"Movie Analysis"
The Breakfast Club
Psychology 1010
Abstract
The Breakfast Club is a house hold American film which illustrates the lives of 5 teenagers in a unconvincing environment of Saturday morning detention. Although this movie was made in 1985 its plot of a rebellious set of teenagers going through the everyday struggles they endure this movie can be watched over and over by every generation with great understanding. In relation to psychology The Breakfast Club goes hand and hand with that of psychoanalysis. In the movie it shows all of the characters actions caused by the lives they live and the people they hang around. Ultimately at the end the characters all explain their reasoning for acting such a way and give insight on each of their own daily struggles of being a high school teenager. In this essay I will be discussing the psychoanalytic view of Sigmund Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego and the Oedipus complex and how it is registered throughout the characters in this movie.
Psychoanalysis stems from Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychology which generally has 3 parts to it. The parts are the unconscious, the preconscious, and the conscious level. The unconscious level being that of human’s behavior is compelled by any fear, or conflicts they have. This leads me to my first example of how in the movie when the kids were discussing their problems and one of them Claire Standish stated how she wouldn’t be talking to any of them if it wasn’t for this detention because of her social status and clique she’s in. This is a good example of the unconscious level because Claire is unconsciously fearing the facing that she will lose her friends and decline in social status solely based off who she would be seen talking to. The preconscious level is associated with desires. For instance a desire to be with someone but also at the same time being afraid to lose that person. An example of desire in the breakfast club is when Bender...