Film studies

Piano and psychoanalysis

Our central control mechanism is ego. Ego is rational realistic, conscious, balancing.
The ego functions in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. In Freud’s
theory, who was the first to introduce the psychoanalysis theorythe ego is the part of
the personality that arbitrates between the animalistic desires of the “id” and the
moral and social standards of the “superego.”

Superego is our idealistic goals, perfectionist. reflecting social standards learned from
parents and teachers.

The Id does not concern about reality, ego or social norms. tries to satisfy itself with
pleasure. The ego tries to reconcile the demands of the id with the constraints of the
outside world.

According to the structural model of the mind, id, ego and superego. Freud divided
the structure of the mind in order to understand and define how the mind operates
and how the functions of the of the mind influence the development of the
personality and the decision making process.

Ada who is mute protagonist and her daughter flora live in victorian period. Flora
does not have father and does not accept absence of another man. All connections
which she made with only her mother. Stewart a man who new husband for ada. He
lives in primative conditions. Due to victorian period belief that woman need a man
and should not be alone ada married with stewart. Film’s setting is a reflection of
ada’s inability to communicate her inner feelings. Piano is attachment of life for her.
Ada hostile for male characters and her relationship with men is complex. Baines’
deal was sexual relationship with ada if ada wants to play piano. Here, ada struggled
between superego and id. She cannot give away the piano (id : her desire,passion)
but if she accepts it would be adultery. (and it is wrong because of norms as a
married women) finally, the id works and she starts the play piano again.

Phallic( about male organ)is the center of existing of male. When baines and ada slept
together flore jealous because of penis envy. According to freud mother stands for a
threat. Because of castration complex towards men ada does not slept with stewart.
Because of a girl realizes she Is deprived of phallic she develops penis envy according
to psychology.
While Absence of an opposite sex mother and daughter shown closeness. Affection.
But, after stewart cut ada’s finger flora’s jealousy gone and she started to being close
with baines. Here, the girl who can identify with the mother overcomes the jealousy
period with a solution.

As physical castration complex example, stewart cuts ada’s finger when he learned
adultery with baines. When she lost her finger she lost ability to show her feelings
because she could not play the piano.

Finally, they constructed happy famiy with baines.

Inception :
Characters: dominick cobb(leonardo), ariadne(architecture), arthur and eames(cobb’s
bussines partner), Fischer(peaky blinderstaki), mal(cobb’s wife) saito(çinli adm)
miles(mal’s father)

Inception: the act of planting an idea in someone’s mind, usually in a controlled

dream state.

According to freud it is impossible to build someone’s dream (role of architect)

Dreams are personal not universal. The dreams tell what cannot be uttered our
unconscious feelings with a manifest content which stands for the events
structured in an acceptable plot line.
dream is somehow obtained from experience, reproduced or remembered in the
dream. All of Freud’s work depends on the notion of the unconscious, which refers to
the mind beyond consciousness that has a strong influence upon our actions.

Dreams perform important functions for the unconscious mind and serve as valuable
clues to how the unconscious mind works.The process whereby the underlying wish
is translated into the manifest content is called dreamwork.

The subconscious mind lies just below consciousness. We can assume that the
‘storehouse’ is very big and there are many rooms inside. The subconscious are the
doors that need certain keys to open the rooms and unleash those certain memories
to the consciousness. Freud’s theories is based on his concept
of“unconscious”.Dreams has effects of people’s decisions.

According to Freud, the unconscious continues to influence our behavior and

experience, even though we are unaware of these underlying influences” This part of
the mind is primarily what the movie Inception deals with throughout the entire film.
It is Cobb and Arthur’s job to instill this idea of breaking up his father’s empire into
Fischer’s unconscious, so that he takes that thought and brings it to his conscious.

Freud believed that there were two functions of the dream; wish fulfillment and to
protect the dreamer’s sleep from disruptions in the sleep environment.

Dreams not only represent wishes, but they demonstrate one’s inner anxieties and
fears as well.

Inception’s main character, Dominick Cobb, encounters the projection of his

unconscious (Mal) several times in the movie. She appears within the multilayered
dreams and enangered the mission carried by the team. Freud’s dream-work theory
will be used to analyze this phenomenon: who or what is Mal, and why does she
attempt to fail Cobb’s work. we will see if the dreams they have experienced really
affect their lives.

The term unconscious indicates the repressed trauma, feeling, memories, as Freud’s
theories suggest; meanwhile the term subconscious concerns the accessible
memories where one can easily access the dreams like the movie implied.

