Self-Idealization and Reality: Why did Gatsby’s Vision Fail?

The iridiscent character of Jay Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novella has been a cultural fascination for almost a century since it was first published in 1925. There are various reasons for that. The first one is certainly the rags-to-riches-story of a young man’s transformation from poor circumstances into a flamboyant, wealthy dandy. The second, and certainly most prominant one, is the romance of this … Continue reading Self-Idealization and Reality: Why did Gatsby’s Vision Fail?

Dune 2: What Paul Atreides Taming the Sandworm Teaches us About Facing Obstacles in Life

Dune 2 is coming to theatres today in pre-premiere before the official launch on March 1st. As if the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s first installment of the franchise wasn’t already hyped enough, the Canadian star-director had decided to release a 7-minute sneak preview 2 weeks prior to the official release of the movie. To savour a little taste of Dune 2 in its anticipation, this … Continue reading Dune 2: What Paul Atreides Taming the Sandworm Teaches us About Facing Obstacles in Life

Layers of Illusion and Schizophrenia in Christopher Nolan’s Inception

Despite its unquestionable complexity, Inception is probably the single fan-favourite Christopher Nolan film. This might be due to Leonardo DiCaprio starring in it, but it is certainly also due to the captivating topic of going through multiple layers of dreams within the human consciousness. In this essay I am going to attempt an inherently psychological approach at Inception, focusing on illusion and the loss of … Continue reading Layers of Illusion and Schizophrenia in Christopher Nolan’s Inception

Identity and Self-Acceptance in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur and The Gentlemen

Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur is another one of those great movies who have gone rather unnoticed. Despite its little success it is still a fantastic and powerful movie that can teach us a lot about dealing with our own demons, with self-sabotage, and how self-acceptance of our own strength can be the key to overcome our self-doubt. Arthur’s identity is bound to the sword. Only … Continue reading Identity and Self-Acceptance in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur and The Gentlemen

The Artist and Addiction in A Star Is Born

A Star is Born is the love story between the successful country-musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) and the young, talented singer Ally (Stefani Germanotta). He wants to help her fulfill her potential and become successful. But their love relationship is tainted by Jack’s addiction to alcohol and drugs. Although the movie is very grounded and focuses solely on the interaction between the characters, the whole … Continue reading The Artist and Addiction in A Star Is Born

The Psychology of the Shadow, Part 2: The Dark Knight

This is part 2 of an essay-series about Christopher Nolan’s highly acclaimed Dark Knight Trilogy. The following is a standalone-article that can be read without the context of the other parts. For the sake of the best understanding of the matter, I strongly suggest you read part 1 about Batman Begins first. After Batman Begins redefined the perception of what levels of quality and depth … Continue reading The Psychology of the Shadow, Part 2: The Dark Knight

The Psychology of the Shadow, Part 1: Batman Begins

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy has been justly praised for countless reasons. The psychological construction of the protagonist raised the Batman from a mere comic figure to a relatable hero of stature. The quality of the acting, screenplay, production design and especially Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack have elevated this trilogy into the ranks of modern cinema’s all-time classics. But there is one reason for praise that … Continue reading The Psychology of the Shadow, Part 1: Batman Begins

The Self-Sabotaging Hero: What I Learned from Rewatching Top Gun after 32 years

Top Gun is arguably the most iconic movie of the 1980’s and still one of the coolest movies ever produced up to date. F-14 Tomcat fighter jets taking off from aircraft carriers; an inspring soundtrack with invigorating guitar tunes; fast motorbikes and fancy sunglasses; sweating, muscle-packed bodies playing beach volleyball, and – last but not least – a young, shiny, and cocky Tom Cruise. It … Continue reading The Self-Sabotaging Hero: What I Learned from Rewatching Top Gun after 32 years

Struggling Between Order and Chaos: Beth Harmon’s 7 Moves in “The Queen’s Gambit”

The success of Allan Scott’s Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit has been a surprise in many aspects. It took the Scottish TV-producer 30 years and 9 rewrites to finally find a company willing to produce the show. The most frequent reason given when studios rejected the project, was that “nobody would be interested in chess.” Before The Queen’s Gambit came out on Netflix, nobody could … Continue reading Struggling Between Order and Chaos: Beth Harmon’s 7 Moves in “The Queen’s Gambit”

The burning hand in Dune’s “Gom Jabbar”- and in Fight Club’s “Chemical Burn”-scene

The Gom Jabbar scene from Dune and the Chemical Burn scene from Fight Club share strong structural similarities. The most general similarity between these two scenes is that both Paul Atreides and the narrator from Fight Club (“Jack”) are being tested. They are being tested to suffer pain in their right hand. This similarity is what raises my interest to compare these two scenes and … Continue reading The burning hand in Dune’s “Gom Jabbar”- and in Fight Club’s “Chemical Burn”-scene