Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Mulholland Drive analysis - part 10: Diane is undergoing individuation

CATEGORY: MOVIES















As implied in the previous part of this analysis, the blue box is symbolic of Diane's Self, which is the final stage of the process of individuation. According to Jungian psychology, individuation is a process of psychological integration, having for its goal the development of the individual personality. "In general, it is the process by which individual beings are formed and differentiated; in particular, it is the development of the psychological individual as a being distinct from the general, collective psychology. Individuation, therefore, is a process of differentiation, having for its goal the development of the individual personality."[a]

Prominent Jungian archetypes involved in the stages of the individuation process are the shadow, the Wise Old Man and the Wise Old Woman, and the anima in man and the animus in woman.

Individuation is a process of transformation whereby the personal and collective unconscious is brought into consciousness (by means of dreams, active imagination or free association to take some examples) to be assimilated into the whole personality. It is a completely natural process necessary for the integration of the psyche to take place. Individuation has a holistic healing effect on the person, both mentally and physically.[b]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------











The cheerful Betty Elms represents Diane Selwyn's 'dream-persona'.


Diane's persona is represented in her dream by Betty. (When it was suggested in part 10 that Betty represents Diane's ego, this meant within the context of her being absent when Rita opens the blue box - this symbolizes the ego submitting to the Self.) Louise Bonner represents the Wise Old Woman, and the person behind Winkie's represents Diane's shadow. Actually, the person behind Winkie's appears as a man to Dan, but he/she represents a woman for Diane - the shadow is generally same-sex.


a. Jung, C.G. The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 6. Princeton University Press, 1971. para. 757.
b. Wikipedia, 'Individuation'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuation.


   

Posted at 3:43 PM
Labels:




Disclaimers
1) In certain instances it has been determined that the creators of some of the productions analyzed on this blog, and/or the creators of source material(s) used in the making of these productions, may be making negative statements about certain segments of society in their productions. These statements should be taken as expressing the opinions of no one other than the creators.

2) This blog is not associated with any of the studios, creators, authors, publishers, directors, actors, musicians, writers, editors, crew, staff, agents, or any other persons or entities involved at any stage in the making of any of the media productions or source materials that are analyzed, mentioned, or referenced herein.

3) In keeping with the policies of the filmmakers, authors, studios, writers, publishers, and musicians, that have created the productions (and their source materials) that are analyzed, mentioned, or referenced on this blog, any similarity of the characters in these films or source materials to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All images on this blog are used solely for non-commercial purposes of analysis, review, and critique.

All Wikipedia content on this blog, and any edits made to it, are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Marcus Aurelius's Meditations - from Wikisource (except where otherwise noted); portions from Wikisource used on this blog are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Saint Augustine's Confessions and City of God from Wikisource (except where otherwise noted); portions from Wikisource used on this blog are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Saint Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica from the 'Logos Virtual Library' website (except where otherwise noted), compiled and edited by Darren L. Slider; believed to be in public domain.