Spiderman In Love

Journal Analysis

            As the title of the journal notes, “Spider-Man in Love: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation” is exactly what the title describes; a psychoanalytical interpretation of the 2002 film “Spiderman” directed by Sam Raimi.  The author Richard L. Kaplan divulges into deep psychoanalytic theories regarding the film. He explores the role of hypermasculinity, the “father” complex, and the Oedipal Complex. He brilliantly dissects the movie and correlates them to hypermasculinity, the “father” complex, and the Oedipal Complex. He exposes genre patterns, and gender roles in the film. This brief analysis of Richard L. Kaplan’s “Spider-Man in Love: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation” will summarize his findings; show my viewpoints on his findings, and the relevance I find in them.

Being the naïve reader that I am, I searched for an article that would have some meaning and interest to my taste. I have always had a love for anything superhero related. So when scrolling through the “Journal for Popular Culture”, I came across the word Spiderman. I immediately downloaded the article; emailed it to my instructor, without ever glancing at the entire title or reading the article itself, an action I should have taken. After reading the article, much to my surprise, I was completely baffled; this article was not what I expected. 

As I noted before I was baffled, not upset. Upon reading the introduction I find myself intrigued, as he notes that “Spiderman” is a love story in disguise. He goes on to tell how the classic formula: boy meets girl, then loses her, saves the world, wins the public’s acclaim, and captures his love, is broken, and instead ends in tears with love stimulated but unrequited. (Kaplan, 2011). I am now seduced into his article. I question myself, is “Spiderman” not an action film? Was I tricked into watching a love story? And after contemplating on it, I was. It was after the introduction that I found out what I had gotten into: psychology!

Oh, the horrendous memories of taking Introduction to Psychology from sophomore year. (Just a note, I am an accountant) I had to remember what Freud’s five stages of psychosexual development were. I had to “wiki” several complexes, and use the dictionary for some of the vocabulary used. Before I go into any summarizations, I need to describe some terms. The Oedipal complex is a complex of males; desire to possess the mother sexually and to exclude the father; said to be a source of personality disorders if unresolved. (Farlex, Inc, 2012) Hypermasculinity is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior, such as an emphasis on strength, aggression, body hair, odor, and virility. (Farlex, Inc, 2012) The “father complex” is a term I; myself use to describe any psychological problems caused from having an inadequate, or absent father. Now that you have an understanding of these terms, I can start my summary.

The Summary

            Kaplan’s article describes the hypermasculinty of the villains, Mary Jane’s boyfriends, and her father.  He goes on to talk about how these villains and other men have been neglected of the softening, socializing effect of women and or family. This serves as the threatening image of the male within the pervasive American beliefs about masculinity. This has become known in popular culture throughout history, and is prevalent in melodrama. Kaplan quotes that “this fear of men echoes one part of the traditional oedipal fantasy: the bad menacing father, the arbitrary vindictive older man who stands outside the requirements of morality and social compassion”. (Kaplan, 2011) His article describes the attributes of Peter Parker, AKA Spiderman, and how he does not fit this hypermasculine stereotype, and later because of this wins the heart of the beautiful Mary Jane Watson.

 Let us not forget what intrigued me about this article; that this film is a deviance from other love stories. Parker is depicted as the softened male, who has feelings and compassions. He is not the stereotypical, hypermasculine action hero that we have all come to know. He is soft and empathetic. He is human, with flaws, but has compassion; this eventually trumps the other males in the film. However Parker is also Spiderman and is continuously battling the hypermasculine villain, internally and externally. This hardens Parker, his empathy and compassions start to slip away, and become replaced with feelings of fatherly instincts; protection. (Kaplan, 2011) Parker ends his relationship with Mary Jane, in fear of her being hurt. He has transitioned himself from lover to protector, i.e. “father”. The Oedipal Complex has as much to do with maturing and replacing your father’s role in life as sexually desiring your mother. Mary Jane’s interactions with menacing men reinforce the desires for Parker to protect her. Her father was abusive, her first boyfriend was a “jerk”, and her rebound was non supportive. His article goes on in greater detail how these conditions all interact with each other.

My Viewpoints and the Relevance of the Article

            In my opinion the article is very well written with the exception of one flaw, the author misspells Mary Jane’s last name, Watson. With her being a very important topic in the story, I find this to be a horrible mistake. I believe this article was written for students, professors, and scholars of the psychology field. This article used a lot of technical jargon and psychoanalytical theory. This article required side research for me to fully comprehend its points.  I find the only relevance of this article is to stimulate those groups of people I mentioned earlier. As a general film viewer this article went into too much detail and for some who have brash feelings against any type of incest, may reject the oedipal complex, and be turned away from this film.

References

Farlex, Inc. (2012). The Free Dictionary . Retrieved August 29, 2012, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Oedipal+complex

Kaplan, R. (2011). Spider-Man in Love: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation. Journal of Popular Culture , 291-292.