Word: freudian
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...understandable since Jon Magaril's performance as Alan is extraordinary. In the same way that Alan draws in Dysart, Magaril mesmerizes the audience, simultaneously seductive and repulsive. Magaril makes Alan the truly compelling victim of the Modern Age: alienated, practically illiterate, addicted to television. Alan is the perfect Freudian delight (with a twist) who hates his father, loves his mother, and desperately needs something to worship, something to absolve him of his sins in this universe where "God is dead...
Modern, that is to say post-Freudian, Vienna. But the doings related in this film are strictly pre-Freudian, not to say prehistoric, in their banality. A rather dour young American psychiatrist (Art Garfunkel) is accosted at a party by a young American something or other (Theresa Russell), who is rather feverish in her gaiety. Instead of his suggesting a professional appointment, they decide to have an affair. But he cannot keep it light, and she cannot take it seriously; the rich variety of sexual experience she has had has led her to the conclusion that the pleasures of romance...
...first half of this century, Dr. Sigmund Freud's doctrine--which stressed dreams as mental catharsis and wish-fulfillment, with heavy emphasis on sexuality--was accepted almost verbatim by many psychiatrists. A Freudian analyst might say a man who had the above dream sub-consciously is worrying about his masculinity, resenting his father and coveting his mother. Although few psychiatrists today are Freudian purists, the concept that dreams represent fulfillment and mental catharsis remains a cornerstone of dream interpretation...
Hobson rejects the Freudian notion that dreams are essential because they offer an outlet for suppressed emotions. Dreaming is simply the result of REM, Hobson says. "Babies for example, have much more REM than adults--this is not because infants have an abundance of suppressed emotions and hidden remorse; it is because they are learning very much very fast. Similarly, when REM falls off with old age, this does not mean old age, this does not mean old people have any less anxiety than any one else," he adds...
Hobson says another reason for the criticism is that, "people would rather not have you rock the boat." Even though few psychiatrists still adhere to strict Freudian analysis, "it takes a lot of work to come out strongly against the established theories, and people who have practices are often reluctant to do so," he adds...