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Characters On The Couch

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

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self-hate

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
The Hate U Give Speaking Out

THE HATE U GIVE
Hate Yourself For Keeping Quiet?
Don’t Be Afraid Of Speaking Out

July 15, 2020 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

The world is filled with too much hate. This piece is in honor of Black Lives Matter. Dedicated to those who’ve spent their lives, like Starr Carter in The Hate U Give, having to hide, needing to code-switch to play it safe (as discussed on NPR’s Code Switch). George Tillman, Jr’s compellingly forceful film offers …

Read moreTHE HATE U GIVE
Hate Yourself For Keeping Quiet?
Don’t Be Afraid Of Speaking Out
Taxi Driver Is Travis Bickle A Hero? Reality Or Grandiose Fantasy?

TAXI DRIVER
Is Travis Bickle A Hero?
Reality Or Grandiose Fantasy?

May 2, 2019 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro), age 26, is Taxi Driver’s lonely, alienated “hero.” Yes, he’s a Vietnam War vet, ex-marine, and likely has his share of PTSD. But, his problems stem from something much deeper than war trauma. He must have suffered some kind of childhood trauma, to be sure. He wouldn’t be so troubled if …

Read moreTAXI DRIVER
Is Travis Bickle A Hero?
Reality Or Grandiose Fantasy?
blacKkKlansman-hate-self-hate-characters-on-the-couch

BLACKkKLANSMAN
Standing Up To Hate & Self-Hate
1970 Is Now

August 16, 2018 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman is a brilliant, terrifying, and timely treatise on hate. The film tells Ron Stallworth’s true early 1970’s story (played by John David Washington): a courageous, harrowing, but ultimately foiled effort to expose the KKK and its virulent racial hate. Fuel it’s fires and hate justifies violence. Then is now: 1970 is 2018. Hate …

Read moreBLACKkKLANSMAN
Standing Up To Hate & Self-Hate
1970 Is Now
Weiner: What's wrong with Anthony Wiener A Psychoanalyst's Answer

WEINER
What’s Wrong With Anthony Weiner?
A Psychoanalyst’s Answer

July 4, 2016 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

The big question in Josh Kreigman and Elyse Steinberg’s documentary Weiner is: “What’s wrong with Anthony Weiner?” Why would a political official destroy his reputation and his career? Why would he humiliate his wife? Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC’s Last Word posed this million-dollar question to Weiner on national TV: “What is wrong with you…I mean …

Read moreWEINER
What’s Wrong With Anthony Weiner?
A Psychoanalyst’s Answer
Orange Is The New Black Stinky Panties Murder & More Women Robbed of Power

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
Stinky Panties, Murder & More
Women Robbed Of Power

July 14, 2015 by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen

The women of Litchfield Prison in Orange Is The New Black were robbed of their power long before they got there. Piper, with her courtyard pulpit plea for self-respect in Season 3 of OITNB, is the new inspirational speaker on women’s empowerment. Granted, she’s got a lot to gain monetarily from convincing her fellow inmates …

Read moreORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
Stinky Panties, Murder & More
Women Robbed Of Power

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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