Psychoanalysis can be defined as ‘a method of mind investigation’ (FreudFile.org, 2015). With mind investigation, it can help understand the thoughts of society. There are many different concepts to understand with Psychoanalysis and the main concepts would be; Oedipus Complex, Phallus, Mirror stage, Castration anxiety, Super ego and Id.
The Oedipus complex would be where the father and his male child mentally compete for desire towards the mother and this desire would be in the form of attention from the mother. With this competition for the mother, the reason behind this that while the child is competing for affection from the mother, they have a fear that their father would be the one receiving the attention, and the child would then be sitting on the side lines. After the child begins to realise that the anatomy between both parents is different, they will then in the future begin to look for a mother substitute that they will receive affection from.
Phallus is a concept that has two views which is in the male and female perspective. The male perspective would be, that it shows the signs of both godliness as well as power. However, in the perspective of females, the phallus is a vision of desire as it can link to creation in the male’s perspective. But in general it can show a sign of power.
Mirror stage is the concept of where a child looks at their face in the mirror for the first time, and they begin to learn what their appearance is and also they realise that they are unique and different to everyone else.
Castration anxiety is the idea of where the males receive a fear of losing power towards the opposite gender as well as losing power in general. And is can also link to the concept of lack. Lack would be where the females are frightened of them losing power.
A personality is divided into three sections, which are; Id, Ego and Super ego. The id is the section that exists since birth and is responsible for desires and natural instincts. The ego has the responsibility of what happens throughout reality. And the super-ego in control of what rules are set and also is symbolised as authority as they set rules that have to be followed. And the super ego can be parents as they teach their child the language that they speak.
Black Swan is a psychological thriller film with psychological elements that help define it as a relation to psychoanalysis. The way that Black Swan relates to the psychoanalysis concepts is that it contains the concepts such as mentioned; Oedipus Complex, Phallus, Mirror stage, and Castration anxiety.
The Oedipus complex is a shortly visible concept and is shown when Nina’s mother is on the phone to Nina, and Nina ignores her mother’s call. This relates to the concept of Oedipus complex as it shows her mother is disappointed that her call has been ignored.
Phallus is a concept that appears multiple times. The first time that the Phallus concept appears is when Nina, the main character wears lipstick and enters the ballet director’s office to try and get the main role of the play, which is to be the Black Swan. And then the director kisses Nina and how this relates to Phallus is that with the lipstick, it seduces the director and he decides that Nina should have the role. With the director being seduced, it gives Nina the feeling of power as she receives the role of black Swan.
The second appearance of Phallus is that when the director, is in the dance lesson and is discussing the news of the Black Swan role. The relation is that when he taps dancers on their shoulder, these dancers are chosen to be in the play. This shows that he has the power over who is in the play or not.
Another sign of the phallic power is where the director is stood watching the dancers during their lesson, he is stood with his arms folded and this shows he has power. The reason that he has power is that being the leader is the most powerful figure in the school, down to the director being the leader giving him control over the school. So this shows that the director is a phallic symbol.
Mirror stage is one of the least popular concepts within Black Swan. This concept makes its appearance when Nina is in the dressing room with the other dancers, and looks in the mirror at her reflection. At this point, Nina realises that she is an individual ballet dancer that is trying to achieve her dream, which is to participate in the Swan Lake play but as the role of the Black Swan itself. This shows the concept of mirror stage because Nina recognises herself as a dancer when she glances in the mirror.
Castration anxiety appears when Nina is practising her audition dance and as she practising, her nail breaks on her toe. And this causes Nina to be devastated as she is worried if she is unable to audition for the role. The connection that this has with castration anxiety and lack is that with her toe injured, Nina is distressed that she has lost the power to land the role that she is working hard to achieve.
The split personality concept of; id, ego and super ego is shown during Nina’s audition for the Swan Lake play, and the role of the Swan Queen. The id is Nina trying to maintain her balance and elegance whilst auditioning simultaneously when the director standing at the front of the room watching her audition shows the super-ego. And this is visually shown by the camera at an angle where the screen is split with Nina dancing and the director watching, on either side of the screen. The reason that Nina auditioning is the id, is because it is reality. And the reason behind the director standing in front of the mirror is the super-ego is that he is the figure of authority and sets rules.
References:
FreudFile.org (2015) What is Psychoanalysis? Available at: http://www.freudfile.org/psychoanalysis/definition.html [Accessed 15 Mar 15]