Blog Post #5- psychoanalytic theory

Psychoanalytic theory is a method of investigating features of a specific human’s nature focusing mostly on the vulnerabilities to emotion and unconscious or irrational behavior. Freud, the most vital thinker behind the development of psychoanalytic concepts, presents us with the main bases of study when forming a psychoanalysis. Sexuality, or libido, is shown through 4 distinct stages in development and explains an individuals mental obstacles getting to, and after reaching, maturity in sexual instincts. Freud also focuses a great deal on the Oedipus and Heracles complexes, terms he coined, in describing a vital stage in development when a child desires (Oedipus) a parent of the opposite sex or when a child develops hatred toward their father (Heracles); maturity is the stage in which these complexes are met with confident resistance and restraint. These complexes occur on an unconscious level and are a reason most children love fairytales; fairytales, like television shows, books, movies, etc… aid children in handling psychological difficulties or confirm that they are resolved. Freud breaks down human personality into three parts: the id (the instinctive or inherited components of personality), the ego (unrealistic part of the id that changes due to the external world), and the superego (incorporates learned values and beliefs in controlling the id and ego away from impulsive or immoral behavior/thought). These aspects of development and unconscious behavior are symbolized in all forms of story-telling we have today. Our worlds story-telling portals (books, film, videos, pictures, etc…) uses stereotypes to quickly show a character’s or event’s general behavior or motivation, regardless of the negative connotations surrounding most well-known stereotypes. Jungian psychoanalytic theory, in contrast to Freud’s version, breaks down the ways to analyze a text more generally than Freud. He emphasizes the vitality of the theme, hero, shadow (dark side of people), and the feminine side of men or masculine side of women and what those aspects symbolize in his psychoanalytic theory. 

These are some relatable examples that I think best portray the 3 vital aspects of personality in psychoanalytic theories:

Topic	Id	Ego	Superego
Friends (the tv show)	Joey	Ross	Chandler
Women’s shoes	tennis shoes	loafers/flats	pointed-toed high heel pump
High School Stereotypes	popular kids	valedictorian/salutatorian/smart kids	elitest: star athletes, good grades, attractive
Sex and the City	Carrie	Miranda	Samantha

To elaborate on one of these examples, women’s shoes, I show the symbols for Freud’s 3 parts of personality. The tennis shoe is the id because most women wear tennis shoes as children due to its versatility and sturdiness; women instinctively, before they gain knowledge through experience about the statements each style of shoe portrays, choose to wear what they “know”. The ego is symbolized by the loafers or flats because, after experience in uncomfortable or unpresentable footwear, women (still desiring comfort to some degree) choose to wear a shoe that is more dressed up or presentable with clothing that is not active wear. The superego is symbolized by the pointed-toed high heel pump because, although they are usually not comfortable or sturdy for an average woman’s full day of work/activities, they complete a fashionable facade of the professionalism and balance of seemingly put-together individual. As young girls move through developmental stages to adulthood, they gain new information on top of the inherited/common knowledge to choose to present themselves (with their shoe choice) in ways that are appropriate for their environment and individuality.