Psychoanalytic Film Theory

Lacan Theory: "lack" and the mirror stage

Jacques Lacan theory know as the "mirror stage" consisted of an infant's ability to recognise themselves through the use of a mirror. It was believed that from the age of 6 months onwards an infant has developed the ability to view themselves as an object as a reaction to seeing their reflection in the mirror. Lacan's theory was developed from the earlier work of Henri Wallon who conducted observations of how chimpanzees and human infants react to viewing their reflection from which he found that infants were considerably more interested in this concept of exploring the self whereas the chimpanzees soon lost interest. This theory was considered to be a significant moment in the development of an infant, though by the 1950's this concept was no longer considered a stage in development. It was now considered subjectivity or the paradigm of "imaginary order".

Lacan developed the idea of the "inner self" and "outside self", a comparison of an individual from what their image portrays and what one may be feeling inside. This inner self Lacan argued was chaotic as this part of an individual is subject to change constantly and therefore reflects instability whereas the outside self reflects stability as this is how we portray ourselves to others and our effect on this stems from the super ego, a self that we idealise.

He argued that the idea of "lack" is responsible for the arising of desires in an individual.

In films this can be represented through taking drugs, the individual is trying to live a life they want to be.

Hedonistic.

Lacan distinguishes between the three kinds of lack. According to the nature of the object which is lacking.
The first one is Symbolic Castration and its object related is the Imaginary Phallus.
The second one is imaginary Frustration and its object related is the Real Breast.
The third kind of lack is Real Privation and its object related is the Symbolic Phallus.
The three corresponding agents are the Real Father, the Symbolic Mother, and the Imaginary father, Of these three forms of lack, castration is the most important from the perspective of the cure.

Mirror Stage

Lacan Application: Requiem for a Dream

'I'm somebody now Harry' 

In the clip from Requiem for a Dream Sara is talking to her Harry about why she takes the 'diet pills' and in doing so reveals a deeper tragic story of loneliness, grief and a lack of purpose. For Sara being on television is her ultimate dream, her 'ideal self' something which she obsessively fantasises about until the thought begins to torment her whole life. 

After losing her husband she is no longer a wife and her turbulent relationship with her son Harry means that she isn't really able to be a mother to him therefore she has lost the sense of self that came with those two major roles in her life and wants to find something to fill the void that she is left with. Sara takes the diet pills to try and reminisce on a  happier time where her husband was still alive and when her son was still graduating college and she believes by fitting in to the same red dress she will be alleviated from the pain of her loss. Though, this 'sense of self' that she has created is impossible to match, like Lacan's theory of lack, even if we do at some point come close to or even achieve our 'ideal self' we cannot be happy. Once we have something it loses its meaning and becomes less important but when you have something to aim for it gives you a sense of purpose and motivation to achieve what you have set yourself out for. 

Sara's sense of self is being confused by a version of herself that she will never be able to get back and the pills that she is taking are just going to make her grief and pain worse once she stops taking them so she is trapped in the cycle of abusing medication due to this lack that has appeared in her life in the form of late husband and addict son whom she refuses to acknowledge has a problem. Through the use of close up shots we can see that Sara is trying to maintain a 'happy' image despite the deep sadness that she is obviously hiding therefore this could also relate to the idea of 'inner self' and 'outer self' and she is aware that her 'outer self' must project an image of stability otherwise people will get suspicious of her addiction.