 Hi everyone. Welcome to this video in our series on critical media studies in which we'll be tackling psychoanalytic analysis looking at the way the human psyche affects the way that we create media and the way that we should view media through that particular critical lens. So let's jump in and see what we're talking about. First of all, psychoanalytic analysis examines artifacts using a framework of psychoanalysis, as you might imagine. This was primarily rooted in the theories of psychology and psychological development developed by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. So we're going to discuss different aspects of psychoanalysis and then get into psychoanalytic analysis. We're primarily going to focus in this video in our discussion on the work of Sigmund Freud though. So let's start off by taking a look at some Freudian basics. So first of all, Freud said that behavior is driven by the unconscious. Driven by these things and drive is a very important word here, that we all have these drives that exist beneath the level of our active consciousness that these are things we're not necessarily fully aware of or always cognizant of, but these drives, these motivations, these things that propel us forward are there at all times existing in our unconscious. So these are largely developed according to Freud by our childhood events and a couple categories in general of things that happen in our childhood for far relationship with our parents. So not only our relationship, but then the relationship between our parents and the relationship that we observe between our parents is important in psychoanalysis, that sort of power dynamic and what Freud would boil down to some sort of sexual attention, sexual attraction, according to Freud, everything was driven by sex and death. So this power dynamic that exists in this sort of sexual dynamic and sexual tension that exists between our parents and then between our parents and us and so forth. So but a big factor in our adult psychology and psychological makeup is our relationship with our parents. Also our physiological fixations that develop in childhood. He had a couple of different categories, but so he focused a lot on anal fixation, phallic fixation, sometimes oral fixation, but I think, you know, he would probably expand that definition to include things like fetishes, like, you know, foot fetishes and things like these physiological fixations that we have that, again, are really related to, again, Freudian theory would be related to these sexual or death drives. One of the other, usually the sexual and predominant for those physiological fixations. But so these things happen in our childhood, we develop these fixations, we observe these relationships with our parents and the dynamics with our parents and their relationship. And then as a result, we develop these drives and each each of us has developed a unique makeup of drives, so to speak, in this sexual drive and death drive that really motivate us and form our psyche. So in order to work with that, then we have these defenses that are created to keep conflicts buried. So these tensions, these things arise in these drives that keep creating conflicts within us. And a conflict, you know, or just these tensions that exist within us that our psyche is constantly trying to find a balance between these things. So we developed these defenses to either repress or to let out these different conflicts. So the negative conflicts, though, we tend to bury and we tend to repress through things like selective memory, selective perception, through denial, through projection, and then through fears that develop and these fears, you know, various fears that we might have, fear of intimacy, fear of death, all these different things that might develop. These are all defenses, according to Freud, that that are developed in our psyche in order to keep those conflicts buried and repressed and keep them out of our conscious mind. We have three areas then. And so in addition to this, you know, behavior being driven by the unconscious, which is one significant aspect of Freudian theory, he also posited that there are three areas of our psyche that vie for dominance and we're constantly working to balance or to manage these three areas that vie for dominance and they are the id, the ego, and the super ego. So the id, in essence, is the location of these drives that we talked about, the sex drive and the death drive. They're located in the id and that really is our kind of a base animal instinct that that really deals with and almost kind of gives into those things. The ego then is the location of those defenses that we mentioned. The selective memory and the fears and so forth are housed in the ego, which then combats what's going on in the id. So they're constantly in a battle, so to speak. The super ego then is the location of our judgment and our self-analysis, those types of things and our self-assessment of others, judgment of ourselves and of others. Is it all located in the super ego? Kind of our higher moral plane, so to speak. So if we think about it in, you know, there's a lot of examples of this in the Simpsons, for example, where Homer's constantly at war. He's got the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other and he's stuck in the middle. So in that instance, sort of the devil on the one shoulder would be the id driving those base drives, then, you know, motivations. Homer himself would be the ego