Cinema of the 1980s - Part I

Landmark Films of the 1980s

Action Shots

The following fight sequence is from the 2005 film The Protector. You might want to watch this once more than once. It is one single shot - no cuts or edits.




The next scene is from Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (2012). It's pretty much the opposite of The Protector.




Here's one more. It's from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

Forbidden Id

If you really want to understand the twist ending of Forbidden Planet, it's probably helpful to take a moment to discuss Freud.

Sigmund Freud (1859-1939) developed both a theory of personality (psychodynamic theory) that emphasized unconscious factors and a therapy (psychoanalytic therapy) for patients exhibiting abnormal behaviors. Freud suggested that our behaviors may be determined by irrational forces outside of conscious awareness. And his ideas, while most recently out of style, were very much in style in the 1950’s. And Forbidden Planet was only one of many films to jump on the bandwagon.

A core element to Freud’s theory is his perception of ‘consciousness.’ Consciousness is the term used to describe the level of awareness an individual has at any given time regarding any given event. The three levels are (1) the conscious (everything we are aware of at a given moment), (2) the preconscious (thoughts, feelings, memories, and wishes that can easily be brought to the conscious level), and (3) the unconscious (thoughts, feelings, memories, and wishes that are extremely difficult to bring to the conscious level and sometimes appear in disguised form in dreams).

For example, if someone was to ask you, “What are you eating right now?” you’d probably have a pretty good answer. “Why, I’m eating pizza. I know that because I’m doing it right this very minute. I’m thinking of it. The answer to your question currently resides in my ‘conscious’ mind.”

But what if someone were to ask you, “Say, what did you eat for lunch two weeks ago?” Well, you might have a little more difficulty coming up with an answer. “Um, let’s see. Last Wednesday I went home for lunch, I think. Yeah, because that was the day I had a dentist appointment…Okay, I remember now. It was pizza. Left over from the night before. Sorry it took so long to come up with an answer. It’s just that I didn’t know I’d need the information you were asking for, so I tucked it away in my preconscious mind. It was there, and I could access it, but it took me a few minutes.”

And what if someone were to ask you, “What did you have to eat the morning of your fifth birthday?” Why, you’d have no idea. “How should I know?” you’d say. “That was, like, years ago. Who knows that kind of information?” The answer, according to Freud, would be ‘everyone’ – it’s just locked away in your mind’s fruit cellar – i.e. the unconscious mind. Your conscious mind might not be able to find that info in all the boxes and chests you have down there collecting dust, but it doesn’t mean your unconscious mind still doesn’t hold a grudge against your mom for serving steamed vegetables on your five-year birthday. In fact, that’s one of the many reasons your mom bugs you so much today. Remember that room at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark with all the crates? Those crates are all the things your mom ever did to embarrass or anger you.

And while your conscious mind might not even remember what those things were, your unconscious mind has them very well documented, and it takes each and every one of them very, very personally.

So we’ve got the conscious level, the preconscious level, and the unconscious level. Three levels. But we also have, according to Freud, three structures of the mind: the ego, the id, and the superego.

Id – The id represents the primitive, biological side of our personality. The id is extremely selfish and has no concern for the needs or desires of others or for the concerns of society. Think of the id as your “Incredible Hulk” or your “inner caveman.” Your id lurks solely in your unconscious mind. It’s tough and greedy and selfish.

Superego – The superego contains the conscience, that part of your mind that helps you determine right from wrong. The superego helps us aim for what is right, correct, and ideal; it motivates us to strive for morality and perfection. If your id is the devil on your right shoulder, then the superego is that little angle on your left. Unlike the id, the superego exists in all three levels of the mind – the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

Ego – The ego is the executive arm of the personality that seeks to resolve the continuing conflict between the id and superego by following the reality principal (a realistic plan for obtaining what the id wants while conforming to the restraint of the superego). The ego stands for “reason and good sense.” Again, if your id is a devil on your right shoulder, and the superego is an angle on your left, then your ego is your head, stuck right in the middle and listening to both sides. The ego exists only on the conscious and preconscious levels.

Let’s put it all together. You’re hungry. Your id says, “Dude, see that guy eating a sandwich? Take it. Just punch him in the face and take his sandwich. And eat it.” But your superego says, “No, we can’t. That would be wrong. In fact, we’re not even that hungry – at least, not as hungry as a starving kid in Africa. Say, let’s raise some money and send a sandwich to that kid!” And finally, your ego considers both sides of the argument and finally decides, “Okay, let’s compromise. I’ve got a few bucks in my wallet. Let’s buy a sandwich and eat it. And maybe this November we’ll give a few bucks to the canned food drive.”

So what does any of this have to do with Forbidden Planet? Well, the monster was a physical manifestation of Morbius’ id, that’s what.

As I mentioned earlier, Freud was pretty popular in the 50s, and so the filmmakers thought it would be pretty creepy if the monster on the alien planet was not your typical alien threat, but rather part of one of us. Imagine, you land on a strange alien planet, and the most dangerous threat you face is one you brought with you. How do you escape yourself? Not only is the monster not an alien, it’s the farthest thing from an alien we could imagine.

So here’s the question of the day: What other movies have you that seen employ the same device? Are there any films you can think of in which the danger the characters face is, in fact, a manifestation of their own id, their own unconscious, greedy, selfish psyche? Keep in mind, we're not necessarily looking for films where the antagonist is the 'id' in the literal sense. Maybe it's just a character who behaves on his/her id more than his/her ego or superego. When fashioning your responses, consider not only science fiction films but also suspense, horror, fantasy, and even animated films.