A
nalyze That
The sequel to "Analyze This" hits theaters this December, and Billy
Crystal will once again play therapist to Robert DeNiro's
mobster-gone-soft character. Both the original and sequel are comedies,
but some psychologists worry about potential dangers associated with
fictional portrayals of their profession. "There are so many ethical
travesties, but that's what's funny about it," says Mary Gregerson,
Ph.D., a member of the American Psychological Association's Media Watch
division. "Unfortunately, this sophisticated humor is sometimes lost on
the common moviegoer, and misimpressions are given about what
psychologists can appropriately, ethically and legally do."
Young Dr. Freud
Sigmund Freud is probably best known for his disturbing theories on
sexuality-the Oedipus complex and penis envy, to name two-which might be
what prompts you to tune in to "Young Dr. Freud," the latest documentary
on the founder of psychoanalysis. What will keep you watching, however,
is learning just where Freud discovered his philosophies.
"His ideas really come out of his own life," says the documentary's
filmmaker, David Grubin. In other words, Freud's cigars were more than
just cigars, especially since he smoked 20 a day. He also felt passion
for his mother, resentment toward his father and fear that he might one
day sexually abuse his daughter. And it was primarily through analyzing
his own shocking thoughts and dreams that Freud concocted his radical
explanations and treatments.
"There's a lot of controversy around Freud," Grubin says in
describing why he was drawn to documenting the founding of theories that
most modern psychologists consider obsolete. "The film doesn't try to
present him as a god, or as a demon. It tries to see him as a human being
with contradictions, one who indeed was a genius but who had limitations
like everybody else."
In this, Grubin succeeds, using readings, reenactments, photographs
and interviews to recreate Freud's steps from birth to the publication of
his seminal book, The Interpretation of Dreams, in 1900. Scheduled to air
November 27 on PBS, his film may seem a bit long-winded at times-it
clocks in at a full two hours-but remains an interesting and insightful
look at the early life of psychology's most famous celebrity.
Writer/Director/Producer: David Grubin
With biographer Peter Gay, psychoanalysts Martin Bergmann, Ph.D.,
and Elisabeth Young-Breuhl, Ph.D., and Freud's granddaughter Sophie
Freud
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