Tony Takitani (2004)

Diagnosis: Projection

Most films that fall under the Projection diagnosis category are action/adventure type films. I’ve had a tough week at the office. My boss is pressuring me to produce or perish. I’m pretty sure my fifteen year old is smoking pot in his bedroom after dinner; what’s worse, I want to join him. What do I need? I need to watch John McClain battle terrorists at the Nakatami Towers Most Projection movies help us conquer the unconquerable demons in our lives. They make us feel good.
and feel like I could take on the world with bare feet.

But there is another side to Projection films, a more sobering side. These are the films that appeal to the weaker aspects of ourselves. When we identify with the protagonists in these films, we are reminded of the lesser things we might become. These films should give us pause, looking at the turns in our lives that might have lead us to barren fields and irreparable damage. Tony Takitani is one of these films.

This film is particularly recommended for those patients who suffer from either haughtily inflated egos or perilously deflated ones. For those inflated patients, this film serves as a mirror for those basic desires of life, love and companionship. Patients who are too self-satisfied ought to watch this film as a reminder of the ways that things can go amiss, even when things seem at their strongest.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, patients suffering from deflated egos ought also partake in this film. For patients already hypersensitive to their personal tragedies, this film acts as a reminder that memories should be bittersweet, not only one or the other. Remembering only the low points can destroy a life; remembering only the highs can make those memories hollow.

Prognosis: * * * *

Psychologically speaking, this film does an excellent job satisfying a psychological need that can be satisfied by a number of other films. There are other films that evoke the sort of psycho/emotional response that this film does.

That being said, this is a beautiful film. What makes this movie noteworthy amongst its peers is its style. Based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, the film has a strangely narrative style, employing a great deal of voice-over throughout. This allows viewers to feel as a third-party observer throughout the film, always maintaining a psychiatrist’s objectivity and distance. Viewers, therefore, have a unique opportunity to see the trials and tribulations of the characters from a clinical perspective without being a clinically oriented film. This film could have easily been told without the narration and been a more conventional experience, but it would have lost its sense of objectivity. Viewers would easily have been drawn into the characters’ emotional states, making analysis more difficult.

The analysis of this film ought to be primarily reflective in nature. It is recommended that viewers pay close attention to their own reactions to the events of the film. These reactions will be key in the digestion of this film after the fact.

Synopsis

Tony Takitani (Issei Ogata) has been an outcast his entire life. The son of a Japanese jazz man, Tony was a shy boy who blossoms into an awkward adult. Tony’s life is quiet and methodical, filled entirely with his excellent, if limited, work as a technical illustrator.

As often happens, even to the strangest of people, Tony falls in love with Konuma Eiko (Rie Miyazawa), and they marry. These two are the happiest of couples, Tony engaged in his illustrations and Konuma engaged in her love of designer clothes. Though padded by Tony’s ample savings, it becomes clear that his wife’s obsessive shopping is a dangerous addiction. When confronted, Konuma readily admits to her addiction, not understanding her own desperate desire for beautiful things. Realizing that she is utterly unable to stop herself from shopping, coupled with the knowledge that her shopping will someday harm Tony, Konuma takes her life.

Tony’s life falls into despair and desolation. After a period of extreme isolationism, Tony takes an ad out in the paper, seeking a woman of his woman’s exact measurements to utilize his dead wife’s wardrobe. Tony finds Hisako (also played by Rie Miyazawa) to be his personal assistant, her only unusual job description being that she only wear the clothes from his wife’s closet. Tony is completely up-front about his motivations and intentions; he has no desires beyond seeing his wife’s clothes full of life again.

As much as both parties want the new arrangement to work, Hisako finds herself overcome by the wardrobe, suddenly becoming part of someone’s most treasured possessions. Could such an arrangement last? Probably not, but that is hardly the point. This is a film about love and its replacements, and, in the end, all replacements are temporary.

I *Heart* Huckabees (2004)

Diagnosis: Transference

This film is particularly recommended for those patients who suffer from existential-type concerns, including though not limited to: the nature of reality, the interconnectedness of all things, meaninglessness, and the world's petroleum crisis.

