P S Y C H O A N A L Y S I S
Alfred Hitchcock is not a new face in the discussion of psychoanalysis and film. In fact, he is probably one of the most frequent directors discussed when applying psychoanalysis to film. But what exactly is it about Hitchcock's style that lends itself so well to this intellectual discourse? The argument exists that Hitchcock was well aware of psychoanalysis and thus intentionally played with the ideas in his films, and while this is important to consider, it is less relevant to the discussion found on this website. Regardless, HitchcockÕs films work well for psychoanalytical discussion often because of their subject matter. His movies tend to focus on some dark part of humanity; obsession, sexuality, delusions, and lies all are themes in the movies I have chosen to focus on.

I have broken down my discussion of Hitchcock and psychoanalysis into three subsections: Mulvey, Lacan, and other psychoanalytical theories. Both Lara Mulvey and Lacan are well known theorists in the field of psychoanalysis and have made important contributions to psychoanalytical theory. Of course, to solely focus on the two would limit my discussion, and while clumping other theories into one category is problematic, it does help broaden the depth of this website.



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