Do you have a particular childhood memory that stands out far beyond its seeming importance?  Freud (1903) called them “screen memories” because he believed that they act as a screen for fantasies and Continue reading “Three Came Home”: A Screen Memory

Click Here to Read  Panicked pope seeks psychoanalytic help in new Moretti film from Agence France-Presse on Inquirer.net website on Arpil 15, 2011.

Pope Benedict XVI

Click Here to Read:  How Arthur’s Drunks Have Changed on the Stuff.com.nz website on April 12, 2011.

Click Here to Read: Pedro Almodovar’s Films to Get Psychoanalytical Treatment at UCLA Institute on the Hollywood Reporter website on March 28, 2011.

In January and February postings, I pointed to cinematic accounts of failed narcissism, first in Up in the Air, in which George Cluny’s character tragically gets a taste of object love only to lose it and then in About Schmidt, in which Jack Nicholson’s character experiences the disintegration of his narcissistic supports. In Schindler’s List, a film that deals with a much broader issue, we are swept along with the film’s depiction of a transformation from narcissism to altruism. Continue reading “Schindler’s List”: From Narcissism to Altruism

Click Here to Read: “Dial-A-Muse” Debuts At Yale By Nancy Mattoon on the Booktryst website February 18, 2011.

Click Here to Read: Icarus in Concrete,  Review by Harvey Roy Greenberg of This Boy’s Life: directed by Michael Caton-Jones. This Boy’s Life and other films reviewed by Harvey Roy Greenberg are available either through Netflix, Ebay, or Amazon.com, as well as special internet sites. Dr. Harvey Roy Greenberg, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, publishes widely on cinema, media, and popular culture. Other reviews and essays can be found at his website, http://www.doctorgreenberg.net. Dr. Greenberg welcomes comment, criticism, and further discussion, of his reviews.

“A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives.”

Jackie Robinson

What happens when a life loses its importance to other lives? Films have prominently focused on narcissistic issues in such films as Mr. Holland’s Opus or It’s a Wonderful Life, among others, in which the main protagonist must modify grandiose ambitions of youth in exchange for recognition from the people touched by his life. About Schmidt tackles a much riskier form of narcissistic issue; what happens when someone with narcissistic object ties loses those wan, but vitally important connections. Continue reading “About Schmidt”: Opening Analysis of a Narcissist