trying to find ways to combat those things or really, you know, manage those things and develop defenses there. And then the angel on the other would be the super ego, what we call the super ego. Or if you want to put it in different terms according to the Simpsons, Bart would be an example of the id just pursuing whatever fancy takes his attention at that moment. Homer sort of acts as the ego and the conflict between that and trying to manage those conflicts, I guess. And then at least as more of the super ego, the, you know, kind of the better soul, so to speak, and the moral compass of the family. So, but Freud would say that all three of these things vie for dominance within us. They're all trying to take over and they're all just so really we're stuck in the middle of trying to balance these three things, trying to manage these three things. And again, Freud would say all of this develops in childhood. All of this is really pretty much developed in childhood through those various factors. But then they influence our adult behaviors then as well. They carry over through the unconscious into our adult behaviors and that these things are really what I get in the drive and motivate us and for better or for worse, even as adults that these are the things that they keep us, they keep coming up in our psyche without even realizing it. So, okay, so that's our basics of Freud. That's really gross over simplifications. I apologize if you're a psychology major or psychologist watching this and you're like, well, that's that's way too similar. Yeah, I understand. We just want to get the basic framework of Freudian analysis here in psychoanalysis so that we can talk about it in the context of media and critical media studies. So, with that in mind, the major premises then of psychoanalytic analysis as it relates to critical media studies are these. First of all, again, as Freud pointed out, that our unconscious childhood conflicts will influence those adult behaviors. And as adults, then we create media and adults typically are the ones who are creating media. So that those unconscious conflicts that are going to impact our adult behaviors. And as a result, that shows through in what we create. So again, as we create media, we are influenced by those things that really drive us really motivate us really propel us and that develop as a result of those conflicts from childhood, so to speak, that develop in our psyche as a part of those conflicts. And then we recognize those psychological attributes in psychoanalytic analysis. We're recognizing those psychological attributes of the creator, the audience and the examiner that offer insight into that artifact to recognize that they can do so. That there was a psychological impact or influence from the creator who ever created this media or the person or persons were organization that created this media, whatever was driving them psychologically, also the drive of the audience in why they're interested in this media and how they're going to view that media. What's the appeal there for them? And then the examiner we bring our own psychological unconscious conflicts and behaviors and things from our own childhood and so forth that we as examiners then or as people who are analyzing this need to recognize that in ourselves as well. So it really influences every aspect of media creation, media consumption and media examination. So we're recognizing those psychological attributes. So some common questions that we that we come across in psychoanalytic analysis. And again, let me let me point out that as in all these videos, these are just a few this just a handful of questions that give you an idea of the types of things you might ask as part of analysis. This is by no means a comprehensive list and not intended to in any way indicate that it is. But these are just some common questions that you see when people engage in psychological analysis or psychoanalytic analysis of media. So first, how do the operations of oppression, structure inform that work? So when we talked about in, you know, earlier on, we talked about the conflicts that exist that Freud would say exist. And then they are repressed. They are repressed through those different management operations, I guess, for lack of a better word, that that exist in the ego that we try and manage those. So that creates that repression. So how do these operations of oppression, structure or inform the work? And in other words, what are the predominant psychological factors that are really at work here, either from the creator or for the audience or the examiner and so forth, those types of things. So what are the what are the dominant operations of repression here? In addition, we can ask what Oedipal or other family dynamics are present. Oedipus complex is this concept that Freud came up with that has to do with children, especially male children, wanting to having a sexual fantasization with their fascination with their mother and fantasization, I guess, but with their mother, either because of the protection idea or the idea that they feel sorry for them for being less than their father because of the phallic obsession or so forth, all kinds of reasons. But anyway, it's named after the famous play, Oedipus, where Oedipus was obsessed with his mother, so to speak. And so anyway, what Oedipal or other family dynamics, again, we talked about your relationship with your parents being so critical in psychoanalytic the psychoanalytic