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Characters On The Couch

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

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The Power of the Dog Why Phil Burbank’s Cruelty is About What He Hates in Himself

THE POWER OF THE DOG
Why Phil Burbank’s Cruelty
Is About What He Hates in Himself

December 7, 2021 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Jane Campion’s chilling new film, The Power of the Dog, has much to say about that old adage: what we hate in others is what we can’t accept in ourselves. And, wow, does the character of Phil Burbank spell that axiom out in spades. Sure, he embodies everything there is about toxic masculinity. Yet, what …

Read moreTHE POWER OF THE DOG
Why Phil Burbank’s Cruelty
Is About What He Hates in Himself
1917 The Trauma Of War How Love & Friendship Matter

1917
The Trauma Of War
How Love & Friendship Matter

March 24, 2020 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

We see the trauma. And, we witness the friendship and love. I’m talking about Sam Mendes’s more-than-war film, 1917. I’m also talking about a different kind of war that all of us are fighting now. A war with an invisible virus. COVID-19. And, just as in 1917, it’s love for each other; our fellow warriors …

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The Trauma Of War
How Love & Friendship Matter
12 years a slave what makes some people crueler?

12 YEARS A SLAVE
What Makes Some People Crueler?

August 1, 2014 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Some people need someone to hate. In Jean-Paul Sartre’s essay, “Anti-Semite and Jew,” he says: “If the Jew did not exist, the anti-Semite would invent him.” I don’t think it’s a far leap to put the history of Blacks in America in the same category. The important question is why? Why does this need to …

Read more12 YEARS A SLAVE
What Makes Some People Crueler?

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

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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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