Planning: Media Psychology

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the study of the mind as it pertains to human behaviour.

The Psychic Apparatus: The theory of the psychic apparatus was first acknowledged by Sigmund Freud. He studied how the human mind can be broken into three main components which governs our behaviour.


The Id is concerned with pleasure, it does not care about the consequences and only operates on instinct and impulse. Let's take Michael for example, if someone was shouting loudly while using their mobile phone, he would most likely punch them and in order to gain silence which definitely pleases his needs without even considering the consequences, such as prison time.

The Ego

is concerned with the reality of consequences - but isn't entirely bothered by the good or bad side of the situation. It is highly aware of how others perceive it and it is constantly demanding that we act in a way which others will find approving. Meet my friend James, he wants to donate to charity however he doesn't really want to lose his favourite book.

The Superego acts as the judge between the two sides, giving you a choice to make - either the good or the bad. This in a nutshell, is consciousness. In many cartoons, you see the Angel on one shoulder and the Devil seated on the other as the decision makers.

In the media, the hero is known as the protagonist and the villain is known as an antagonist. These characters are usually seen as hyper exaggerated. We watch them as a way to appease the facets of our behaviour.

Jacques Lacan is a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who is known to have found the idea of the Mirror Stage and the Ideal I.

The Mirror Stage is basically the theory which explains that infants do not recognise themselves as being an individual, not knowing that they're a human or if they even exist.  At around 18 months, a child will realise that they are human, and will start to establish an interpretation of themselves.

The Ideal I is not capable of thinking negatively about ourselves, meaning that our way of thinking is almost definitely correct. We don't associate with everything a character provides, only what suits us. We may not want to look like someone but may associate with their abilities, wealth etcetera.

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She worked heavily on scopophilia and voyeurism within the media.

Scopophilia is the pleasure through looking at the human form (often sexual).

Voyeurism is the sexual pleasure gained through looking at the human form when they're unaware of it (spying).

Scopophilia and Gender

The representation of gender is how we look at a character and how they return the look, which leads to the gaze - the idea of looking is what fulfils our sexual desires, the gaze is constructed to help create the binary structure of gender.
Sexual objectification occurs through our gaze, women are portrayed as sexual objects, or alternatively, meat. They are generally represented as weak in a variety of forms, such as looking childlike, vulnerable by shielding their chests and lastly, not looking directly at the audience.
However, male representation is the complete opposite: they are displayed as adult like, powerful and, as a result, they look directly at the subject.

The real question is: are females ever powerful?

Females may seem powerful, but through analysis, they still fall within the binary structure - take Wonderwoman for example, strong and powerful but sexually appealing.