Freudian Analysis
Task 1) Explain Freud's theory of 'the self' (use images and refer to the Id, ego and Superego.)-The id is the 'horse'. It is the undeveloped indistinctive part of our brain, responsible for the urger and desires we try to repress.
-The ego is the 'driver' of the chariot, and the rational part of our brain. It is able to guide the id, but never has full control - just as the driver is aware that if the horse wants to go in a different direction, he is ultimately powerless to stop it.
-The superego is the chariot driver's father, sitting behind him, pointing out his mistakes. It is the part of our brain responsible for criticism and moralising.
"Film operates on much the same principle... film speaks directly to the unconscious. The language of dreams is one that is not an abstract form of communication such as narrative, but is the one that is filled with images they carry hidden meanings on latent level. Just so is the language of film organised so that only a part of the film is communicated in a narrative form - sound and images make up the majority of the effect" (Kluge, 1999).
This diagram is the perfect example of the id, ego and the superego.
Therefore, the nature that is film can be, to a degree, deconstructed in order to unveil a universal understanding of our thoughts and behaviours that through identification, contributed towards our enjoyment of the film as it acts as a release mechanism of these id included impulses.
Freudian Analysis of each term
The Id : The most primitive drive, concerned only with fulfilling pleasure. Has sometimes been referred to as the irrational and emotional part of the mind. It is often regarded as being selfish, because it's concerned only with its own self-satisfaction. Babies and young children are often used as examples because they're usually driven by the pleasure and instant gratification principles. Key word : want. |
The Ego : Based on the reality principle. The ego is capable of understanding that one's own desires may vary for people around (reality), and is willing to make this consideration. The ego tries to meet the basic needs of the id but also takes into account the real world. The ego understands that actions have effects, whether positive or negative, and tries to balance out thinking before carrying out decisions/actions. Key word : balance.
Superego : based on moral principles instilled by rearing and moral/ethical restraints placed upon by caregivers. The superego encompasses an individual's ideals, goals, and conscience as well as society's. The superego is concerned with what others will think and stands in opposition to the id. The superego acts to perfect and civilise our behaviour. key words : morals, compromise.
More Examples
Film : Batman the Dark Knight Rises.- The Id - The joker (Unconscious Desires/The 'repressed' - set free without conscience).
- The Ego - Bruce Wayne (The conscious)
- The Superego - Alfred (Father figure/morals/guidance)
- Batman can be found between The Id and The Ego (one half Ego & one half Id).
- The Superego will regulate 'pleasure', it will censor the Id, but will also license it.
- Freud explained that his famous model for the brain function in the 1927 publication, The Ego, and the Id. Since then, the theory has been explained with reference to a horse and chariot.
Film : Fight Club
- The Id - Tyler Durden (Unconscious Desires/The 'repressed' - set free without conscience).
- The Ego - The narrator (The conscious/IKEA lifestyle - comfortable)
- The Superego - Initially : 'The Self-help groups'
Then : 'The Fight Clubs'
Then : 'Project Mayhem'
The Superego will regulate 'pleasure', it will censor the Id, but it will also licence it.
- Freud explained that his famous model for the brain function in the 1927 publication, The Ego, and the Id. Since then, the theory has been explained with reference to a horse and chariot.
Analytical Approach:
- Freudian analysis can be used as a 'framework' to explain character motivations.
- Film/s explore/s the relationship between the 3 components of 'the self' - Id/Ego/Superego
Pages 72-73.
'Id, Ego And Superego'
In the 1920's Freud began to write of a three-part structure to the mind, although it had at least five parts. There was the conscious Perception System, the Preconscious , consisting of things forgotten, the Ego (part preconscious, part unconscious), the entirely unconscious Id, and 'between' the last two, the Superego.
The Id is formed from the desires of the individual and can be seen in the untrammelled behaviour of Tyler Durden - who steals, screws and hurts what he wants. When he has a desire he acts upon it, even if this causes pain or inconvenience to others. This should be contrasted with the Ego as represented by the narrator, who noticeably fails to take advantage of Marla when he is examining her breasts for cancer, who has to be cajoled into hitting Tyler and who has reasonably comfortable lifestyle courtesy of the IKEA catalogue. Between the two of them, presumably is the real Tyler Durden, who has been traumatised by some event into having a split personality - one half entirely Ego, the other Id.
This leaves the Superego to account for, which is formed out of the wreckage of the Oedipus complex and is created by interjecting patriarchal power into the psyche. The Superego is the regulator of pleasure - it will censor the Id, but it will also license it. In Fight Club the Superego occurs in a number of forms; initially the self-help groups (which allow acts of aggression) and Project Mayhem. The Superego may also be identified with the police, who enters the narrative at various moments of crisis.'
Psychoanalytic theory
Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behaviour is the result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and superego
Freud has been influential in two related, but distinct ways. He simultaneously developed a theory of the human mind and human behaviour, and a clinical technique for helping unhappy (i.e. neurotic) people.
