According to J. Lacan, the Ego is imaginary. Therefore, relationships with others aredominated by illusion or ploy. Others kindle the desire because they representan idealized part of ourselves and / or, aggression because it represent anideal that we could not reach. In this article we will try to illustrate twomajor concepts in Psychoanalytic Clinical Psychology : the object “a” and thesymbiotic relationship with the movie MulhollandDrive.
David Lynch approaches this topic in his film Mulholland Drive. This enigmatic film tells a love story in Los Angeles between dream and reality. In the second part of the film which seems to be the “reality”, we can understand that Camilla (played by Laura Elena Harring) represent the Ideal of Diane (played by Naomi Watts). Since Camilla was an accomplished actress in Hollywood. Diane moved in Los Angeles in the hope of becoming a famous movie actress. The fulfilment of this dream appears as the last object that could make Diane full. We will use Lacan’s concept the object “a” to describe Diane’s link to her career. The object “a” refers to the idea that every human being is incomplete. With the language we lose the essence of reality, therefore the essence of ourselves. So, all of our life we will try to fill the void that the object “a” has left in ourselves. That leads the human to desire actual objects in the world, even if this quest to completeness will never be achieved. Diane struggles with her own castration in her journey in the film industry. Her (relative) failure and her meeting with Camilla bring new goals to Diane. If she cannot become a movie star herself, she can live the success of Camilla by having a symbiotic relationship with her. Her investment in her career became investment in her love affair with Camilla. Camilla become Diane’s new object a, that being, the only object that could make her fill her emptiness. In the first part of the movie which seems to be “the dream”, Camilla is the incarnation of Diane’s desire. Delicateness, sensuality are projected in Camilla who needs Diane to protect and love her. In response to Camilla’s needs Diane shows audacity and sensuality. Gradually in the first part, the two characters show similar characteristics, wearing the same colors. They don’t seem to live when they are apart. This symbiosis corresponds with an archaic object’s relationship. In other words, lack of differentiation is in the center of their relationship. During her dream, Diane fantazies becoming fused with the object of her love.
In his filmsDavid Lynch, interrogates how dream and reality can be merged together and howthe idea that we have about ourselves and others is an illusion. Thoseinterrogations are the center of Lacan’s work. Lacan’s concepts may seem oldand hard to understand, but as David Lynch’s movies, they ask questions that can lead to a new point of view. Their works encourage us to nourish our ability to be surprise and to not jump on meaning and interpretation.
Words I have learned :
Fulfilment: épanouissement
Delicateness: délicatesse
Ploy : supterfuge
Ego /superEgo/ It : Freudian second topic ; Moi Surmoi et Ca.
To merge : se fondre dans quelque chose
Flora Gonidou
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