Psychoanalytic theory has also provided us with important insights into human
fantasies. Mal's fantasy that she refused to believe real life was not a dream . Cobb
captured by the fantasy to return to a life with his wife which can exist only in his
dreams.
Cobb, Arthur, and Saito were discussing how to defend their subconscious while
asleep because in a dream conscious defences are lowered and their thoughts are
vulnerable. This scene introduced us to the notion of subconscious that the whole
movie revolves around. subconscious contains repressed or hidden memories that
will re-emerge within a dream. mal committed suicide because she could no longer
tell the difference between dreams and reality due to spending so many years in the
dream world. Mal’s suicide is definitely a horrible memory that Cobb’s trying to
forget.

Mal’s death traumatized Cobb, and he is haunted by his wife’s projection in his
dreams ever since. He is afraid of Mal’s interference; he cannot restrain her, for the
unconscious is uncontrollable. this tragedy left him with mixed feelings such as
sorrow, pain, regrets, and guilt. Ariadne keeps reminding him that he cannot blame
himself forever, that it is not his fault and it is time to move on.

He is the one responsible for the idea that grows inside Mal’s head. dying was the
only way to 'wake up'. This is why his unconscious always tries to stop him
accomplishing his job.

not only is Mal missing, but also his children are. Cobb is accused of killing his wife by
the authorities and he has been running ever since. frustration of not being able to
say goodbye or at least have a good memory of them is rushing back in his dreams.

Cobb cannot keep it under control; sometimes it resurfaces in bad timing, causing
troubles for him. For example, when Cobb is supposed to trick Fischer to join his team
through a conversation in the second layer of the dream, the projection of James and
Philippa suddenly appears and diverts his attention. Fischer becomes suspicious and
Cobb almost fails in gaining Fischer’s trust because of this incident.

The deeper layers they go down, the stronger the unconscious bursting. Mal shows
up once again in the third layer and sabotages the mission just when it’s about to
succeed. Mal is a projection of unconscious that manifest itself in Cobb’s
subconscious.

It seems like this subconscious lies in the middle between the conscious and
unconscious, and we can still control it. The most obvious example of subconscious in
the movie is the inception job itself. The team is aware of what they are doing in the
dream; they know that they are no longer in a real world, and they are there to work.
They brought with them the memory of their task and what they need to do to
accomplish it. Ariadne (the architect), for instance, she is the one who is in charge of
designing the dreams; she creates a hotel, a small town, and a facility in snowy
mountain for the team.

Saito asks Cobb to do inception, to make Fischer destroys his father’s empire. They
try to change his mind by planting the idea

Another foundation of psychoanalytic thought is the overwhelming significance of

the child’s relationship with its parents.

Fischer as a child felt that he was not loved and supported by his father. This is the
repressed feeling that unconsciously This piece of information is then used as a
scenario in the third layer of the dream. He realized that his father actually loved
him. the movie gives a perfect example that subconscious assists us to find the truth
of our unconscious

It is unclear whether Cobb manages to go back to the real world or he is trapped in

the unexpected fourth level of dream or did he return to his children in the “real
world.” The answer is actually not important. The important thing is the fact that
Cobb is finally being able to move on from the unconscious that is haunting him.

Not only is he filled with guilt, but he wishes greatly that he could be with his family
once again. Through these symbolizations, we can see Cobb’s inner thoughts of his
true conscious. In consequence, this represents Freud’s theory of wish fulfillment.
Because of this guilt, Cobb’s unconscious is bringing difficulties, complexities, The
second function of the dream, according to Freud, is to protect the dreamer’s sleep
from disruptions in the sleep environment. Freud'a göre rüyanın ikinci işlevi, rüyayı
görenin uykusunu uyku ortamındaki bozulmalardan korumaktır. The team member
awakens them by measures of a “kick,” or a means of falling

one of the main components of the ego that Inception deals primarily with is Freud’s
theory of defense mechanisms.. “Defense mechanisms are thought to safeguard the
mind against feelings and thoughts that are too difficult for the conscious mind to
cope with.

In some instances, defense mechanisms are thought to keep inappropriate or

unwanted thoughts and impulses from entering the conscious mindThroughout the
whole movie we see a constant battle with Fischer’s army of his unconscious and
Cobb’s team . This reflects Freud’s defense mechanism perfectly. Unwanted
information put into the unconscious leads to anxiety, which is why you need a
method to protect against it. Throughout art, whether it is a film, painting,
photograph, musical tune, sculpting, or literature, there is usually some sort of
influence provoking the artist that generated that specific piece. Often times in
contemporary art, we see artists use past thoughts, theories, ideas, or other pieces of
art to inspire their work. Inception shows this perfectly, as it takes Sigmund Freud’s
ideas and shapes it into its own to make for a quite unique film.