process that what are those family dynamics are present in that work? How can the characters behave your narrative events or images that are used in that particular media, depending on the media artifact type? How can those be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts of any kind? And by that, we mean, you know, psychoanalytic concepts, meaning fear or fascination with death or sexuality, which would include sexuality, by the way, includes love and romance, as well as, you know, explicit physical sexual behavior, it would include love and romance as well, that is, you know, sexuality as a primary indicator of psychological identity. Are those, is that a primary indicator of psychological identity for that person? Or the operations of the ego in super ego, those are all different types of psychoanalytic concepts that one might use to examine and a framework that one might use to examine a media artifact? So how can the characters behaviors be explained in the terms of one or more of those of those items? What does the work suggest about the psychological being of its author? So looking specifically at the person who created the persons who created that, what this is work suggests about their psychological being and what we can sort of presume or make inference about their psychological being, what drives them, in other words, what motivations do they have, what are their unconscious psychological behaviors there? What might a given interpretation of an artifact suggest about the psychological motives of the examiner? So again, we're going to look not only at the creator, not only at the audience, but the examiner, how does my interpretation of this artifact or how does my assessment of this artifact, if it all doesn't reveal anything about my own psychological motives or my own particular repressions or conflicts or things like that. Are there prominent words or images present that could have different or hidden meanings? Again, symbology is very important in Freudian analysis when you look at his work on dreams and so forth. The symbology is a central aspect of that. And so are there symbols here that really represent other things? As we've talked about with symbols, they may represent other things. Sometimes that meaning is clearer than others and sometimes there's a double meaning and so forth. But so what are the meanings or hidden messages and why were these symbols chosen almost a form of rhetorical analysis hidden within psychoanalytic analysis here? Then could there be a subconscious reason for the author using these quote-unquote problem words or problem images? These images are symbols that have different meanings. Is there a subconscious reason that the author might be using those things instead of maybe a more direct or symbol or word in its stead? So in order to just kind of work through some of these questions, explain some of these questions a little bit, I picked a song a little while ago that I think is appropriate and fun as popular a little while ago that I'd like to just perform a brief psychoanalytic analysis on this particular song in this particular video that I chose. It was very popular a little while ago, but I chose Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles. You may be familiar with that. If not, go ahead and listen to the song or watch the video and you can see whether or not you agree with my own little analysis here. But just working through those questions real quickly for Watermelon Sugar, how do the operations of repression, structure, or inform the work? Well, obviously sexuality is very prominent in this, not only the song, but especially in the video, if you watch the music video. Sexuality is very prominent in every part of that song and really it's hard to get away from in that song, especially given what people suspect and what Styles has since confirmed is the sort of hidden meaning, but we'll get to that. But the lyrics, the instrumentation, the imagery in the video and the promotion of the song, kind of the mystery behind the meaning of the title lyrics and things, Watermelon Sugar, just all of that relates back to sexuality, this kind of idea of repressed sexuality, but not explicit. He's not explicitly saying what he's implying with the song, so it's sort of a repressed feel in that in that regard. What anapole or other family dynamics are present here? I would say just on the surface, the aspect of pleasing a maternal figure or trying to please in his instance, a maternal figure or so perhaps even maybe some guilt for paternal or patriarchal dominance in the idea of trying to please that maternal figure, whether that's because he wants to be seen as a good boy so to speak because he's pleasing in that way or if he's maybe expressing some guilt over some lingering patriarchal dominance and trying to say, well, I'm sorry for all that, so let me accommodate by doing this other thing instead and offering some pleasure in that sense of I think it's possible to see some at a at a pole and other family dynamics that are present here. How can characters behavior narrative events and or images be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts of any kind? Well, there's certainly a level of fantasy at work here, which is another aspect of this. There's a level of fantasy playing out not only in the in the music video, but in the in the song itself and this idea of again, what does it what does it really mean? What is what is you know playing out of