What is psychology?
Psychology is the study of the mind as it pertains to human behaviour.
If you were to ask people if psychology and media relate, quite a few would disagree but we beg to differ, as psychology can be used everywhere as it is the study of human behaviour. Now a days media is such an important part of our lives and it is everywhere and it is incorporated into everything such as, print media, broadcastings, recordings, films, the internet, video games and most importantly mobile phones, that is why we believe that media affects human behaviour.
Sigmund Freud
A psychologist by the name of Sigmund Freud came up with the theory 'Psychic Apparatus', which is a theory which says that the human mind can be broken into three main parts which govern our behaviour this being the:
- ID- it is said that the ID is only concerned with pleasure. It cares nothing of consequences and operates on instinct and impulse.
- EGO- it is said that the Ego is concerned with the reality of consequences. It is highly aware of how others perceive it, and is constantly demanding that we act in a way which others will find approving
- SUPER EGO- it is said that's the super ego negotiates between the two parts of the brain, making decisions on whether or not to follow instinctual impulses {pleasure} or act accordingly to expectations of others {consciences)
In films the protagonist {hero} and the antagonist {villain} are usually hyper-exaggerated example of either good or evil. Watching these characters is a way of appeasing those facets of out behaviour. When watching we can relate to the behaviour of doing bad or doing what you want to get whatever you want.
The Mirror Stage and the Ideal I
The Mirror Stage was created by Jacques Lucan. It is the ideal that infants do not recognise themselves as themselves until they are 18 months. From this age they start to establish their interpretation of themselves.
The Ideal I is the idea that we are not capable of thinking of ourselves in a negative way, therefore we see ourselves as perfect.
This is why we tend to find movies and hyper-exaggerated characters funny due to disassociation, we find them funny due to the fact that we ourselves would not be able to do that.
Laura Mulvey
Laura Mulvey is a feminist who is known best for her essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Her article, which was influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, is one of the first major essays that helped shift the orientation of film theory towards a psychoanalytic framework.
She believes that in Hollywood cinema women suffer from Voyeurism, Scopophila and the 'Male Gaze'.
Voyeurism- is sexual pleasure gained through looking at the human form when they are unaware (spying)
Scopophila- is pleasure through looking at the human form (often sexual)
The Male Gaze- is that the idea of looking is what fulfils their sexual needs, also the structure of looking is formed through how we look at the characters and how they in return look at us.
Objectification
Sexual Objectification- through our gaze females are portrayed as sexual objects. they are represented as being weak in many different ways.
Male Representation
Male models ,while still objectified are looked at as powerful, strong and having a great deal of sexual energy.
Differences in Representations
Females Male
1. Seen as a Child 1. seen as adult-like
2. seen as vulnerable 2. seen as powerful
3. not able to look at people 3. able to look at their
who are looking at them subjects head on
The Gaze and Roles in Film
As strong plots go the lead actors is the "head man", he is able to deal with the problems ahead.
Females will be seen as supporting the "hard man", while they may be clever, they are dependant on the lead.
Are Females Ever Powerful?
Females may seem powerful in some instances but through analysis, it can be seen that they still fall in the binary structure.
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