In the consultation room, a psychoanalyst sees the world entirely through the patient’s words.  This gives an unusual perspective on reality that is serendipitously reproduced in the modern film noir, The Usual Suspects.  By focusing on our patients and what they tell us, psychoanalysts have a close-up view of psychic reality, the reality of the mind in which perception, memory, and fantasy are intertwined.  However, this perspective creates problems in judging and verifying external reality.  The detective in this film and the audience itself share this perspective and the problems it creates. Continue reading “The Usual Suspects”: The Devil’s Greatest Trick