Posts by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen
MY OLD LADY
Stories of a Past
Self-Hate or Liberating Truth?
The way any one of us lives with the past is a complicated thing. My Old Lady, a deeply psychological and sometimes shockingly honest film written and directed by Israel Horovitz, takes us layer upon layer into the kinds of deeply wrought emotional problems living with a difficult past can bring. Matthias Gold (Kevin Kline) lives…
Read More
ADDICTED
Realistic Characters 101
Addicted Fails
Watching Billie Woodruff’s Addicted, I could barely restrain myself from grabbing a tomato and joining my Rotten Tomatoes compadres in throwing it at the screen. The 8% of critics who gave their approval of this psychologically offensive project must have been feeling particularly generous that day. What could have been a sensitive and even insightful look at a woman struggling…
Read More
ROBIN WILLIAMS’ SUICIDE
Depression is No Laughing Matter
AUGUST 11 — I was shocked and saddened to hear of Robin Williams’ untimely death and tragic suicide. Truly, depression is a terrible thing to live with. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones in this time of excruciating loss. And, also to the rest of us, who loved him in our own ways. Indeed,…
Read More
BUYER AND CELLAR
An Actor’s Personal History Matters
If you haven’t seen Jonathan Tolins’ hit off-Broadway play Buyer and Cellar at the Mark Taper Forum in Downtown Los Angeles run don’t walk (or, should I say, Google the show? Get tickets as fast as you can before the comedy concludes its LA run on Sunday, August 17th. You absolutely don’t want to miss Michael Urie’s laugh-out-loud,…
Read More
GOOD WILL HUNTING
Whys of Robin Williams’ Suicide?
Self-Hate Must Be Healed
The heartbreak of Robin Williams’ suicide brings depression and suicide to the forefront of everyone’s mind, along with remembrances of his many film roles. Why did he do it? Ironically, Williams won his only Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for his emotional performance as Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. Maguire, a…
Read More
MAD MEN Season 7 Episode 6
Peggy & “I’ll Do It My Way…”
Doing it her way has never been easy for Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss). For subtle but understandable reasons to me as a psychoanalyst, Peggy needs Don and yet hates herself (and him) for it. She’s just not as self-assured as she thinks she should be. Then, again, neither is Don Draper (Jon Hamm). They share this.…
Read More