Blog Post 5

According to Berger, the psychoanalytic theory is a “science concerned with the interaction between conscious and unconscious processes and with the laws of mental functioning” (Berger 2014). Basically what this theory boils down to is analyzing the motives behind people’s actions, whether conscious or unconscious. It’s important to analyze items such as defense mechanisms, the id, ego, and superego. There are many other items that can be analyzed but a lot of content can be discovered through the items listed above. Defense mechanisms are the techniques that people use to control and dismiss anxieties. Some examples of defense mechanisms include avoidance, fixation, projection, rationalization, regression and suppression. The id, ego and superego explain the mental functioning that is part of Freud’s structural hypothesis. The id is the part of the personality that desires instant gratification. The ego tries to please the id while also looking to find what will be best in in the long run. The supergo is the most ethical part of the personality that operates on values and moral standards.

            Using Star Wars as an example, you have three characters that each represent the id, ego, and superego. Han Solo is the id because he is impatient and quick-tempered. On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, Leia is the supergo because she is level headed and sensible. To balance out Han and Leia, there’s Luke, who is the ego. One of Star Wars’ major plot twits is the fact that Darth Vader is Luke’s father. Luke experienced extreme distress after this discovery and used avoidance as a defense mechanism. Berger describes avoidance as a “refusal to become involved with subjects that are distressing because they are connected to unconscious sexual or aggressive impulses” (Berger 2014). Luke was raised with the idea that Darth Vader was one of the most evil Sith Lords to live. He had trouble digesting the idea that he was this man’s son. Luke used avoidance as one of his defense mechanisms to cope with his situation.