Sigmund Freud- Freudian Theory Essay

Freudian Theory in Disney Films

Sigmund Freud, born in 1865 to a middle class jewish family was a neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. Despite his medical career not being a success at first, he went on to give us one the most famous psychological terms called Neuroses. He proposed that humans are all driven by something called the pleasure principle; which inclines us towards easy, psychical and emotional rewards. Freud believed that as infants humans are driven by something called the pleasure principle; an instinctive seeking of pleasure and the avoiding of pain in order to satisfy biological and psychological needs, but then as we grow older we sopparently have to adapt to something Freud called the reality principle; the ability of the mind to assess the reality of the external world, and to act upon it accordingly, as opposed to acting on the pleasure principle. Though humans have to bow to the reality principle, Freud believed there were better or worst kind of adaptions. Hence where the term neuroses came from, with Freud calling the troublesome ones this name. 

Freud believer neuroses were the results of faulty negotiatians (or repression of) the pleasure principle. Freud described a conflict between 3 parts of the mind. The Id; driven by the pleasure principle, The superego;driven by the desire to follow the rules and do the right thing according to society and the ego; which somehow has to accommodate between the other two. In every day you encounter the conflict between these three parts of your mind , facing the internal struggle without even being aware of it. In this essay I'm going to analyse the use of the three driving forces of the psyche in Walt Disney movies, more specifically The Lion King, Emperors New Groove and showing how they are used to show the everyday struggles that are faced by them even in the child friendly animated films. 

A Disney movie that shows the working of the Id, ego and the superego in many ways is "the Lion King' but it is all done rather subconsciously, not shoving it in your face and discreetly addressing them whilst still keeping the light tones of the movie for the young eyes that watch it. At the beginning of the movie when he is nothing but a young lion cub,Simba is the driving force known as the Id,wanting to purely act upon the pleasure principle and not think of the consequences the come with it, only wanting to follow his desires and do what he likes. A scene where this is shown is the scene where an excited Simba runs to his friend Nala,boasting about an incredible place he's heard of and wants to check out. Simba logically knows he shouldn't go there due to the warning from his Father Mufasa earlier on but despite the warnings he rather listens to his uncle Scar and deems himself strong enough to handle whatever is thrown at him. He knows what hes doing is wrong,hence why when Simba's mother questions him about where this cool place is he lies right to her face and acting upon his own desires despite the safety precautions he knows it can cause and how much trouble he can get into if he gets found out for disobeying orders. Much like society and the hierarchy it has established where as humans who have been raised to respond to the reality principle and not our Id's desires there are consequences to us acting out of our own needs, like stealing something that we desire so badly but instead we think logically and sensibly and know that it has to be brought, not taken. Simba doesn't care about the repercussions and instead goes straight ahead and disobeys his father to fulfil his desires. It is later shown in the film once Simba has followed his pleasure rather than logic that there are consequences, with both Simba and Nala's life being put at risk for acting on a whim and not thinking of anything but his own needs and desires. However it can be argued that Simba himself is the ego and Scar is the Id,with Mufasa being the superego and therefore the deriving force behind trying to keep Simba on track and do what is right. Scar himself is the reason behind Simba following his curiosity and actually going to the elephant graveyard to begin with, meaning just like it happens in real life with people such as thiefs or other people who break the law that their Ego ends up listening to the Id instead of the Superego and ending up in bad situations. This is further supported by the mise-en-scene of the movie as it progresses. In the beginning everything is in low key lighting, with the mise-en-scene being lush and green and full of life as Mufasa; the Superego, is guiding Simba;the Ego on the right path and watching over him to make sure he does the right thing. But when the death of Mufasa occurs the mise-en-scene changes to barren wastelands as he is discord to be dead, showing the slow decrease of the loss of a guiding force,The mise-en-scene continues to darken at pride rock when Scar;the Id,takes over as the colour palette changes to dark hues and with the lush greenery fading and everything being dead and dark now that the driving force of the Id has taken over and is in control. This can be seen as polysemic,not only is one meaning that when the Id is left to reign that chaos ensues but also a subtle hint of the fact that its being shown that without all 3 parts of the psyche when it comes to neuroses that it is unbalanced and that things never go well. When Simba returns and defeats Scar,therefore getting his Id under control and having a balance between the three driving forces again; with Mufasa  the Superego's guidance being present in Rafiki and the lessons that were taught to Simba,pride rock once again returns to how it was before, with the mis-en-scene showing the rain clearing and the sun shining once again,showing Simbas world in brightness and light colours again,showing through the mise-en-scene that balance has once again been restored amongst the three parts of the psyche and that although the balance will still be threatened by desires and needs again as life goes but that things seem to be okay when the reality principle is followed instead of the pleasure principle, therefore putting the sublime message in the movie that society rules should be followed and people should be well behaved and not act on the Id.