Each component not only adds its own unique contribution to personality, but all three elements interact in ways that have a powerful influence on each individual. Each of these three elements of personality emerges at different points in life.
-This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes the instinctive and primitive behaviours.
-According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.
-According to Freud's theory, certain aspects of your personality are more primal and might pressure you to act upon your most basic urges. Other parts of your personality work to counteract these urges and strive to make you conform to the demands of reality.
The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.
The Id is very important in early life because it ensures that an infant's needs are met. If the infant is hungry or uncomfortable, he or she will cry until the demands of the id are satisfied. Because young infants are ruled entirely by the id, there is no reasoning with them when these needs demand satisfaction. Imagine trying to convince a baby to wait until lunchtime to eat his meal. Instead, the id requires immediate satisfaction, and because the other components of personality are not yet present, the infant will cry until these needs are fulfilled.
However, immediately fulfilling these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing the things that we want out of other people's hands to satisfy our own cravings.
This sort of behaviour would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to Freud, the id tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the use of primary process thinking, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as a way of satisfying the need.
-According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.
-The ego functions in both the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind.
Although people eventually learn to control the id, this part of personality remains the same infantile, primal force all throughout life. It is the development of the ego and the superego tat allows people to control the id's basic instincts and act in ways that are both realistic and socially acceptable.
Ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs and costs and benefit of action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses. In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process a delayed gratification - the ego will eventually allow the behaviour, but only in the appropriate time and place.
Freud compared the id to a horse and the ego to the horse's rider. The horse provides the power and motion, yet the rider provides direction and guidance. Without its rider, the horse may simply wander whatever it wished and do whatever it pleased. The rider instead gives the horse directions and commands to guide it in the direction he or she wishes to go.
The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through the us of secondary process thinking, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.
For example, imagine that you re stuck in a long meeting at work. You find yourself growing increasingly hungry as the meeting drags on. While the id might compel you to jump up from your seat and rush to the break room for a snack, the ego guides you to sit quietly and wait for the meeting to end. Instead of acting upon the primal urges of the id, you spend the rest of the meeting imagining yourself eating a cheeseburger. Once the meeting is finally over, you can seek out the object you were imagining and satisfy the demands of the id in a realistic and appropriate manner.
The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalised moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society - our sense of right and wrong.
The superego provides guidelines for making judgements.
According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five.
There are two parts of the superego:
The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for behaviour that the ego aspires to.
The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviours are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments, or feelings of guilt and remorse.
The superego acs perfect and civilise our behaviour. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather than upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious, and the unconscious.
The interaction of the Id, Ego and Superego
When talking about the id, the ego and the superego, it is important to remember that these are three totally separate entities with clearly defined boundaries. These aspects of personality are dynamic and always interacting with a person to influence an individual's overall personality and behaviour.
With so many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego and superego. Freud used the term ego strength to refer to the ego's ability ti function despite these duel-ing forces. A person with good ego strength is able to effectively manage these pressures, while those with too much or too little ego strength can become too unyielding or too disrupting.
What happens if there is an imbalance?
According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego and the superego.
If the ego is adequately moderate between the demands of reality, the id, and the superego, a healthy and well-adjusted personality emerges. Freud believed that an imbalance between these elements would lead to a maladaptive personality. An individual with an overly dominant id, for example, might become impulsive, uncontrollable, or even criminal. The individual acts upon his or her most basic urges with no concern for whether the behaviour is appropriate, acceptable, or legal.
An overlay dominant superego, on the other hand, might lead to a personality that is extremely moralistic and judgemental. This person may be unable to accept anything or anyone that he or she perceives as "bad" or "immoral".
REFERENCES
-) Most of the facts are from a Powerpoint from John Wright on the HNC one drive folder.
More information
According to Sigmund Freud, human personality is complex and has more than a single component. In his famous psychoanalytic theory of personality, personality is composed of three elements. These three elements of personality - known as the id, the ego, and the superego - work together to create complex human behaviours.Each component not only adds its own unique contribution to personality, but all three elements interact in ways that have a powerful influence on each individual. Each of these three elements of personality emerges at different points in life.
The Id
-The Id is the only component of personality that is present from birth.-This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes the instinctive and primitive behaviours.
-According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.
-According to Freud's theory, certain aspects of your personality are more primal and might pressure you to act upon your most basic urges. Other parts of your personality work to counteract these urges and strive to make you conform to the demands of reality.
The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.
The Id is very important in early life because it ensures that an infant's needs are met. If the infant is hungry or uncomfortable, he or she will cry until the demands of the id are satisfied. Because young infants are ruled entirely by the id, there is no reasoning with them when these needs demand satisfaction. Imagine trying to convince a baby to wait until lunchtime to eat his meal. Instead, the id requires immediate satisfaction, and because the other components of personality are not yet present, the infant will cry until these needs are fulfilled.
