What Movies Mean - A psychoanalysis of pop culture tropes

Hello and Welcome to the video series on “What Movies Mean”!

Have you ever wondered if movies had some hidden meaning ?

Something that reflects the workings of our human psyche.

Is some deeper message being conveyed to our subconscious mind?

Many people may realize that movies are of the stuff that dreams are made of.

There are certain patterns and recurring themes that speak to our imagination.

Now, I am not talking about all the familiar tropes, rehashed clichés...

...or other tricks of the trade often deliberately used by story writers.

Not per se, in any case.

I’m talking about something that not even movie makers themselves may be fully aware of.

On this channel, I’ll be exploring what movies mean...

...or in other words: What the different characters, story lines, scenes, motifs...

... and other elements seem to be telling us about you and me...

... and what makes us tick.

The basic idea is that our internal dialogue can be pictured as different characters...

...each standing for different aspects of our psyche.

As thought processes, they can be talking and negotiating with each other...

...and sometimes even fight amongst themselves.

Now, this is not something new at all.

There are many examples where this is actually explored right out in the open.

As recent as 2015, this concept is explicitly carried out in the Pixar movie “Inside Out”...

...with different characters personifying a young girl’s joy, fear, anger, disgust and sadness.

But it goes back way further than that!

The idea that we are actually peeking into our collective minds when watching a movie...

...or show is alluded to many times in popular culture.

For example: During World War 2, Disney produced a wartime educational film...

...illustrating our internal struggle.

"Time has brought about many changes inside his head since childhood!"

"Reason seems to be in the driver's seat, with Emotion under control in the rear."

"Boy! I hate being tied down all the time!"

The early nineties sitcom "Herman’s Head", features our intellect...

... sensitivity, fear and lust.

"But this struggle is going on inside all of us! And it's all going on inside Herman's head!"

Also, the Star Trek franchise, with its many distinctive characters, has the same thing...

... being suggested in selected episodes.

"That's because she represents an aspect of your personality."

"And there are many parts of you that still believe you're on that starship."

"Why her?"

"I asked you to get in touch with your feelings. And this is the part of you that responded."

Now all these are examples where this is done deliberately...

...and it has perhaps become somewhat contrived. But it doesn’t have to be.

Many times it seems like different movie makers have inadvertently set up the story and characters...

...in the same telling way.

On this channel, we’ll be looking at some telling common patterns we can find in the...

...epic stories that hit our screens.

And we’re not only gonna focus on Movies, but also on...

...TV-shows and cartoons, for instance.

Everything from whole franchises down to even individual episodes!

But be warned! Once you learn how to interpret movies this way, there is NO turning back!

You cannot un-know what you will learn here.

"You must unlearn, what you have learned!"

Shut up, Yoda! It cannot be done!

Agree with me or not, you will inadvertently start to see any movie you watch in this light.

So it is up to you! Do you want to go on living in blissful ignorance or learn the “truth”?

To go further down the rabbit hole, click the red pill.

If you don’t think you can handle the truth, click the blue pill.

But wait! There’s more! Before you go further, leave a like and subscribe, if you please!

Also feel free to comment on what you think and what movies you would like to have analyzed!