Defense mechanisms as well as the function of the overall dream, according to the
unconscious, are primarily seen in this movie.

. The encounter with their unconscious that happened in the dream changes them.
After confronting his unconscious (Mal), and Cobb realizes that he has to let go of
his painful memory. But he needs to move on for his children.

Dreams, as Freud said, offer us a shortcut to understanding ourselves, carry

unfulfilled wishes and issues from the past.

Freud distinguished the dream into two parts: manifest and latent content. The
manifest content usually describes the fragments of images that we remember
after we wake up. The latent content, in contrast, is the true meaning – the essence
of the dream.

The Danish Girl : GENDER

. Main themes are transgered issues of Einar and through his Self-discovery- real
identity as a transgender woman. Everything starts the when the Gerda wife gives
the dress to Einar for unfinished painting. Einar’s suppressed feminine feelings
resurface and decided to permanently being a woman being a Lili. Gerda his wife
sometimes bothered his situation because of losing Einar her male husband but she
always support him in his journey. Lili comes his inner.

Gender Identity A person’s deeply-felt, inherent sense of being a boy, a man, or male;
a girl, a woman, or female; or an alternative gender (e.g., genderqueer, gender non-
conforming, ) Since gender identity is internal, a person’s gender identity is not
necessarily visible to others. ‘Transgender is an umbrella term that incorporates
differences in gender identity wherein one’s assigned biological sex doesn’t match
their felt identity. This umbrella term includes persons who do not feel they fit into a
sex structure through which they are identified as male or female. Individuals in this
category may feel as if they are in the wrong gender. transgender people experience
a social process of gender change.
Gender Dysphoria refers to discomfort or distress that is associated with between a
person’s gender identity and that person’s sex assigned at birth (and the associated
gender role and/or primary and secondary sex characteristics) Genderism describes
discrimination and blocked access that transgender people face.

Einar faced to Gender Dysphoria she supressed her internal feelings about being
women. he constructed a six year marriage and he thinks that he is happy man with
his wife. but then, being einar (man) discomfort and distress him. he dare to death in
his self discovery. he considers einar is already dead and Lili has to be herself
immediately and the riskful surgery he had lead to his death.

Historically, LGBTQ individuals alienated from the society because of determined

society norms. man being man and women should being women. there can not be
differences, differences seen as dangerous, unhealthy and may be serious mental
illness, hormonal issues etc. but diversity has existed throughout human history and
will continue to be. This movie is based on a true story, and it sincerely illustrates the
society how transgender people face the pain and the difficulties they experience. ,
they challenges the very idea of a single sex/gender identity.

Wearing Theater costumes as a symbol of acting and imitation, Einar's opportunity to

hide there but also allows him to discover himself and play Lili in safety on his own
private stage. (eril)

We see doctors who diagnose Lili as insanity, schizophrenia, and they claim to treat
her by imposing the most extreme measures, such as radiotherapy.

such as Straight and gay Binary systems reflect the oppositional ideas.
heteronormative culture, everyone is assumed to be heterosexual. homophobia—the
fear, hatred made psychological - physical violence to lgbtq individuals. In a scene
two french guys beaten einar due to his feminine- masculine mixed look.

Her participation in Gerda's ball as a woman becomes a second stimulus, and her
suppressed feelings emerge when she kisses Henrik there. hans and einar's first kiss
when they children and the result of his father's violence is one of the reasons why
he created suppressed and traumatic feelings.

For Einar, hands and their movements are a certain sign of femininity, a way of
feeling femininity. Einar's self-discovery in front of the mirror reflects what Lacan calls
the mirror stage of the infant's development.

According to this theory, the child recognizes the self in the mirror for the first time,
thus becoming aware of his outer body. While viewed as the ideal-I, the quest to be
me will continue throughout his life. More importantly, Lacan states, "this form
[Ideal-I] places the ego's agency in a speculative direction before its social
determination." In one scene, einar does not see the prostitute performing, he watch
as a reflection of his own reflection. Her actions become his; as if looking in the
mirror.We see Einar in purely men's clothing because this is society's acceptable
clothing for a man. the creation of woman serves as a basis for self-creation.