draft essay

How much of an influence does the Oedipus complex plays apart in the narrative in science fiction films.

Introduction

Both of the films have a similar narrative with one of the characters wanting dominance over another individual or a group of people, this can be in any sence it being the want for power or even sexual dominance. These are all aspect of Sigmund Freud's theory of Psychosexual development “psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory, that human beings, from birth, possess an instinctual libido (sexual energy) that develops in five stages. Each stage – the oral, the anal, the phallic, the latent, and the genital – is characterised by the erogenous zone that is the  source of the libidinal drive.”^[1] The promethium theory is going apart of this as well based on the Greek myth. Prometheus ‘is a Titan, culture hero, and trickster figure who is credited with the creation of man from clay, and who defies the gods and gives fire to humanity, an act that enabled progress and civilization. Prometheus is known for his intelligence and as a champion of mankind”[2]

Primary

Research is going to be based around the Oedipus complex “In psychoanalytic theory, the term Oedipus complex denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrates upon a child's desire to sexually possess the parent of the opposite sex (e.g. males attracted to their mothers, whereas females are attracted to their fathers)” Jacques Lacans mirror stage. “Lacan's concept of the mirror stage was strongly inspired by earlier work by psychologist Henri Wallon, who speculated based on observations of animals and humans responding to their reflections in mirrors.”[3] And the greek myth of Prometheus where he was punished by his creator for creating and giving the power to destroy “The punishment of Prometheus as a consequence of the theft is a major theme of his mythology, and is a popular subject of both ancient and modern art. Zeus, king of the Olympian gods, sentenced the Titan to eternal torment for his transgression. The immortal Prometheus was bound to a rock, where each day an eagle, the emblem of Zeus, was sent to feed on his liver, which would then grow back to be eaten again the next day. (In ancient Greece, the liver was thought to be the seat of human emotions.)”[4] To prove that these are all present in some way or another in Clone, Starwars (Original trilogy), Oblivion, The Island, Alien resurrection and Prometheus.  

  . The macro aspect of my study is going to be on the narrative of the story, but I will have to touch on the other macro areas as well. The main micro area I am going to use is meis-en-scene this is so that I can look at the characters as well also this

Could include philological motivations of the character why they do the things they do.

Secondary

The theory of creationism, “is the religious belief thatlife, the Earth, and the universe are thecreation of a supernatural being. Asscience developed during the 18th century and forward, various views aimed atreconciling the Abrahamic and Genesis creation narratives with science developed in Western societies.” [5]  Voyeurism “is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions usually considered to be of a private nature.” [6] representation of gender in science fiction film. [7]

Hypothesis

All of the films are influenced by Freud’s theories on psychosexual, the greek myth of Prometheus and Lacans mirror stage to show the development in narrative and meis en scene of the character relations and the represention of gender and how it portrays power. In clone although biologically Rebecca is not the mother of the clone of Thomas she was still a surrogate and gave birth to him so in a way you can view her as his mother. She bring the clone up through his life all they way to the end where Thomas clone find out who he really is and impregnates Rebecca. Starwars has probably the most obvious use of the odipus complex although his lust isn’t towards his mother it is towards his sister who plays a mothering figure to him during the films you could argue that in a away that this does not show the Oedipus complex as he did not know she was his sister, but she is the only woman in the film that he has sown a sexual interest in. Also starwars shows the Greek myth of Prometheus in two ways with Luke wanting to his creator (his father (Darth Vader))  and also the emperor toward Vader as towards the end of the franchised he turns to help Luke and sacrifices him self to save Luke, but as the emperor rebirth Vader he can be considered his creator and towards the end of the franchise empror can been seen to be punishing his as Zuse did to Prometheus for giving humans the gift of fire so that they could create distraction .

1.composition of mise-en-scene

2. Character (relationships and emoticon of characters)

<- In this shot it shows the intimacy with Rebecca and Thomas it also shows the character of Thomas saying "now I can do anything I want with you" this is showing the aspect of Oedipus  with the child lusting for its birth mother, although it's not his biological mother as he is a clone of her late partner.

This shot shows the opposite of Oedipus where the mother is for the child, you can tell this by the way she is looking at him, the fact they are both naked it the bath makes it a little bit worse as she is not biological mother.

In this scene it shows Rebecca and Thomas isolated in the house hugging each other as the other children have found out that he is a clone and the other children parents won't let them play together.

 

When Thomas is in his adolescent his mother seems to lust more for his and he does as well, this is showing that during his childhood, his mother has shown these actions and now he thinks they are appropriate, this shows his mother trying to get in to be with him and cuddle in as now Thomas has a girlfriend his mother shows envy towards her and shows detest when ever he and Thomas get sexual

Towards the end of the film Thomas feeling towards his have got to much and he seems to rape her as such but, she doesn't seem to resist she seems to want to let it happen, this makes the audience feel quite uncomfortable as you have seen him grow up from a child to an adult with Rebecca nurturing him towards this moment, the composition and proximity of the character make it awkward aswell.

Through out clone all the camera angles and the composition are shit to make the viewer feel uncomfortable and to show the closeness and relationship of the characters as the first image in the section above and the last one are the evolution of Thomas's gaining the power over Rebecca you can tell the are evolved as the line in the first is "I could do anything I want to you" then it's "what more could you want" showing that he know that his mother is lusting for them.  

The other film I am going to use more for my research are oblivion, starwars, Prometheus  and alien resurrection, the reason I am choosing these films is to show that the themes of Oedipus only seem to show up in science fiction films, the film out of the other 3 I have selected that shows the Oedipus theory the most is starwars the original trilogy, the way this I present Is by luke not having any sextual interest in any women until princess laya comes along, then he has a sexual desire for her at the point they do not  know they are realated but this is a very close storyline to the original Oedipus story, where his mum and dad Abanden him and leave him for dead as a baby, then he comes back to take over a kingdom, but doesn't realiser in killing the king and sleeping with the queen he has really, just killed his dad to have sex with his mother

---

^[1] http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud.html

[2]  ^ William Hansen, Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans (Oxford University Press, 2005)

[3] Webster, Richard. (2002) "The cult of Lacan: Freud, Lacan and the mirror stage."

[4] ^ Krishna, Gopi; Hillman, James (commentary) (1970). Kundalini – the evolutionary energy in man. London: Stuart & Watkins. p. 77. SBN 7224 0115 9.

[5]  Ronald L. Numbers. "The ‘Ordinary’ View of Creation". Counterbalance Meta-Library. Retrieved 2010-08-11.

[6] Hirschfeld, M. (1938). Sexual anomalies and perversions: Physical and psychological development, diagnosis and treatment (new and revised edition). London: Encyclopaedic Press.

[7] www.deanconrad.com/writing/sfflists/wisff_viewer.htm (school will not let me view the page as it has the word “SEX” in it, will have this coved by the time we get back.