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3.1.16.8 Freud.
** Any genuine Freudian slips?
Didn't see any inadvertent revelations of unconscious thought or desires. Well,
maybe Henry Hulme came close. Let's all think about that one for this evening's essay
question.
** OK, what about quasi-Freudian sexual
symbolism?
Jackson wasn't very subtle here, but he was dealing with adolescent fantasies so
there was no reason he should have been. He used the classics, tongue planted firmly in
cheek..uh, so to speak:
* Phallic references, symbols and images: Knives, swords and guns and weapons in general are classic phallic symbols. Stabbing, piercing and hacking especially, and shooting, are classic metaphors for the male contribution to heterosexual intercourse. Some of my favourite references in the film: - St George is piercing the dragon with his lance in Juliet's drawing. - Pauline's unicorns sport their phalluses on their rearing heads in her drawings and sculptures and Borovnian fantasies. - The Borovnian kingdom has enough towers and flagpoles to...what is the appropriate metaphor? Check out the scene declaring everyone is "M-A-D:" a chopping, an unfurling, a huge tower, ecstatic delight. Oh, and fireworks bursting. - When we see the short clip of "The Third Man" we see Harry Lime shoot a man before he takes time out to make love to the girls. - Diello is a walking, talking Freudian clich‚. He cuts off Rev Norris' head with a broadaxe. He thrusts his sword into the groin of a hapless Borovnian then splits him in two "for you, my lady." Just when Dr Bennett suggests Pauline see more "boys" Diello pierces his belly with an erect sword, commenting "Bloody fool." And before he spirits Gina away to Borovnia--before he 'rapes' her--Diello warms up with a bloodbath of hacked and severed limbs and Gina is ecstatic.
* References to penetration and 'birth canals' and conception and birth: Jackson doesn't stint on the flip side of the Freudian coin, either. The classics are tunnels, doorways, windows, architectural openings of many types, especially when breached, confined passages etc. Once again, Borovnia is full of such features; Gina actually has to stoop to get through the entrance into Borovnia, but she emerges happy. Even the Borovnians join hands and crowd around so Gina has to crouch and scoot through them. We see Pauline sneaking through the window on the night she is deflowered by John/Nicholas. And, on a more serious note, the girls crash through foliage in many scenes, but they never seem to be able to emerge into the open. Diello's birth doesn't count because it was literal.
