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An exploration of psychosexual themes in a selection of classic Hollywood films and their contemporary successors by Thomas Wolman. Featuring The Thing from Another World, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien, The Maltese Falcon, Wall Street, The Lost Weekend, The Days of Wine and Roses, Leaving Las Vegas, Secretary, Little Children, and Peeping Tom.
Read Tom’s blog on the hidden inspirations behind the writing of The Erotic Screen.
| Author | Thomas Wolman |
|---|---|
| ISBN | 9781912691272 |
| Format | Paperback, e-Book, Print & e-Book |
| Page Extent | 212 |
| Publication Date | February 2020 |
| Subject Areas | Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Theory |
The Erotic Screen takes as its starting point that Hollywood movies were steeped in eroticism from the beginning but censorship forced filmmakers to devise hidden sexual subtexts to preserve a film’s subliminal eroticism. In this way, Hollywood films seed our collective psyches with unconscious subtexts. Science fiction films are particularly effective, using horror to induce sexual excitement, as studied in ‘Part I: The nature of desire in a trio of science fiction thrillers.’ Another device was to display unrestricted consumption of alcohol and tobacco and gratuitous spending. Today, this is a cliché of mainstream cinema but some filmmakers expose the dark underbelly. The five films scrutinized in ‘Part II: Portraits of addiction in Hollywood melodrama’ make explicit the connections between greed, addictions, and sexuality. Finally, in ‘Part III: Perverse desire in mainstream cinema,’ the nuanced position toward the psychosexual obsessions on view in the films is investigated by posing the provocative question of whether S&M practice can work as a “cure” for psychic suffering, by raising the alarm over sexuality run amok in a suburban community, and by offering a devastating critique of voyeurism’s “fatal attraction” to viewers.
The Erotic Screen is an investigation of the nature of human sexuality through the medium of film. It stirs up discussion and debate – and helps these movies live on in our minds.
Thomas Wolman, MD, was born and raised in New York City, where he now lives after residing in Philadelphia PA for forty-four years. He attended Johns Hopkins University and the Pennsylvania State University Medical College. Subsequently, he trained at the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Center, where he taught in both the psychoanalytic and the psychotherapy training programs. Until his move, he held the title of assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He has written on Winnicott, Mahler, Kohut and Lacan, as well as on contemporary films, and more recently on greed, bereavement and privacy issues. Currently, he teaches a course on the history of psychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute.
Acknowledgements
About the author
Introduction
Part I: The Nature of Desire in a Trio of Science Fiction Thrillers
CHAPTER ONE
The Object of Desire: The Thing from Another World
CHAPTER TWO
The sleep of desire: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
CHAPTER THREE
Female sexuality in Alien
Part II: Portraits of Addiction in Hollywood Melodrama
CHAPTER FOUR
Psychoanalytic Observations on the Depiction of Greed in Two Hollywood Movies: The Maltese Falcon and Wall Street
CHAPTER FIVE
The Psychic Under-pinning of Alcoholism: The Lost Weekend, The Days of Wine and Roses, and Leaving Las Vegas
Part III: Perverse Desire in Mainstream Cinema
CHAPTER SIX
The S and M Cure in Secretary
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sexual Undertow in Little Children
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Camera as Psychotic Object in Peeping Tom
References
Index
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Dr. Luke Hockley, Professor of Media Analysis, University of Bedfordshire UKCP, ADIP, FRSA –
‘The Erotic Screen encourages us to peek behind the surface appeal of films and to explore the depths of their sexual allure. Thomas Wolman’s insightful revaluation of canonical Hollywood films reveals how sexuality is at the heart of so many movies. His commentary is persuasive. He shows that whether we know it or not, sex and sexuality are always a source of pleasure for viewers. Look for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.’
Bruce Sklarew, M.D., Chair, Forum of the Psychoanalytic Study of Film and co-editor of Bertolucci’s Last Emperor and Cinematic Reflections on the Legacy of the Holocaust –
‘The Erotic Screen is a compelling and vital contribution to psychoanalytic film scholarship. It emphasizes a multitude of relevant themes including the complexity and mystery of sexual desire as depicted in film and how the use of visual representation in film technique helps to access unconscious and conscious representations that affect the film viewer. It discusses how screen memories reflect memories projected on the screen and the role of film in exploring contemporary culture. Dr. Wolman elaborates on how censorship forced filmmakers to devise hidden sexual subtexts to preserve films’ subjective eroticism.’