Further Investigation into Psychoanalysis, following on from Simons lecture.
"An attempt to understand the unconscious mind."
The history of the Oedipus Complex
In psychoanalytic theory, the term Oedipus complex denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrate upon a child's desire to sexually possess his/her mother, and kill his/her father. Sigmund Freud, who coined the term "Oedipus complex" believed that the Oedipus complex is a desire for the mother in both sexes (he believed that girls have a homosexual attraction towards their mother); Freud deprecated the term "Electra complex", a term which was introduced by Carl Gustav Jung. The Oedipus complex occurs in the third — phallic stage (ages 3–6) — of fivepsychosexual development stages: (i) the oral, (ii) the anal, (iii) the phallic, (iv) the latent, and (v) the genital — in which the source libido pleasure is in a differenterogenous zone of the infant's body.
In classical, Freudian psychoanalytic theory, the child's identification with the same-sex parent is the successful resolution of the Oedipus complex.
Analysis...
20th century - Freuds American Nephew -Edward Bernays - The man who could influence the mass.
*He showed American co-orporations how to manipulate advertising and control the masses by satisfying peoples inner desires, their *'all-consuming selves'.
By the end of the 19th Century, America had become a Mass Industrial Society - *Propaganda was used for war, and with this information, Bernays was determined to use it for the cause of peace.
*(((Torches of freedom - Article noted in Lecture notes)))
If he could *connect the identity of Cigarettes with challenging male power, *he believed that Women would then have their own penis's, making them more powerful and independent. Giving them a reason to smoke in public. With a single symbolic advertisement. They weren't just buying the product, they were engaging emotionally with it. -- Relating to 'Penis Envy' and the Phallus.
The idea was to shift the American way of thinking from a Needs to Desire, even before the old had even be consumed. Mans *Desires must over-shadow their needs.
*Product Placement - Bernays was the first person who made cars become symbols of male sexuality.
*President Hoover was the first president who articulated the idea that consumerism would become the force behind America's progression economically.
The Reasons...
*America after the war was in a crisis of Capitalism, which exists through a constant layer of profit, a growth of industry, and one way of doing this was to invent better and better ways to produce goods, faster and faster. e.g. Henry Fords production line.
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*More was being produced than what was generally needed, Governments realised that they needed to create false needs and attach goods to peoples innate irrational desires.
Advertising Campaigns that have adopted a Psycho-Analytical approach -
Cigarrettes: Saatchi & Saatchi - Late 80's - Early 90's
In the advertising Code of Practice, in Britain, tobacco products are no longer allowed to be associated with;
- Glamour
- Sport
- Success in Business
- Masculinity & Feminism
- Also, 'Advertisements should not seek to actively persuade people to start smoking'
Saatchi & Saatchi thus developed a campaign based on Sigmund Freuds concepts which were the two most powerful driving forces behind our living. They were ID based impulses...
EROS - Life ambitions - The drive to live a full and productive life, dynamic, successful.
THANATOS - The desire for morbid self destruction, the drive for death.
The purple represents decadence, the most obvious conscious response would be to say it's representing a CUT piece of SILK - SILK CUT. However on a sub-concious level there's more layers to the advertisement...The silk represents a sexy and smooth approach while the cut represents a vagina. Then we can ask ourselves whats actually cut the silk & the answer would be a pair of scissors (Referenced consistently in Saatchi & Saatchi's advertisements, as seen below). This represents the phallus, the powerful...the Male.
*Note the ten most important points raised in Adam curtis's documentary 'Century of the Self' - Relate these points to a critical analysis of one image from the mass media which, in particular, focuses on the nature of consumerism, desire and the unconscious.
The sexual theme of the ad is made obvious through the satyr on the woman's collar and the choker further emphasises this point. 'A satyr is an age old symbol for mans baser instincts, his primitive lustful dark side.' The choker around her neck is a submissive symbol, suggesting she'll be as obedient and docile as a dog in obeying the erotic desires of her master (the viewer). She is a sex slave. If we look closely we see that this blonde woman is holding the cocktail glass in an odd or dissonant way. Her right hand is folded except for her index finger. Her index finger is extended and is pointing to the 'ice cubes' Airbrushed in the 'ice cubes' are several erotic symbols. "These symbols are designed to activate socially taboo thoughts and emotions in the viewer". By activating these deep instinctual thought processes we guarantee our client the emotional involvement of the viewer or potential consumer. Creating a desire that can only be satisfied by product consumption. You could say the 'ice cubes' which her index finger points to form an erect penis. The womens lips are in close proximity to this erect, flesh-toned penis. This idea of fellatio is reinforced by the satyr blowing on a flute or phallic-shaped object. Oral sex is a commonly desired quest and fantasy of males of all ages. By retouching and airbrushing in this symbolic sexual message. The mere glass of whiskey has been transformed and elevated into a potent aphrodisiac.
Subliminal Advertising.
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