Requiem For A Dream

Films That Have A Profound Psychologist Effect (Cross Talk Ep. 37)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

In preparation for today’s episode, I decided to do a little research about the psychology of film, and in the process, I learned a few things.

For instance, did you know that film and psychology have been connected since the late nineteenth century? With research labs studying the mechanics of perception and how our visual recall works, and producers like Samuel Goldwyn working to lure the psychologist Sigmund Freud in to help determine the subtext of his films. He actually offered Freud one hundred grand to secure a meeting with Freud in Vienna in 1925. And then Hugo Munsterberg posited that film actually allowed the inner working of the mind to become visible, thus shifting our way of thinking about thinking.

Other academics like Gordon Allport have even gone so far as to indicate that cinema is a standardized daydream, which is kind of horrifying when we consider the implications against mass consumption. In the world of marketing, there is a very real fear of being led towards a product decision without conscious consideration and there is evidence that many marketers employ tactics to get such a response, so why wouldn’t a two hour video create a far stronger impression then a 30 second commercial?

But maybe that’s actually a good thing. In fact, I really do believe it to be the case.

It is the role of the critic to give the viewer the tools to think differently about art, and it is the role of the artist to give meaning to life. So by all accounts, films that affect us should be considered to be instrumental in shaping our world views and when we feel something during a movie, but are unsure of what it means, a critic can help to deconstruct that film for us, which in turn allows us to better understand ourselves and others.

There are many examples of stories out there which have parents, groups, and government campaigning against film, television, games and other art forms, because of the suggestive nature of that content, and in some cases, blaming the content for how children behave. Again, I agree that there is a lot of evidence that suggests such an outcome, but what if we exposed children, youth, and even adults in need of rehabilitation towards content which depicts a more empathetic worldview? Say Sling Blade, K-PAX, Moonrise Kingdom or the very recent films Get Out and Hostiles, the later of which I did a review on last week!

Maybe in those cases, we can learn something about the world and be less inclined towards hatred. Which is what Chris and I set out to do in coming up with a list of ten movies we collectively agree are incredibly impactful, and how each of those films personally effected us.

I think you’ll get special interest from the films Manchester By The Sea and The VVitch, as we focused on them in case studies from our lives. This is episode thirty seven of Cross Talk – movies which had a profound psychological effect.

theories Summarized

Were you surprised to learn how we each felt about these choices? I wasn’t especially taken back to discover how Chris feels about Manchester By The Sea, it is a very dark film, and Casey Affleck deserves all the awards he got for playing a depressed man. But I bet you weren’t expecting me to open up about The VVitch the way I did, now were you?

Sharing is caring creative cuties, hopefully you’ve got some examples that we’ve never even considered. And we’d love to hear from you, so please comment below with your picks, and if you’re up to it, please share a little bit about why these movies have left a mark.

Until next time, please like and share the content! And subscribe to the mailing list if you haven’t yet. I’ll be sharing some insights on a new Leon Bridges album!

Tim!

Quality Control (Cross Talk Ep. 8)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

My day job is interesting, dear readers.

I work for a major Canadian retailer, at their corporate office, coordinating marketing efforts. To be more specific, I’m responsible to ensure all of the product photography, marketing related images, online product catalogue, and any written content associated with the brand stays on track and keeps on keeping on.

Though I am ultimately a creative being at heart, and my major life interests lie with the arts, my unique skill set also features analytical abilities of project management, planning, organization, leadership, and communication. And so I’ve made decisions to use those skills to get paid.

play-get-paid

What this means is that quality control and process development are in my bones.

And while it’s my job to contribute to a healthy brand image to the company I work for, I also believe in that ideal, and so I have internal and external alignments. But just because these types of development inevitably lead to consistency and then business maintenance, that does not mean that innovation is without energy spent and emotional investment.

Some elements of quality production and process lend themselves to automation, but still others will always need vigilance in attention.

Which conveniently gets us on track for this month’s episode of Cross Talk. I think that quality movies all demand a certain level of attention the first time you view them, but over time, some movies fall into the camp where they become rewatchable and part of our pop culture slang, whereas other movies are definitely necessary for the experiences they can provide, but you can’t easily queue them for repeated viewings, and this is for a myriad of reasons.

To give you a more concrete example of a rewatchable movie, I would say that 21 Jump Street is a great example because the laughs and content are memorable, fun, and the chemistry between its leads is insane.

Whereas an intense movie like Requiem for a Dream cannot be watched every couple of weeks because it is so visceral, full of dark themes, and difficult to stomach. Darren Aronofsky refuses to pull any punches and thusly we can only stay with his vision for a short while.

What this means for the audience at home is that Chris and I recognize there are solid examples of both movies, but it’s not always obvious which is which, and so episode 8 of Cross Talk is a conduit for the difference between a quality movie and one that turns into a rewatchable one.

As always, I’ve included a direct link to the full video for you here, but I want you get your hands on the video ASAP, so we’ve harnessed the power of technology to embed the video directly below. Please sit back and enjoy Episode 8 of Cross Talk!

I’m out of theories for now, but please check back tomorrow for an album review that features arts & crafts. It should be a good one! Please comment, subscribe, and share this with friends. We want to hear your feedback!

Tim!