We saw the movie A Dangerous Method on the weekend, a David Cronenberg film starring Keira Knightly and Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender. It is about the intense relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, the doctors who essentially invented psychoanalysis and the original concepts of modern-day psychology. Jung's affair with a student, Sabrina Spielrein, who was first a patient also figures prominently in the story. A number of Freud's important concepts originated with Spielrein.
We watch the relationship between Freud and Jung go from professional parent/child to admiring colleagues to wary adversaries. The breakdown in the relationship came, in part, from their growing differences over the role of mysticism and spirituality in the human psyche. Freud, a Jew, considered anything in this realm to be suspect, although he was raised in the Jewish faith. This was something he denied in his early professional life but he wrote a book about Moses as an archetypal figure near the end. Jung on the other hand saw dreams as a portal to mystical experience. Jung was the son of a pastor and had six uncles who were clergymen. He became the darling of liberal spirituality in the 1970's and 1980's.
To my mind this was a good film but not a great one. It was certainly worth seeing and it was a reminder of how powerfully the language and "religion" of psychology have entered into our culture even though it is relatively recent. I often feel that we happily embrace the terminology of what is pop psychology as a new gospel while treating traditional language and concepts of religion with growing suspicion and disdain.
Has anyone else seen A Dangerous Method? Do you ever wonder about the shift in our language of meaning? Do you know much about Freud and Jung?
We watch the relationship between Freud and Jung go from professional parent/child to admiring colleagues to wary adversaries. The breakdown in the relationship came, in part, from their growing differences over the role of mysticism and spirituality in the human psyche. Freud, a Jew, considered anything in this realm to be suspect, although he was raised in the Jewish faith. This was something he denied in his early professional life but he wrote a book about Moses as an archetypal figure near the end. Jung on the other hand saw dreams as a portal to mystical experience. Jung was the son of a pastor and had six uncles who were clergymen. He became the darling of liberal spirituality in the 1970's and 1980's.
To my mind this was a good film but not a great one. It was certainly worth seeing and it was a reminder of how powerfully the language and "religion" of psychology have entered into our culture even though it is relatively recent. I often feel that we happily embrace the terminology of what is pop psychology as a new gospel while treating traditional language and concepts of religion with growing suspicion and disdain.
Has anyone else seen A Dangerous Method? Do you ever wonder about the shift in our language of meaning? Do you know much about Freud and Jung?
4 comments:
Freud and Jung were required reading back in first year. As for the movie, I'd rather see Viggo Mortgenson taking down trolls and goblins than tacking the id and ego.
Like it or not, the work of both of these "giants" has woven its way into the daily conversation. The worst part about it is that it's been distilled down to drug store psychology and the idea that anyone's problems can be conveniently explained in terms of simplifications of these ideas.
I recently had a book out of the library that I think was called Conversations with Sigmond Freued and C.S. Lewis" I didn 't have time to read it but might get it out again later. I've read a fair bit about Freud and Jung. For a while I was interested in all that dream stuff and in archtypes. I enjoyed Timothy Findley's book Pilgrim which was a weirdnstory involving Jung and a guy who never dies. those two really do show up everywhere.
Ian, go see the movie for Michael Fassbender (any of his movies are great), he is great, Mortensen isn't in it all that much. I enjoyed the movie.
I agree about Fassbender's performance here and in other films Laurie.
You know Ian, maybe Tolkien's sagas were about id and ego.
You're right Lori, Freud and Jung find their way into literature as well.
Thanks
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