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Episode 089: You Haven’t Listened to this Episode, You’re Forgetful — Gaslight (1944) with Wind Goodfriend
Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Wind Goodfriend in a discussion of the psychological concepts found in the amazing psychological thriller Gaslight (1944) — THE origin of the word de jour “gaslighting” ! The film stars award-winning Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, as woman who’s reality is being warped by her conniving and selfish husband, respectively. Within the psychological manipulation of gaslighting, the hosts also explore the ways emotional and psychological abuse is carried out in these kinds of relationships and even discuss a new scale that aims to help folks determining if they/re under the gaslighting spell!
Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com…
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Episode 088: I Wasn’t Expecting to Be in This Movie! Inside Out 2 (2024)
Join Alex as he takes a solo look at the sequel to a film that lives in our hearts and our heads, Inside Out 2 (2024). While the film has a lot to live up to from its predecessor, this new entry into Riley’s head isn’t a slouch. A new dynamic and new emotions enter the picture as Riley turns 13 years old and beings puberty during a summer hockey camp. Of the new emotions, Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke), butts heads with Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), and well, lots of wild and crazy events happen as they try to put the best self-concept of Riley forward.…
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Episode 085: Everyone Could Use a Little Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy — Good Will Hunting (1997) with Ed Hansen
Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Ed Hansen in a discussion of cognitive-behavioral therapy and socio-developmental psychology in the Oscar-winning writer/stars Matt Damon and ben Affleck breakout Good Will Hunting (1997). But let’s not forget the runaway star of this movie, the other Oscar-winner of this film, Robin Williams! In a film directed by Gus Van Sant, Matt plays Will Hunting, a troubled but brilliant young adult who eschews therapy but ultimately benefits from Carl Rogers’ ideas embodied in cognitive-behavioral therapy. Join them as they pahrk the cahr at Hahvahrd Yahrd and chat! Wicked ahwesome!
Follow Ed on Twitter: @EdHansen_PhDAD
Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com…
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Episode 084: How to Spot a True Narcissist in One Easy Step — Whiplash (2014) with Simon Rogoff
Join Alex and guest host Dr. Simon Rogoff as they explore the blatant narcissism in Damien Chazelle’s jazz drumming masterpiece Whiplash (2014). Starring Miles Teller as Andrew Nieman, the jazz student, and J.K. Simmons as Fletcher, the jazz teacher, this film goes hard. Fletcher is the worst of the worst teacher, who justifies his actions by thinking he’ll one day create the best jazz musician, while Andrew will top at nothing to become the next Charlie Parker. Explorations include, narcissism, of course, but also resiliency, perfectionism, and whether there are two narcissists in the movie, or just the one (Fletcher).…
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Episode 079: No, There Isn’t a Gay Blood Test — Boy Erased (2018) with Lee Golembiewski
Join Alex and guest host Dr. Lee Golembiewski as they discuss the harrowing true story of a young gay man enduring conversion therapy in the US South in Boy Erased (2018). The film stars Lucas Hedges as Jared, playing a version of Garrard Conley, who wrote a memoir of the same name in 2016, detailing his journey through conversion therapy in the early 2000s. The film also stars Russell Crowe as his pastor father, who ultimately made the decision to send Jared to the harmful Christian ministry, Nicole Kidman, as his mother, who makes a startling transformation during the film, and Joel Edgerton, who plays the ministry’s lead “counselor” — Edgerton also directed and assisted in adapting the book into a screenplay.…
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Episode 078: Drugs are Bad, MMKay? Requiem for a Dream (2000) with Melissa Maffeo
Join Alex and guest host Dr. Melissa Maffeo as they delve into the seedy world of drug addiction in one of Darren Aronofsky’s earlier films Requiem for a Dream (2000). The film stars up-and-coming Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans, as well as Hollywood great Ellen Burstyn, as four folks who get caught up in their addictions, fueled by their dreams of better lives and fame. In true Aronofsky form, the visuals and filmmaking get you caught up in these addictions, how they manifest and how they actually destroy the dreams of our four main characters. This film isn’t for the faint of heart, but represents the dark qualities that wait around the corner of drug use and abuse — perfect for dissecting the models of addiction!…
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Episode 071: Four Walls, Infinite Feels — Room (2015) with Chelsea Robertson
Join Alex and guest host Dr. Chelsea Robertson as they discuss the tragedy and the triumph of a mother and her 5-year-old son in the heart-wrenching book adaptation of Room (2015). They explore the social and cognitive development of Jack, the little boy, who for five years, has only known the inside of a shed that they call “Room.” We also explore the role of trauma in both Jack and his Ma, Joy, as they navigate their life inside and outside of Room. It’s a tough book, it’s a tough movie, and of course, it’s going to be a tough chat with hard-to-discuss topics — take breaks if you need to!…
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Episode 067: A Real Life Schizophrenia Experience — A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Join Alex as he discusses wonderfully brilliant biopic of John Forbes Nash, Jr. in A Beautiful Mind (2001). The movie focuses on John Nash’s struggle with finding an original idea to make his mark while also battling schizophrenia and the paranoid delusions and hallucinations it brought. The episode takes a an accuracy approach, since we are talking about an actual historical figure. What was true about Joh Nash’s experience with the psychological disorder and how did director Ron Howard portray that for the audience in the film?
Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Twitter (@CinPsyPod).…
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Episode 064: Sex, Drugs, and Psychoanalysis? A Dangerous Method (2011) with Sheila Thomas
Join Alex and guest host Dr. Sheila Thomas as they chat about the connection and the eventual schism of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud in David Cronenberg’s psychological thriller (?) A Dangerous Method, based on the book A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, and the stage play The Talking Cure. The film stars Michael Fassbender as Jung and Viggo Mortensen as Freud, with Kiera Knightley as Sabina Spielrein. Spielrein enters Jung’s life as a woman with hysteria (not a real disorder), but that turns into an affair with Jung, as he grapples with expanding psychoanalysis into something bigger than what Freud says he wants (lol, to be “empirical” and a “science!”).…
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Episode 061: McMurphy’s Stay at the State Hospital — One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Join Alex as he discusses One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), a tour de force from Milos Forman, Jack Nicholson, and Louise Fletcher! The film follows Randall McMurphy, an inmate at a work camp in Oregon who successfully (?) tricks them into thinking he’s insane and so he gets transferred to the Oregon State Hospital, a psychiatric facility. This episode explores the state of treatment in the early 1960s in America and elsewhere in the Western world, as well as the Dark Triad set of personality traits — the hallmark of psychopathy — in the character of McMurphy himself. Did the system fail McMurphy or did McMurphy fail in the system?…