Another Disney movie that uses Sigmund Freuds theory of Freudism and the idea of neuroses and the three parts of it known as the Id,Ego and the Superego is the movie 'Empereors New Groove'. With the whole movie revolving around the young and arrogant empereor Kuzco and him self narrating it, there is the underlying tone of the movie that with how selfish and willing to punish people who disappoint people or 'throw him off his groove'  Kuzco is,the narrative itself makes a valid show of showing Kuzco himself as the Id,purely going off his now desires of doing as he please due to his power and bothering to listen to anyone but himself. However for a majority of the movie as he narrates the story himself and doesn't particularly want to paint himself in a bad light, the idea is subtle pushed aside and it focuses on showing the three parts of the psyche of neuroses in different ways. One scene in particular that very blatantly shoves the idea of the Id,Ego and the Superego existing is the scene where Kronk goes to dispose of Kuzco as he lays unconscious in a bag that he's been tasked with washing down the river to his ultimate demise when it comes to the waterfall at the end. Kronk is placed as the Ego in the situation, just doing what hes told and getting rid of Kuzco before he has a moment of self conflict. He has a stereotypical angel and devil on the shoulder scenario that is often used to show the three parts of the psyche as he debates if what he is doing is right. The angel appears on his left shoulder which is subsequently on the right side of the screen to subtly let the audience know through framing that the Superego is right and should be followed rather than the Id which is shown on the opposite shoulder of right, showing that following the Id is not the right way to go. The conflict is also show in the dialogue between the 3 characters on screen, with the Id and the Superego childishly quarrelling as the Ego sits there quiet. This shows the battle between the Id and the Superego trying to win over the Ego into doing things their way, either the right way of the wrong way. It even further goes to show the true quarrel by having the Superego somewhat agree by saying "he's got a point" showing that the Id is a very tempting force and even ends up deterring the Superego for a brief moment from time to time; until the Ego steps in, in this case Kronk and dismisses them by saying "you're sorta confusing me" and thus leaving him and abandoning his turmoil so he can decide what to do when they have given their points and disappeared.

Mulvey

Male Gaze

The “male gaze” invokes the sexual politics of the gaze and suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women. In the male gaze, woman is visually positioned as an “object” of heterosexual male desire. Her feelings, thoughts and her own sexual drives are less important than her being “framed” by male desire.

A key idea of feminist film theory, the concept of the male gaze was introduced by scholar and filmmaker Laura mulvey in her now famous 1975 essay, visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Adopting the language of psychoanalysis, Mulvey argued that traditional Hollywood films respond to a deep-seated drive known as “scopophilia”: the sexual pleasure involved in looking. Mulvey argued that most popular movies are filmed in ways that satisfy masculine scopophilia.


Although sometimes described as the “male gaze”, Mulvey’s concept is more accurately described as a heterosexual, masculine gaze. Visual media that respond to masculine voyeurism tends to sexualise women for a male viewer. As Mulvey wrote, women are characterised by their “to-be-looked-at-ness” in cinema. Woman is “spectacle”, and man is “the bearer of the look”.
The postman always rings twice (1946) offers a famous example of the male gaze. In the scene below, the audience is introduced to Cora Smith, the film’s lead female character. Using close-ups, the camera forces the viewer to stare at Cora’s body. It creates a mode of looking that is sexual, voyeuristic, and associated with the male protagonist’s point-of-view.

It also establishes some important plot points: that the hero desires Cora, and that Cora recognises his lust. But the strongest message is that Cora is sexy. Indeed, the viewer learns that Cora is sexy before they even learn her name. Even if a viewer isn’t attracted to women in “real life”, the scene still makes sense. A lifetime of seeing women sexualised in television, music videos and advertisements has made us very comfortable with assuming the male gaze.


The male gaze takes many forms, but can be identified by situations where female characters are controlled by, and mostly exist in terms of what they represent to, the hero. As Budd Boetticher, who directed classic Westerns during the 1950s, put it:


"What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance."

This can be see in the different ways the camera repeatedly positions us to look at women’s bodies. Think of rear window (1954), for a literal framing of women’s bodies, or she's all that (1999), which revolves around a make-over. For a modern example, the transformers film series (2006-2014) presents women as sexual objects to be desired.



The “male gaze” invokes the sexual politics of the gaze and suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women. In the male gaze, woman is visually positioned as an “object” of heterosexual male desire. Her feelings, thoughts and her own sexual drives are less important than her being “framed” by male desire.

A key idea of feminist film theory, the concept of the male gaze was introduced by scholar and filmmaker Laura mulvey in her now famous 1975 essay, visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Adopting the language of psychoanalysis, Mulvey argued that traditional Hollywood films respond to a deep-seated drive known as “scopophilia”: the sexual pleasure involved in looking. Mulvey argued that most popular movies are filmed in ways that satisfy masculine scopophilia.


Although sometimes described as the “male gaze”, Mulvey’s concept is more accurately described as a heterosexual, masculine gaze. Visual media that respond to masculine voyeurism tends to sexualise women for a male viewer. As Mulvey wrote, women are characterised by their “to-be-looked-at-ness” in cinema. Woman is “spectacle”, and man is “the bearer of the look”.
The postman always rings twice (1946) offers a famous example of the male gaze. In the scene below, the audience is introduced to Cora Smith, the film’s lead female character. Using close-ups, the camera forces the viewer to stare at Cora’s body. It creates a mode of looking that is sexual, voyeuristic, and associated with the male protagonist’s point-of-view.