Patients who are frustrated with living life on its surface will find this film to be of great cathartic value. Often patients exhibiting existential angst find that they feel isolated from those around them, especially when trying to discuss their concerns. This film provides such patients with a voice, as well as a well-spring of empathetic characters. This film does anything but belittle these sorts of concerns.

Unfortunately, it is the nature of existential concerns that often patients suffering from them fail to recognize their own symptoms. This is very much like patients who suffer chronic yet mild intestinal discomfort for years, never realizing that they are harboring an insidious case of colo-rectal cancer. Potential patients are advised to refer to the following checklist as a means of assessing their personal risk:

Do you have lingering thoughts and/or concerns regarding the coincidences in your life?
Are you inexplicably sad when the coworker you most hate doesn't come in to work?
Do you ever seriously wonder what happens in a meadow at dusk?
Have you ever watched a group of shopper rummaging through a clearance bin and felt vaguely nauseated by their zeal for ever-cheaper bed linens?
Are you torn between your role as a business professional and your desire to be an interesting person?

If you answered "yes" to any of these items, it is advised that you watch this film as a precautionary measure. If you answered "yes" to three or more of these items, purchase this film immediately and begin a weekly dosage.

Prognosis: * * * * *

Not only is this film worth watching, it borders on becoming a new class of psychological vitamin. This film ought to be watched and digested at least once a quarter, re-invigorating the body's immune system against the shallowness of daily life. Under no circumstances should this film be watched with disinterest.

Analysis of this film should be considered a moral imperative. While watching this film is both entertaining and enjoyable, it ought to leave an intellectual aftertaste that deserves investigation. Immediately after watching this film, patients ought to reflect on the many issues presented in the film and apply them to their own cases. These applications can include, though are not limited to:

Increasing outdoor time and engaging in nature appreciation
Engaging in protests on any issues
Experiencing a sense of interconnectedness with a drunkard in Berlin who has recently lost his wife and job
Purchasing a large, red, rubber ball with handle
It must be noted that these are merely suggestions. Any applications of this film to individual cases will prove beneficial.

Synopsis

"Don't call it the ball thing. Call it 'pure being.'"
The Jaffe & Jaffe Existential Detective Agency makes it its business to expand its clients' understanding of the universe through spying and unfettered access. As Vivian Jaffe (Lily Tomlin) warns, it can often be quite upsetting to alter one's perception of reality, advising that only those who truly want to dismantle their existence ought become clients. Alfred (Jason Schwartzman) and Tommy (Marky Mark) are two such clients. Both men are deeply concerned with the preservation of the Earth, Albert through his work with the Open Spaces Coalition and Tommy through his unwaivering and explosive diatribes on the dangers of petroleum usage.

Although Alfred hires Jaffe & Jaffe to explain a series of coincidental meetings with a Sudanese refuge who collect autographs, the meat of Albert's case revolves around his association with a Huckabees Department Stores sales executive named Brad (Jude Law). Brad is the epitome of the phony businessman, all charm and zero substance, and he hires the existential detectives as a ploy to unnerve Albert and create dissention within the Open Spaces. All of these interconnections of characters are concocted in a gala event, sponsored by Huckabees, where Shania Twain will sing to benefit the local marsh and woods.

If the events here described seem inconsequential or silly, it is only because the actual tasks of these characters, as regards their professional lives, are incidental to the real substance of the film. Albert's being ejected from his own Open Spaces charter takes a backseat to his realization that both the Sudanese refuge and he were emotionally orphaned, one by civil war and the other by indifference. Brad's successful ploy to give Huckabees eco-friendly press while opening a mini-mall on the marshlands goes virtually unmentioned when compared to the attention given to his realization that he is all smoke and mirrors, adopting the mantra "How am I not myself?" until it literally makes him sick.
How does it end, you ask? The way all existential fiction must end. With the acceptance that existence is a constant cycle of the suffering of daily life, with all its petty concerns and worries, and the comfort of pure being, knowing that we are connected to all things and so need not worry about anything.

