Throughout this essay I look at how the
mise en scene of fight club and the technical significance of this portrays the
ideas of Freud’s Id the Ego and the Super Ego theory. I will look at this throughout
this text while referencing my research and mentioning how it links with the
technical and visual significance of a chosen scene.
During the parking lot scene between Tyler
and the Narrator, the characters link to different elements of Freud’s Id, ego
and super ego theory. This scene opens up with mid shots of the two characters
and incorporates a shot reverse shot to jump between the two while they’re
talking, at this time in the scene Tyler is trying to persuade the Narrator to
hit him, the Narrator seems adamant to at first but with enough persistence
from Tyler’s part he eventually gives in to Tyler’s request. This interaction between the two characters
can link back to Freud’s Id, ego and super ego theory, with Tyler representing
the Id through his impulsive and persistent nature throughout the scene, not
caring for the consequences of his actions while just seeking out what he
wants, this follows the theorized characteristics of the id, “it is the childlike, selfish and hedonistic
part of your personality, which focuses on the self ” (Lawton, 2015). While Tyler represents the Id in this scene,
the Narrator represents the ego, being influenced by the Id and not being able
to resist the urges it presents to him. This is shown throughout this scene
through the Narrator trying to resist Tyler’s request to punch him. Again
linking to Freud’s id, ego and super ego theory the Narrator is at first
adamant to give in to Tyler’s requests but ends up only delaying Tyler’s wishes
as he ends up giving into him much like the Ego is said to always end up giving
into the Id, “In
many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed
gratification--the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the
appropriate time and place.” (Cherry, 2013). Before giving into Tyler the Narrator is looking
around and places his bottle on the floor out of the way, this can visually
represent the Ego looking first for ways to reduce the negatives of the Ids
desire. Other visual significance in this scene comes from Tyler’s restless
nature while being turned down from the Narrator such as jumping on the spot
and his sporadic movement, this can signify the Id’s restless nature as it
seeks pleasure but is being stopped by the ego in control causing the Id to
keep on trying until the ego can not stop it any longer. Although the super ego
cannot be portrayed through a character in this scene its presence can still be
interpreted through technical elements and mise en scene. At the start of the
scene both characters are holding glass bottles, when Tyler comes up with the
idea to let the Narrator hit him he puts his bottles down which can be inferred
as him leaving the Superego and the traditional ideas of society behind, this
can be seen through the mise en scene of the scene as Tyler has his back
towards the said bottles I am referring to as the super ego. This idea is also supported through the
Narrator as he at first is holding the bottle while denying Tyler’s requests
but before he gives in he puts it to the side of him. This sequence can portray
the ego following the super ego an rejecting the Id until eventually he gives
in and rejects the ideas of the super ego to the side while he gives in to the
Id and its ideas. Finally after all of this Tyler and the Narrator are sat on
the grass but only holding one bottle between them rather than the three they
started with. This can also represent how after giving into the Id, the super
ego is less present as the ego is now giving into the Id and caring less about
morality and what society expects of it. This links again to the characters
through Tyler and the Narrators friendship growing closer and closer after
their fight.
In the Scene where the narrator is
describing Tyler’s jobs, Tyler is portrayed as the Id. This scene opens up with
the characters describing Tyler’s job at the cinema, in this scene the narrator
describes job as boring however Tyler starts splicing the film with
pornographic imagery for his own entertainment.
This is characteristic of the Id as although there is a lot of risk in
doing this, such as potentially loosing his job, he still does it just to
satisfy his need for entertainment, “The id is the oldest and most primitive
psychic agency, representing the biological foundations of personality. It is
the reservoir of basic instinctual drives, particularly sexual (libidinal)
drives, which motivate the organism to seek pleasure.” (Daniel K Lapsley,
2011). This attitude that Tyler has in this scene sets him up as the Id for the
majority of the film as he is shown the most clearly here, in not caring for
the outcome of his actions and going only for pleasure, this is known as the
pleasure principle and is what the Id uses to create desire, “In Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, the pleasure
principle is the driving force of the id that seeks immediate gratification of
all needs, wants and urges. In other words, the pleasure principle strives to
fulfill our most basic and primitive urges, including hunger, thirst, anger,
and sex. When these needs are not met, the result is a state of anxiety or tension.” (Kendra Cherry, 2019). This
portrays Tyler as the Id throughout this film as he is the one urging the
narrator on as the Id would do to the Ego.
In another scene the narrator is speaking
to his boss, this scene opens up with the Narrator trying to persuade his boss
to pay him without working, This soon escalates as the Narrator begins striking
himself trying to pass it on as the boss hitting him. The two characters in
this scene can represent the ID and the Ego with the narrator representing the
animalistic and instinctual Id, not caring about the ramifications of his
actions, in this case beating himself up. Whereas the boss represents the Ego with
at first resisting the Id’s desire, in this case its wanting to stop working,
but is eventually inevitable in stopping him and ends up giving into the Ids
desire, which is described in Freud’s theory as the relationship between these
two characteristics. "Although people
eventually learn to control the id, this part of personality remains the same
infantile, primal force all throughout life. It is the development of the ego
and the superego that allows people to control the id's basic instincts and act
in ways that are both realistic and socially acceptable." (Kendra Cherry, 2019). Throughout this scene the Narrator shows his
Id characteristics through the seemingly uncontrolled nature of his actions,
such as punching himself repeatedly. This links to my statement of the Ids characteristics,
as he does not care for the ramifications of this even though he is physically
hurting himself much like how the id does not care about the consequences the
actions would have on the host. The boss in this scene uses thematic ideas such
as the script to be portrayed as the ego. The script helps portray this idea
through at first the boss turning down the Ids advances, however as the Id
starts pressuring and fighting to get what he wants, the ego gives in, this is
portrayed in the scene with the Narrator walking away from the scene smirking
connoting he has won. "It’s
geared towards problem-solving and reality-testing, enabling the person to
maintain self-control. However, just like the id, the ego is interested in seeking
pleasure, it just wants to do so in a realistic way. It’s not interested in
right and wrong, but in how to maximize pleasure and minimise pain
without getting into trouble" (Cynthia Vinney, 2019).
In
conclusion Fight Club Uses Visual And Technical Significance
to portray Sigmund Freud’s Id, Ego and Super Ego Theory. It does this through
its portrayal of its characters in each scene with one character usually
representing an element of this theory. This links to the narrative point of
this film that Tyler is the Narrator, this goes with the idea of the theory
that the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego are all apart of a single personality, “Although each part of the personality comprises unique features, they
interact to form a whole, and each part makes a relative contribution to an
individual's behaviour.”(Saul McLeod, 2019) Therefore this supports my
statement that the film uses technical and visual significance to portray this
theory as it uses its thematic narrative to portray the key ideas of this theory,
as I have talked about during this essay.
Reference list
Fincher, D., (1999) Fight Club
Lawton, J-M., (2015) AQA A-Level Psychology
2
Cherry, K.,(2013) The Id, Ego and Superego
Cherry, K., (2019) Freud's ID, Ego and Super Ego [Online]
Available from:
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951
Vinney, C., (2019) Freud: Id, Ego, and Superego Explained [Online]
Available from:
https://www.thoughtco.com/id-ego-and-superego-4582342
McLeod, S., (2019) Id, Ego and Superego
[Online]
Available from:
Lapsley, D, Stey P (2011) Encyclopaedia of
Human Behaviour. Elsevier.
Cherry, K., (2019) How Freud's Pleasure Principle Works [Online]
Available From:
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-pleasure-principle-2795472
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