It also establishes some important plot points: that the hero desires Cora, and that Cora recognises his lust. But the strongest message is that Cora is sexy. Indeed, the viewer learns that Cora is sexy before they even learn her name. Even if a viewer isn’t attracted to women in “real life”, the scene still makes sense. A lifetime of seeing women sexualised in television, music videos and advertisements has made us very comfortable with assuming the male gaze.

In this clip from the film 'Bad Teacher' the idea of the male gaze is very much prominent and Cameron Diaz's teacher is very much sexualised. The first shot we see of her is a close up of her leg which immediately plays upon the idea of fragmentation, reducing her to just a part of her body and not a full human being,instead reducing her to just an object, implying she isn't a human being and that she is just an object to men and nothing else. Her character is also dressed in minimal clothing that is both tight and revealing, once again not showing her for the personality she has and instead just showing her body to appeal to the males. Although it can be argued that she's using her sexuality to get what she wants in raising money with the car wash but with he shots used it reduces her to an object and dent give her any power.

The male gaze takes many forms, but can be identified by situations where female characters are controlled by, and mostly exist in terms of what they represent to, the hero. As Budd Boetticher, who directed classic Westerns during the 1950s, put it:

"What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance."

This can be see in the different ways the camera repeatedly positions us to look at women’s bodies. Think of rear window (1954), for a literal framing of women’s bodies, or she's all that (1999), which revolves around a make-over. For a modern example, the transformers film series (2006-2014) presents women as sexual objects to be desired.

"Woman as image, man as bearer of the look"

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was born to a middle class jewish family in 1856. His professional life at first wasn't a success at first. As a medical student he did things such as dissect eels to try and find their reproductive organs (unsuccessfully) and even promoted cocaine as a medical drug but that turned out to be a dangerous and addictive idea. Years later after this he founded the discipline that would make his name; the psychological medicine that he called psychoanalysis. This landmark study was his 1900 book "the interpretation of dreams" and was followed by many more afterwards.

Despite his success however he himself was often unhappy himself; even recording in some of his most strenuous research "the chief patient I am pre-occupied with, is myself". He suffered with anxieties and paranoia particularly about the year he would die. It has been led to believe that through his own frustrations, Freud achieved a series of great insights to the sources of human unhappiness. He proposed that humans are all driven by something called the pleasure principle; which inclines us towards easy,psychical and emotional rewards.

As infants humans are mostly driven by the pleasure principle as argued by freud. but if left to wander without any restraints it can lead to things such as eating too much or not doing any work or even go to such extremes as trying to sleep with members of your own family. Humans are supposed to adapt to something that freud called the reality principle; the ability of the mind to assess the reality of the external world, and to act upon it accordingly, as opposed to acting on the pleasure principle. Though humans have to bow to the reality principle, Freud believed there were better or worst kind of adaptions. He called the troublesome ones neuroses.

Neuroses are the results of faulty negotiatians (or repression of) the pleasure principle. Freud described a conflict between 3 parts of the mind. The Id-driven by the pleasure principle, The superego;driven by the desire to follow the rules and do the right think according to society and the ego; which somehow has to accommodate between the other two. To understand more, freud advised to think back to the origins of neuroses in childhood.

When growing up humans go through something called the oral phase; where humans deal with feelings toward ingestion of eating.
 

Lacan

Lacan Theory

Jacques Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who came from a religious family but instead of following that religion he was an atheist, stopping believing in the ideals of god at a young age and instead became obsessed with philosophy and mathematics; even going on to study medicine and specialise in psychiatry at university. Lacan wrote many essays and published transcripts of the seminars he gave and presented his ideas in complex ways and and often used mathematical equations and diagrams to explain them. Lacan made some great understanding to the complexity of humans.

He was deeply interested in the ideal of children minds and even delved into what he called the mirror phase; the idea the first time a child recognises themselves in the mirror and having the moment of knowing its them. The mirror phase can be quite unsettling because the face in the mirror doesn't always look as we humans feel.

This concept meaning that on the inside we are full of many different things and have a wide stream of consciousness; made up of speeding thoughts, desires and images. As humans we're chaotic, ever-changing and ambivalent to the core. However on the outside we seem like stable entities with composed features that portray almost nothing about whats going on within. Theres only words to be able to describe how we feel but most of the time they fail to do justice to our real intentions.

In conclusion the image in the mirror is far more one dimensional than the entity that beholds it. This can lead to a problem that follows humans throughout life and not just stay in the childhood. As adults humans long for other to understand us in the deepest ways but Lacans theory prepares us to face the darker possibility that people you encounter will be stuck on the outside of us and assuming us to just be as you seem to the eye and nothing more. This can lead to humans changing who they are entirely by changing their appearance to appear one way other than what they really are on the outside. For example the whole fashion industry rides on this due to humans changing their external appearances, tinkering with what people see such as hair or the design of clothes in hopes that eventually we will be properly understood.

However Lacan's theory suggests a difficult and somewhat more mature move: that we accept that other people will never experience us the way we experience ourselves and that us as humans will be almost entirely misunderstood and therefore will in turn almost entirely misunderstand.