigmund Freud. The third section of Sigmund’s book addresses the aspect of civilization that has been both advantageous and disadvantageous for human kind. The rapid advancement in science and technology leads to death of scientists Fritz and Dr. Waldman. Despite the fact that the development of science is intended at protecting us through civilization, it has only led to destruction and limits the relationship of human beings in the society (Doherty). According to Freud, we are born with the id. The id does not care about anything else but only cares about satisfying its own will. In relation to Frankenstein, this is a practical truth. Frankenstein and his assistant Fritz develop a creature out of their own desires but they fail to remind themselves about the consequences of this creature in the society and the rest of the population. Another example is when the horrible creature throes the girl into the lake without any feeling that the girl can drown. Freud’s book on civilization and its discontents shares this view. Freud recommends that the society bring in laws that will protect one another from the natural nature of the id. In addition to this, Freud asserts that life brings a lot of pain and difficulty and many people tend to deflect the pain and difficulty to other objects that perhaps lead to misery and disappointment. This is real in comparison to Frankenstein’s behavior in the film. James Whale’s film is a good picture that illustrates the stages of development from the id, ego, and super ego. According to Freud, the role of the ego is to control the selfish desires of the id. According to the film, Frankenstein later comes to realize that their ghostly creature is horrible and can cause harm to the society (Vieira). Therefore, he decides to lock the creature in the dungeon to tame it. Frankenstein comes into reality just as the ego bases its feeling about the reality. The ego ensures that we take care of one another in the society and protect our own desires. Frankenstein later launches a manhunt for the creature. However, this is the most difficult part for humans in the society. They need freedom according to Freud, but humans are afraid of freedom since it comes with responsibility, which humans greatly fear. According to Freud, the super ego develops by the age of five. Super ego differentiates between right and wrong as imparted to the children by their caretakers based on the rules and regulations in the society (Engle). A comparable scene in the film to this stage is when Frankenstein gets back into his senses and finally wants to marry his fiancé. According to Freud’s book, Civilization and its Discontents times will always come when we are expected to realize the pain that we cause the others through our ill intentions. This time came when Frankenstein decides to hunt the creature down and destroy it since it had already proved to be unfit in the society. Antagonism between love and civilization From the film, Frankenstein isolates himself from the normal life for various reasons. Analytically one may argue that Frankenstein wanted to fulfill his own selfish ambition, which is true. We can also argue on the other hand that Frankenstein must be running from responsibilities therefore lacking freedom. For this reason, he locks himself all the day in the lab. This argument conquers with Freud’s works in his book civilization and its discontents that human’s beings fear responsibilities and that responsibility is the key to freedom (Heider). Sigmund Freud in his book Civilization and its Discontents reiterates that most people in the society underestimate he true value of life and for this reason people use false standards of measurement to attain power and success that they certainly see and admire from others (Hull). As already mentioned this is an effect from rampant civilization process in the society. Frankenstein and Fritz fall into this trap of the desire to have power and success while underestimating the real value of life. For their desire to remain powerful, they develop a ghostly creature not knowing its real value of life. Perhaps the two thought they will be regarded as powerful scientists only for their work to end up disastrously. Freud describes men as creatures who are aggressive creatures who do not want to be loved. Their instincts show them that they should end up being aggressive. From James Whale’s film this reveals itself. The aggressive nature of all the men including the ghostly creature created by Frankenstein and Fritz is revealed in the film at different scenes. Freud observes about love. Freud argues that when two people are in love there is no room for any other thing in the surrounding. The love between the two people is sufficient for the two. The film shows Frankenstein and Fritz greatly affirmed to the idea of work. At certain moments, they are expressed as stressed people eager to show the whole world their new invention. The two detaches themselves from reality when they shout, “it’s alive” mainly to fulfill their narcissistic and aggressive desires. Professionally the two are scientists, it is their work, and this creates a sense of satisfaction to them. Freud affirms this aspect and believes that most people tend to attach themselves to work because it brings certain kind of satisfaction, which relates to the id and ego natural desires. Freud in psychological analysis talks of the topographical model where most of our desires, feelings, emotions, and wishes are pushed into the subconscious mind. The desires and wishes are not present at conscious level but they affect 90% of our daily lives. It is possible to relate this hypothesis to James Whales film. Frankenstein and Fritz unconsciously develop a creature that turns disastrous to the society. The two relied on their feelings, desires, wishes, and emotions. Works Cited Doherty, Thomas Patrick. Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. Engle, R. W., Cantor, J., & Carullo, J. J. "Individual differences in working memory and comprehension: A test of four hypotheses." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (1993): 19, 972-992. Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and its Discontets. Washington: W. W. Norton & Company, 1929. Heffner, Christopher L. Psychology 101. 1 April 2001. 2013 . Heider, F. The psychology of interpersonal relationships. New York: Wiley, 1958. Hull, C. L. Principles of behavior. New York: Appleton, 1943. Michael Brunas, John Brunas & Tom Weaver. Universal Horrors: The Studios Classic Films, 1931-46. New York: McFarland, 1990. Vieira, Mark A. Sin in Soft Focus. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 2003. Read More