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How a psychologist thinks about your favorite

Film & TV characters.

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Welcome to Characters On The Couch, my Film & Television site, where I delve into character psychology. If you’re interested in psychology, film, or a combination of the two, I bring my insights into your favorite contemporary and classic characters. I hope to help you understand their deeper psychological motivations (and, maybe, even your own).

When you think about truly iconic films, do you wonder what gives them such staying power? Is it the time of your life when you watched them? Is it the costumes or images that seemed unforgettable? Did one or more characters align with your struggles or painful experiences? Did you feel along with them?  Or maybe, it’s simply that the film pulled at your heart and caused you to explore emotions in a new and profound way?

I say it’s all of the above. And, in the same way, when these meaningful elements are missing, a story becomes forgettable. I hope this site will encourage you to transform your story, personal or in writing, into magic by finding the human thread that links it and you to a universal experience.

Everything in life ties us back to complex emotions and the rhythm and language of feelings and psychology. I'll offer your that language of feeling in my blog as I write about the human struggles in each film.

AMERICAN CRIME
The Damages Of Living
Under Someone Else’s Thumb

Living under someone else’s thumb is damaging to the spirit. We see that very clearly in the different ways the parents in American Crime try to control their kids. In my office, I see the effects of the shoulds. The “have to’s.” The chain of believing the only way to be loved is to please.…

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PRETTY WOMAN
3 Things
A Loving Relationship Requires

On the 25th Anniversary of Pretty Woman’s release, the question for some still remains. Does Pretty Women take the seriousness of prostitution and the misuse of vulnerable women too lightly? Or is there more to the film than that? As a psychoanalyst who just re-watched this spirited and poignant film, I think there’s more. Sexual exploitation is…

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PRETTY WOMAN
Still Controversy After 25 Years

Does the film that launched Julia Roberts’ stardom insensitively overlook sexual exploitation? Or is it a romantic comedy that features one man’s fantasy? The jury is still out. Such serious issues as prostitution and sex trafficking are hardly comedic. (See my post on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). Reactions have resurfaced from many camps with the celebration…

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