Psychoanalysis and film spectatorship
Abstract
This paper interrogates selected cinematic and stylistic
techniques with a view to establishing why film audience
would enjoy watching a film featuring violence and instances
of intense human suffering, which elicit pain, when they
avoid painful situations in real life. The study is based on the
hypothesis that though the fractured, chaotic, and violent
aspects of crime would appear to be diametrically opposed
to the entertainment functions of films, stylistic presentation
of violence would cause the audience to enjoy watching films
with criminal activities which they would otherwise shun in
reality. The research is guided by the theory of Semiotics and
Psychoanalysis and employs a qualitative research design. The
findings of this research explain how the devices and techniques
function to make the audience feel pleasure in response to
tragedies of crime and objects of distress. The study draws
a conclusion that cinematic techniques and stylistic devices
transform the unpleasant emotional responses the audience
may have into pleasurable ones through psychologically
engaging the audiences’ mental schema.
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