-
Episode 112: Hiding Acting Classes from Your Family is a Gendered Secret? City Island (2009) with Kayla Sargent
Join Alex and Prof. Kayla Sargent as they explore the wild web of secrets and gender psychology in the independent film City Island (2009). The film follows the Bronx*-island-of-the-same-name patriarch Vince, played by Andy Garcia, as he attempts to change his career from prison correctional officer to actor, a secret he keeps hidden from his wife and family. Perhaps a much larger issue is that he finds his long-lost son, also unknown to the family, in the prison he works at. The other members of the family all of something they’re not sharing, and the episode explores how each of these hidden truths are gendered in many ways.…
-
Episode 111: But What if He WAS His Mother, Rather Than Just Obsessed? Psycho (1960)
Join Alex in a solo episode as he explores the more overt mother obsession themes in Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). The film released two years after Hitchcock’s Vertigo, which had subtler mother obsession themes. In this film, which stars Janet Leigh as Marion Crane and Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, Hitchcock specifically smacks the audience over the head with the overt Oedipal complex and Freudian themes. Hailed as a masterpiece in its own right, Psycho is considered to be Hitchcock’s first horror movie, with a insane lasting cultural impact, the least of which the shrieking violins. The discussion is split into two broad parts: the first explores the Freudian themes in a historical context, as a sort of companion follow-up to the previous episode on Vertigo, and the second part latches onto the psychiatrist’s monologue at the end the film as a closer interpretation to what a modern clinical psychologist might assess and analyze within the context of the film’s plot.…
-
Episode 109: Grief and Guilt Can Take You on a Journey into Darkness — Herman (2025) with Dir. Andrew Vogel
Join Alex and filmmaker Andrew Vogel, director of the new psychological horror/thriller film, Herman (2025), as they discuss the themes and psychological concepts found within his directorial debut! The film follows a harrowing evening experienced by the titular character, Herman, played by Colin Ward. Herman is dealing with the grief and guilt losing his wife 40 years ago and it manifests as some form of darkness. The pair discuss these topics from a psychological perspective, including how religious psychology plays a role, as well as psychosis as meaning-making rather than a mental disorder. There’s a lot up to audience interpretation and Alex has a field day thinking up various ideas to prod the filmmaker!…
-
Episode 024: Don’t Take a Job at a Lighthouse, You’ll Go Mad! The Lighthouse (2019)
Join Alex in a solo episode as he discusses the psychological concepts in a well-filmed but strikingly strange film The Lighthouse (2019). It stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, ONLY, as we explore the descent (?) into madness when guilt, excessive drinking, and isolation make a formidable cocktail. This episode also represents a different delivery method, much like Episode 022/Fight Club, with the bulk of the discussion happening during a live stream of Alex’s (https://twitch.tv/cogpsychprof), with participation and some shoutouts to Twitch chat. It also includes some sound bites that will sound different, because they were recorded in May 2020 during a live Watch Party.…