Freud Goes To the Cinema

I once wrote a short and very wordy essay on Freud's theories of the unconscious. I did it by applying his ideas to the film Rocky Horror Picture Show.

This is not as difficult a pairing as it might at first appear to be.

Each of the characters can easily be seen as the embodiment of each part of Freud's iceberg theory. Rocky, the Id and subconscious. Brad and Janet, the Super Ego. You get the picture. You can also apply his theories of sexual deviance and the push-pull of desire and morality to the storyline and character dynamics with little or no effort at all. I can say this with some confidence because I was able to do it in the three hours I gave myself before I had to hand in the essay, see.

I found the entire assignment rather inane seeing as how Freud hated film, arguing extensively against its evils. But sometimes you just have to do what the teacher says.

When I received my marks there was a note written in the margin- my teacher called it a brave essay, and gave me a middling grade.