Psychoanalysis in Cinema, Art, and Society

Nighthawks, Edward Hopper 1942

"(...the function of the sexual instincts, the second of ego libido...) 

Both are formative structures, mechanisms not meaning. In themselves they have no signification, they have to be attached to an idealization. Both pursue aims in indifference to perceptual reality, creating the imagized, eroticized concept of the world that forms the perception of the subject and makes a mockery of empirical objectivity." 

On Psychoanalysis, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Laura Mulvey

I find the psychoanalytic theory - phallocentrism in the patriarchal society - so very critical in coming to understand not only the cinema but also arts and society. It is quite fascinating to examine its significance; the idea of phallocentrism serves as an essence that underlies as well as connects two separate films (for example Rear Window and King Kong), various different genres of cinema (Ceddo of the Third Cinema and mainstream films), a vast range of arts (cinema and visual art - painting, sculpture, and music - salsa), and disparate aspects of society. 

While the cinematic theories and examinations are intriguing (voyeurism - fetishism, optical colonialism, three looks, etc.), the underlying fundamental - psychoanalysis - serves as an origin from and to which one comes back to understand the audience's perspective, the director's choice of the camera's views and of the characters' actions. For me, when I tried to decode the metaphors and suggested meanings of the props used in the Rear Window (for example, paintings on the wall, broken camera) or of the angles of the shots, characters' manners and presentation (Jeff versus Lisa), I rather stepped back and tried looking at the bigger picture and what may lie in the foundation - the concept of sexual instincts and ego libido. 

I would like to suggest - regard the painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, 1942. (Rear Window was produced in 1955) Obviously there are certain magics, wonders, and depth that only cinema could achieve as argued by many. However, I think it's worth viewing this particular piece in relation to Rear Window; many of the ideas discussed for the film are resonant in the piece such as voyeurism, interaction between opposite sex, situation in urban setting, the female character's unequivocally distracting presence (or outstanding?), solitude ("lonely hearts" of Rear Window), the role of lights, and not to mention, windows. Also note that the "three looks" discussed in Mulvey's article can be also applied to this piece as well: the look of a viewer (audience), the frame shot as if it is a moment stopped or captured in continuous flow of events (camera), and an artist who chooses the manner in which the actions are carried, the ambience is created - sexuality, politics, society-, and message is delivered (director).