December 1999

(This article relates to Chapter 2 in your text)

Freud Is Alive and Well—At Video Stores Near You!

For years now, pundits have been saying that Freud is dead. Not Freud, the man, who died in 1939, but Freud's theories about the sources of psychological disorders. Try telling that to Dr. Ben Sobel, the psychoanalytic therapist who takes on the case of Mafia member Paul Vitti.

Analyze This, directed by Harold Ramis, finds Dr. Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), an easygoing psychiatrist whose patients are usually boring neurotics, taking on Mafioso Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro), a notorious member of a New York clan who has lost his nerve just about the time he is supposed to step into his father's shoes and rule the "family." It seems he can't kill in cold blood as easily as he used to. On top of that, he is experiencing anxiety disorder and sexual dysfunction. If Vitti doesn't get a grip, his power—not to mention his clan—will be in jeopardy.

The movie incorporates plenty of Freudian themes, including dream interpretations, impotence, Vitti's psychological paralysis as he prepares to assume the role for which his father has prepared him, and Sobel's problems with his own father (a publicity-hungry psychotherapist). Students of the therapeutic process will be amused by Sobel's failure to set boundaries in the therapist-client relationship. Vitti drops in any time he pleases, and Sobel drops what he's doing to take care of his client's needs. This boundary blurring suggests that there may be some reversal of transference and counter-transference roles here. After all, Sobel is supposed to be in control of the therapy, not Vitti.

In spite of some fairly authentic touches, Analyze This should not be taken too seriously, either as a portrayal of psychological problems, the therapeutic process, or Freud's theories. Artistic license runs rampant throughout. But the movie’s box-office success further vindicates the decision of the Library of Congress to display a major exhibit of Freud's life and work in 1998 despite intense criticism from anti-Freudians, who succeeded in delaying the exhibit's opening for three years. The curator of the exhibit rightly insisted that regardless of whether one agrees with Freud's theories of the human mind and the source of psychological suffering, Freud's work is an integral part of popular culture.

Analyze This stars Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Lisa Kudrow, Dave Corey, and Molly Shannon. Directed by Harold Ramis and produced by Ken Lonergan, it is available at most video rental stores.

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