Planning- Media Psychology

Freud: His theory is that the human brain can be split into three parts; Id, Ego and Superego. Each part has its own mind. The Id is only concerned about having pleasure and not worrying about the consequences. It works on impulses and instinct. The Ego is concerned with the reality and what consequences it may face. It wants approval from everyone and is highly aware of it's actions. The Superego is the negotiator of the two extreme sides of the brain. In a simpler way its like having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other and them both telling you to do the extreme but then you come to a suitable decision between the two, like the Superego. In films this is used to the extreme as they have the protagonist, the hero, and the antagonist, the villain. This appeases the two sides of the brain.

Lacan: Lacan’s theory is the “Ideal I”. He thought that we are unable to think of ourselves negatively and this leads us to thinking that we are always correct. We like to think we are perfect. The main reason we watch media is because through the characters on the screen we see ourselves and we come to like a certain character because they remind us of ourselves. However we don’t associate the bad aspects of the character to ourselves, only the aspects that suite us.

Voyeurism                                                       Scopophilia

Mulvey: Mulvey believes that the media is used for the sexual objectification of women. In Mulvey’s writings she talks about “The gaze”. “The gaze” fulfils our sexual desires and it creates the binary structure that the media runs off. “The gaze” creates sexual objectification and this portrays woman as being weak and easy to control. Her theory is that media uses scopophilia, pleasure through looking and listening into other peoples lives, and voyeurism, the sexual pleasure gained through spying on the human form.