A Dangerous Method

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        There was a time when Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung exchanged friendly letters but as they became closer, the letters turned more and more critical of each other until they got downright intolerable. They both suffered from professional jealousy. ‘A Dangerous Method’, is a film about an episode during a particularly fruitful period in the lives of Freud and Jung as they wrestle their minds between madness and eros. It’s funny that the spanking scene was filmed so earnestly that no one in the audience laughed. There was also a topless whipping scene but again there was silence.

It seems absurd to realise that Freud and Jung wanted to build serious academic careers out of the observation that simply put; people just want to get their rocks off. The beginning of the twentieth century was full of odd ideas caused by an excess of faith in the scientific method and the misplaced hopes that came with it are displayed plainly in what is deservedly an under-rated work but nonetheless it is subtly entertaining.

        Because, in our time, psychology has become such a huge preoccupation - partly through some important intellectual confusions added by both Freud and Jung, we have come to think that unless we study this subject, we remain by and large ignorant of our own selves. How can this be the case? Descartes said, "I think therefore I am." Is this not sufficient affirmation of self knowledge? If so then why do we repress our desires? For me it might be because I remain doubtful about the safety of the human forces that I have to deal with and I foresee disasters that will befall before a weakened will.

        Given that the recent wars have torn us apart, the United Nations is a concept that derives from the belief that global harmony will be reached by inculcating the idea of a lasting peace that comes from believing in equality. Take the example of Francis Fukuyama - a public intellectual who writes in English, has an American voice and a Japanese face. He says that history is finished. What does he mean? (Read this The End of History? The National Interest, Summer 1989 Francis Fukuyama to find out). There is also Marshall McLuhan who speaks similarly about how the world has transformed into a hitherto unknown form becoming a 'global village'. It is true that history is hard to interpret.

 
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