fantasy in that regard? The super ego is sort of implied I think with euphemism or substitution of the words possibly. So again, watermelon sugar is euphemistic is a substitution of words for something else that he's you know that he's implying but not saying outright. And that could perhaps be because his super ego stepping in and saying look we can't say this outright. It could just be a he wanted the song to be played on the radio and he could it wouldn't be if he said what he was thinking out loud anyway, but so he had to use a euphemism in that way, but it could also be that a super ego is saying look I can't say this out loud. I'm a little repressed about this. So so let me say this other thing instead and everybody will just know what I mean. So there's there's a possibility of those types of those you know the fantasy at work there is super ego and play with with substituting those words things like that that you could possibly see in this work. What does the work suggest about the psychological being of its author? I would say in part again if we step back into Freud Freud was all about sex and death. I would say certainly this is this piece is representative of maybe a drive of being driven by sexuality and a desire to please maybe to even be seen as helpful or selfless in that regard. Given that again the context of the song you know what the song is really about the effort to be seen as again helpful or selfless and giving to the other person this desire to please but also wrapped up in this idea of sexuality based on Freud's work certainly would be present there as well. What might a given interpretation of an artifact or this artifact in particular suggest about the psychological motives of the examiner? You know maybe a full so for the examiner being me maybe that that there's a more repressed or buttoned up view of sexuality in a public sense I guess that the idea that this is not something that I would probably sing about or you know reference based on my upbringing my psyche my whatever that that I'm probably a little more repressed or buttoned up in terms of my view of sexuality in a public sense and a public discussion sense then then Harry Styles is that probably won't surprise too many people that know me though. Are there prominent words in the piece that could have a different or hidden meaning? Yeah yeah I think it's safe to say that there are there are words or images here in the piece that have a hidden meaning not very well hidden apparently but hidden meaning the title first of all water, bound sugar again apparently is representative of pleasing a woman in his sense in his definition and in Harry Styles's definition yes it's a reference to providing oral sex to a woman and probably pleasing her in that way so the title has a hidden meaning there's lots of skin in the video and lots of you know young looking people in the video there's prominent placement of the watermelon on the table which is you know seemingly a reference as well to you know that type of thing so and again here we could go back to my own repressed or button up view sexuality in a public sense of discussing this publicly but I think it's an excellent representation of psychoanalytic analysis but but still yeah you can see my own more traditional conservative upbringing and psychological makeup coming through even in just discussing this I guess so uh can there be some conscious reason for the author using these problem words or or images and substituting them I guess yeah so I mean it can part of it could be that he's seeking acceptance from a broader audience and uh so you know he doesn't want to say the thing but he still wants acceptance uh so he's he's saying what he wants to say with how it actually sang in or it could be that he's still you know Harry Styles is a member of One Direction may surprise you to know that I know that um but you know we we did have young kids at that time so they were interested in One Direction and it could still be though that he's trying to hold on to that younger fan base um from One Direction with that euphemism that if he came out and was too sexually explicit that it might you know put in danger his ability to appeal to that younger audience and and so it could be that that he's using uh the substituting the words watermelon sugar uh to try and hold on to that younger fan base which is again come back to sort of this acceptance this desire to to please or to please a broader audience and be accepted by a broader audience okay none of that that was just a silly little uh examination of one artifact that I think lends itself well to this type of thing so I hope that this has been helpful for you in understanding psychoanalytic analysis that you have a basis now for what Freud's work was about and then how that impacts how we go about viewing media in a critical sense again this is just one of the lenses one of the many lenses that we can use in examining these uh these um critical um frameworks in in media and so I hope that you will put it to use as well as the other um lenses that we've discussed in this series and we'll continue to discuss in this series if you have questions about this or anything else related to uh critical media studies I certainly hope that you'll shoot me an email I'd love to discuss it with you in that way and in the meantime I hope you'll get out there and take a new view and a new critical lens with you as you continue to examine media in a critical sense