Remember: There is no such thing as nothing. There is no remainder in the mathematics of infinity. There is only the blanket.

Network (1976)

Diagnosis: Transference
Watch this film if you would like to transfer your frustrations into the storyline.
Film is particularly recommended for patients suffering from media distrust, paranoia, or otherwise negative affectations. This film is particularly recommended for patients hoping to make careers in any of the media arts, including (but not confined to): journalist, reporter, anchorman, writer, actor, publicist, or preacher.

Prognosis: * * * *
This film is completely worth watching, but ought to be considered and paid attention to. Not recommended as a film to run in the background while talking with others.
A terribly interesting subject for analysis. Analysis of this film ought to be behavioral in nature. Such an approach will allow patients to identify any target behaviors needing alteration, as well as modify those behaviors.

Synopsis
"This is not a psychotic episode. It is a cleansing moment of clarity."

Or so says Howard Beale (Peter Finch), the network news man who is relieved of duty within the first five minutes of the film. In his drunken reflection of his television career, Beale decides to kill himself and announces these intentions during his evening news broadcast. This last act of a desperate man sets Paddy Chayefsky's masterpiece Network in motion.

Beale's outburst brings him his first burst of high ratings in years, which may contribute to his ultimate decision that he is "a latter day prophett" who has been selected by the powers that be to bring the truth to the people of the world. And why is Beale selected for this honor? "Because you're on television, dummy" says the Voice who speaks to Beale in the night. As Beale becomes increasingly convinced of his own prophetic abilities, the network executives are divided. The old dogs of classical age of television journalism, independent of their network and unencumbered by a need to be ultimately profitable, is chiefly represented by Max Schumacher (William Holden). Schumacher's desire to protect Beale's reputation as a newsman gets him fired, leaving him available to begin an affair with the woman who replaces him as the producer of the evening news, Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway).

Christensen embodies the new generation of network executives, dedicated to creating ratings and profits for their network and its parent corporation. Even as she and Schumacher make love, Christensen gives sultry updates on HUT point shares, rating hikes, and getting steals on old James Bond film syndication. The more prophetic Beale becomes, the happier Christensen becomes with the ratings. To replace the current evening line up of drama shows featuring "crusty but benign" older men, Christensen begins working on a Fall lineup including a show centered entirely around the activities of a terrorist group.

Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay is one that is as good to read as it is to watch enacted on the silver screen. What makes this film such a classic is that it is a self-fulfilling prophecy; the movie about Howard Beale has become Howard Beale. When Network first came out, it was classified as a satire of network television. But today, it seems old hat. Viewers without appreciation for the era in which a film was written will be bored and disappointed with Network. But better educated viewers will be blown away by Chayefsky's ability to predict the corporatization of television, as well as the popularity of reality television.

A Case of Virtual Projection

After my last analysis, it seems I have earned the disdain of a reader. This Woman Under the Influence left a rather abrupt and foul comment. Of course, as a scientist, I was not offended. I was, however, intrigued with this woman's venom towards a simple psychological analysis. To be truthful, with an internet moniker such as A Woman Under the Influence, I half expected her blog to be the of the college variety, filled with accounts of drunkenness, parties, and pictures of friends in raucous positions. Instead, I was surprised to find a reflective, if not misguided, middle-aged woman.

A Woman Under the Influence: I'm An Extraordinary Machine

This unfortunate creature appears to have a whole host of psychological woes, the least of which is a sort of self-perpetuating egomania. Naturally, without having ever met with A Woman Under the Influence, I am unable to access her prior mental health history. However, after careful consideration of her few posts, I have been able to come to the following conclusions:

1. A Woman Under the Influence has almost certainly had a history of mental illness, almost certainly with a history of psychotropic prescriptions and possibly with a history of institutionalization.