However, immediately fulfilling these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing the things that we want out of other people's hands to satisfy our own cravings.
This sort of behaviour would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to Freud, the id tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the use of primary process thinking, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as a way of satisfying the need.
The Ego
-The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality.-According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.
-The ego functions in both the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind.
Although people eventually learn to control the id, this part of personality remains the same infantile, primal force all throughout life. It is the development of the ego and the superego tat allows people to control the id's basic instincts and act in ways that are both realistic and socially acceptable.
Ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs and costs and benefit of action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses. In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process a delayed gratification - the ego will eventually allow the behaviour, but only in the appropriate time and place.
Freud compared the id to a horse and the ego to the horse's rider. The horse provides the power and motion, yet the rider provides direction and guidance. Without its rider, the horse may simply wander whatever it wished and do whatever it pleased. The rider instead gives the horse directions and commands to guide it in the direction he or she wishes to go.
The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through the us of secondary process thinking, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.
For example, imagine that you re stuck in a long meeting at work. You find yourself growing increasingly hungry as the meeting drags on. While the id might compel you to jump up from your seat and rush to the break room for a snack, the ego guides you to sit quietly and wait for the meeting to end. Instead of acting upon the primal urges of the id, you spend the rest of the meeting imagining yourself eating a cheeseburger. Once the meeting is finally over, you can seek out the object you were imagining and satisfy the demands of the id in a realistic and appropriate manner.
The Superego
The last component of personality to develop is the superego.The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalised moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society - our sense of right and wrong.
The superego provides guidelines for making judgements.
According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five.
There are two parts of the superego:
The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for behaviour that the ego aspires to.
The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviours are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments, or feelings of guilt and remorse.
The superego acs perfect and civilise our behaviour. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather than upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious, and the unconscious.
The interaction of the Id, Ego and Superego
When talking about the id, the ego and the superego, it is important to remember that these are three totally separate entities with clearly defined boundaries. These aspects of personality are dynamic and always interacting with a person to influence an individual's overall personality and behaviour.
With so many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego and superego. Freud used the term ego strength to refer to the ego's ability ti function despite these duel-ing forces. A person with good ego strength is able to effectively manage these pressures, while those with too much or too little ego strength can become too unyielding or too disrupting.
What happens if there is an imbalance?
According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego and the superego.
If the ego is adequately moderate between the demands of reality, the id, and the superego, a healthy and well-adjusted personality emerges. Freud believed that an imbalance between these elements would lead to a maladaptive personality. An individual with an overly dominant id, for example, might become impulsive, uncontrollable, or even criminal. The individual acts upon his or her most basic urges with no concern for whether the behaviour is appropriate, acceptable, or legal.
An overlay dominant superego, on the other hand, might lead to a personality that is extremely moralistic and judgemental. This person may be unable to accept anything or anyone that he or she perceives as "bad" or "immoral".
The Meditating Ego
The id, ego, and superego interact constantly. Ultimately, though, it’s the ego that serves as the mediator between the id, the superego, and reality. The ego must determine how to meet the needs of the id, while upholding social reality and the moral standards of the superego.
A healthy personality is the result of a balance between the id, ego, and superego. A lack of balance leads to difficulties. If a person’s id dominates their personality, they may act on their impulses without considering the rules of society. This can cause them to spin out of control and even lead to legal troubles. If the superego dominates, the person can become rigidly moralistic, negatively judging anyone who doesn’t meet their standards. Finally if the ego becomes dominant, it can lead to an individual who is so tied to the rules and norms of society that they become inflexible, unable to deal with change, and incapable of coming to a personal concept of right and wrong
Youtube Videos Explaining
REFERENCES
-) Most of the facts are from a Powerpoint from John Wright on the HNC one drive folder.
-) https://www.psychologistworld.com › psychologists › sigmund-freudhttps://www.simplypsychology.org › psychosexual
-) A Passage from Andrew M. Butler's 'The Pocket Essential Film Studies' Book, refers to Freud theory Pages 72-73.
-) https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951
-) https://www.thoughtco.com/id-ego-and-superego-4582342
-) https://study.com/academy/lesson/id-ego-and-superego.html
-) https://www.dummies.com/education/psychology/understanding-the-id-ego-and-superego-in-psychology/
-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRtItnRRV1M&t=56s
-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJRZQGFYpZY
-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC7KNAyDt4I
-) A Passage from Andrew M. Butler's 'The Pocket Essential Film Studies' Book, refers to Freud theory Pages 72-73.
-) https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951
-) https://www.thoughtco.com/id-ego-and-superego-4582342
-) https://study.com/academy/lesson/id-ego-and-superego.html
-) https://www.dummies.com/education/psychology/understanding-the-id-ego-and-superego-in-psychology/
-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRtItnRRV1M&t=56s
-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJRZQGFYpZY
-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC7KNAyDt4I
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