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Characters On The Couch

How a psychologist thinks about your favorite Film & TV characters.

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abandonment

Through The Glass Darkly Ingmar Bergman 1961 Can A Cold, Stony-Faced Father Drive A Girl Insane?

THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
(Ingmar Bergman, 1961)
Can A Cold, Stony-Faced Father
Drive A Girl Insane?

May 29, 2019 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Can a cold narcissistic father drive a girl insane? The short answer is yes. Wilfred Bion defined psychosis as hatred of reality. And, what is there to love about the reality of a self-obsessed father who cares more about his own desires than his children? Facing that is horror. We see it in Through A …

Read moreTHROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
(Ingmar Bergman, 1961)
Can A Cold, Stony-Faced Father
Drive A Girl Insane?
capernaum - desperation and heartbreak of an abused & neglected boy - finding a voice

CAPERNAUM
Desperation & Heartbreak Of An Abused & Neglected Boy
Finding A Voice

April 3, 2019 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Zain is the face of desperation. The poster child for what neglect, abuse, poverty, and heartbreak can do. We watch Nadine Labaki’s film Capernaum – as despair, longing, anguish, the deepest of grief, emotional torture; and finally frustration and rage take over Zain’s otherwise stunning features. But, even more to the point, Zain is the …

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Desperation & Heartbreak Of An Abused & Neglected Boy
Finding A Voice
Steve Jobs What Happens To A Baby When No One Says Hello

STEVE JOBS
What Happens To A Baby
When No One Says Hello?

February 23, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Steve Jobs is a brilliantly conceived and emotionally revealing film by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director Danny Boyle. According to both, this film is a human story, not a biopic. I agree. As we get to know Jobs through the filmmakers’ eyes and Michael Fassbender’s performance, we learn the heartbreaking roots of Steve Jobs’ controlling …

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What Happens To A Baby
When No One Says Hello?
Ida 2 Paths Away From Loss

IDA
Two Paths Away From Loss

February 26, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

The Academy Award-winning film, Ida by Pawel Pawlikowski, is beautifully poignant visually, thematically, and psychologically. A haunting story of loss and the sometimes- unwinnable struggle against the overwhelming feelings involved. Loss is difficult under any circumstance. In Ida, we witness an aunt and niece estranged in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation in Poland. Both …

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Two Paths Away From Loss
Whiplash Why Cruelty Is Not The Winner

WHIPLASH
Why Cruelty is Not The Winner

February 15, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

“I don’t want the Raisinettes, I just eat around them” … that’s what Andrew Neiman, in Whiplash, does with the hurts in his life. That’s what he tries to do with jazz teacher Terrance Fletcher’s demeaning and crude sadism in this psychologically riveting film. Fletcher’s cruelty has its hook and he finds it in Andrew’s …

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Why Cruelty is Not The Winner

Inspiration

“We come to Film and TV to find our hidden stories. If we look deeply into a character’s psyche, there is much to see about ourselves.”

Recent Posts

The Power of the Dog Why Phil Burbank’s Cruelty is About What He Hates in Himself
SOUND OF METAL How Silence Stops A Man From Running
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