2. A Woman Under theInfluence is incapable of maintaining lasting and meaningful relationships. I was able to discern this from a variety of factors that are evident in her writing. Initially, I examined her self-report (see A Woman Under the Influence: My Sorrows Swim). She seems openly critical and suspicious of the people around her. However, her posts suggest an almost desperation to bond with people (see A Woman Under the Influence: Plausible Deniability). This apparent contradition is only comprehensible if A Woman Under the Influence a) wants friends, b) is unable to initiate normal social interactions, and c) perceives herself to have a history fraught with betrayals that make her hesitant to engage others socially.

3. A Woman Under the Influence was almost certainly traumatized, and possible abused, as a child. Her post A Woman Under the Influence: If I Had to Have Sex With an Alien, It Would Be Marcia Cross is quite telling in this respect. That all her dreams are highlighted through the setting of her grandmother's house nearly lept out at me from my screen. She seems to be uninformed as to the meaning of this recurring backdrop, as I would expect most laypeople to be; she likely has no conscious recollection of the maltreatment of her youth. But the import of her grandmother's house into all the "significant" aspects of her dreams indicates a psychological dependence on that location as an indicator of tranquility and safety. This house was, in life, a safe haven for A Woman Under the Influence. Though I suspect she would outwardly scoff at the suggestion, I would recommend strongly that she revisit her grandmother's house (if it still stands) in order to reconnect to the pains of her youth. Only then will she be able to begin tackling this psychological milestone.

4. A Woman Under the Influence appears to have a weak grasp on reality. There is an overwhelming proponderance of film and musical references throughout her blog. This, in and of itself, are not indicators of maladjustment. Indeed, it is quite healthy and useful to make reference to common cultural icons in communication. These icons serve as linguistic symbols for the nuances that we seek to infuse into our sentences. If I want you to relate to my love of the polonaise, I need but reference Chopin, and so on. These references are a linguistic shorthand that should not be abandoned. However, A Woman Under the Influence utilizes these icons in a different way. She integrates these references without justification or notification that they are, indeed, references. For instance, the post A Woman Under the Influence: My Sorrows Swim clearly suggests that she feels deceived by a film character. This sort of transferrence indicates a loose graps on the boundaries between truth and fiction. I would not be surprised to learn that A Woman Under the Influence is unable to prevent these fantasy relationships from integrating themselves with her day-to-day experience.

Overall, I find this poor woman to be in dire need of professional attention. That her comments to me were so hateful only suggests that I indirectly hit a raw psychological nerve when I stumbled upon Harold Loves Maude. However, I recognize her anger as a misdirected attempt to rectify her own insecurities and psychological instabilities. I will continue to monitor this poor soul, and I implore my readers to do the same.

A Troubling New Case

In my scavenges through cyberspace today, I happened upon this poor soul.

Harold Loves Maude: The Worst Thing I've Ever Done

This young man practically cries out for years of intensive psychotherapy, if not a brief stint in an institutionalized facility of some sort. For one thing, this young man likely has Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's patients are high functioning austics who are capable of mediated independent functioning in the world, though they do have some difficulties socializing. Like severe autistics, Asperger's patients tend to be introspective to the point of solipsism. The shyness this young man expresses in his blog suggest to me this sort of inability to connect meaningfully with other human beings. Of course, the mere fact that Harold has created a blog suggests that he is on the higher end of social functioning for an Asperger's patient. However, I find it telling that he only began his blog as an exercise prompted by a mental health professional.

The great tragedy with Asperger's patients is that they are functioning enough to recognize the social connections and interactions available to others, but just impaired enough to struggle terribly in making and maintaining such connections themselves. As a result, many Asperger's patients commit suicide before they reach their thirites. I do not want to see such a fate befall this young man.

Although I would love to befriend him myself, my role as a mental health guide would be severely hindered by such a personal connection. Therefore, I implore my readers to seek out this young man and take him under your virtual wing. His profile speaks plainly enough: Harold would like a friend. He says he needs only one, but this is little more than his inexperience with friendship. I am confidant that once Harold has developed a friend, he will want more. Friendship is a social narcotic, and one that I hope Harold develops a lifelong addiction to.

Until then, Dr Doctor will remain ever-vigilant in helping to guide this young man into a stable and happy adulthood.