Buffy in relation to Freud’s Belief in the Id, Ego, and Superego

The statement in chapter 5 on the book on Freud that discusses, “Freud’s pursuit of the byways of sex and aggression…becom(ing) transmuted into a cosmic vision of opposing forces of good and evil…” (Freud packet, pg. 68) is basically the template for the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and specifically the episode from season 3 entitled Bad Girls. What’s so important about this episode is that it pertains to this idea of sex and aggression and how it resembles the fight between good and evil, or rather the fight between the ego, id, and superego of the psyche.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a show that deals with how different characters obtain power. In order to obtain power, one has to (at least on this show) start to question who they really are as an individual. The mission statement of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that a slayer has to know who she is in order to fight the demons of the world. Buffy season 3 is a particularly interesting season of the series. It represents the last year that the Scoobies attend high school, so in a sense the season represents a very strange juncture in particularly Buffy’s life. By the time of season 3, Buffy (and I presume the Scoobies as well) are in a state of limbo emotionally where they don’t really know who they are, or are discovering who they really are. This confusion on the Slayer’s part is represented by her boyfriend Angel-the Vampire with a soul. Buffy can’t sleep with her boyfriend because he has a gypsy curse on him that disallows him from experiencing true happiness. If he does, he will return to his evil ways as Angelus. Buffy being torn between sleeping with her boyfriend and not is something that teenagers in her age group can relate to. It’s a representation of being torn between being a responsible child and being an independent adult. This limbo state is a form of being torn between the ego and the id. It’s the crux of this season, and possibly the crux of the whole series; being subservient and being independent. Willow, Buffy’s best friend, is experiencing similar turmoil where she is torn between being a full on Wicca (or witch) and holding her powers in check and being a responsible, watchful, and morally guided individual.

Throughout the season Buffy is trying to figure out what Freudian stage she is in. She feels, and so does the audience, that she is a representation of the ego, because as the slayer she has to ultimately be in control of her emotions and intercede between the id and superego. She, in a sense, is not allowed to exploit her strength at the same time that she is not allowed to enforce her opinion. The way that the male hierarchy of the Watcher’s Council is set up (the Council that looks after the Slayer) all of those qualities mentioned above are only allowed to be exploited by the Watcher looking after the Slayer. However, as the audience watches this season it appears that Buffy is very much attracted to the freeing id state, in the representation of the new slayer in town by the name of Faith.

(In the episode before the one about to be discussed, Giles Buffy’s Watcher, was fired for letting the Slayer think on her own and decide her own actions. A watcher by the name of Wesley replaces Giles position. Luckily Giles gets to keep his job as high school librarian, where the Scoobies have their meeting place.)

Bad Girls is the ultimate representation of Buffy’s attraction to Faith. She basically becomes enticed by Faith to share her viewpoint of the world. This viewpoint involves totally lack of subservience to anyone or any guiding principle. Faith’s only rule in life is to obtain pleasure. The episode revolves around Buffy and Faith basically searching for this medallion that’s a giant maguffin; really the episode is about Faith’s spiraling down the wrong road morally, which ultimately repels Buffy away from her. Faith accidentally kills a human being, and rather than listening to Buffy and notifying the authorities she takes care of the evidence. The villain of the season, Mayor Wilkins, ascends to a state where he is immortal (because of the medallion) and the vampire who initially tried to obtain the medallion warns Buffy before he dies that she wishes that he killed her, because what she is about to face (i.e. the Mayor but also Faith as well) will destroy her and Sunnydale.

If one were to run through this episode in a specific and systematic fashion, then they will see that Bad Girls really primarily has to do with the id, ego, and superego. Bad Girls opens up in a typical enough fashion for this show: Buffy and Faith are both dusting vampires in the Sunnydale graveyard. Faith as a character seems feisty and aggressive in a sexually innocent enough way; she talks to Buffy about Xander’s sex life (a Scooby that she slept with two episodes before). The interesting thing to note in this opening moment is how different the Slayer’s fighting techniques are. Buffy plans ahead before she attacks, while Faith just plunges right in for the kill. Faith says that Buffy thinks too much, meaning she should let go of her controlling instincts that hamper her as an individual. We as an audience then enter the library and encounter the new Watcher Wesley. The contrasts between Wesley and Giles are startling; this is ironic considering that Giles on this show used to be the stiff upper lip father figure to Buffy. He’s much more liberal in his nature compared to someone like Wesley. This is an indication of how the super ego state is not as simple as some people think it is. It is an ever fluxing state (Willow goes through similar set of circumstances in this season). One eventually moves out of that state, unless you’re part of the Watcher’s council.

The next scene is a very telling one in terms of the Slayer’s character. I will quote it basically in verbatim:

Faith: “You’re actually going to take orders from him?”

Buffy:”It’s the job. What else can we do?”

Faith: “Whatever we want. We’re slayers girlfriend. The chosen two. Why should we let him take all the fun out of it?”

Buffy:”Tragic. Taking the fun out of slaying, beheading.”

Faith: “Oh, like you don’t dig it?”

Buffy:”I don’t.”

Faith: “You’re a liar. I’ve seen you. Tell me staking a vamp doesn’t get you a little bit juiced? C’mon say it. You can’t fool me. The look in your eyes after I see you kill; you get hungry for more.”

Buffy:”You’re way off base.”

Faith: “Slaying is what we were built for. If you’re not enjoying it, than you’re doing something wrong.”

What initially appears merely harmless in Faith, her sexual nature (a quality that Freud feels initially appears in the id state), is actually something that is very complex and eventually, once this episode reaches its conclusion, a characteristic that is very dangerous. The innocence that appears in this conversation is much more heinous and telling, concerning Faith. It also is very telling in terms of Buffy’s nature as well. The fun that Faith talks about, in terms of slaying, has to do with her id states need for pleasure and pleasure only; pleasure without any moral considerations. Faith truly does have an obsession with this concept of obtaining pleasure. Isn’t pleasure something that should come easily to one? Faith’s “obsessional neurosis” (Freud packet, 59) need of pleasure is something that is not really normal. She does not notify the authorities about the person that she killed. Unlike Buffy’s need to save other people, which is an indication of Buffy’s ego, “…affirming that love of others was self-love turned outward” (Freud packet, pg. 58) Faith has no need for anyone else because they represent “outpouring of stimuli” (Freud packet, pg. 59) which is something that is too much for her to handle. Her pleasure drive is a way to shut out the rest of the world; it has to eventually cancel out or get rid of the outside world if it ultimately manifests fully and completely. Hence Faith’s need to team up with the Mayor; here is someone who shares in her point of view.

However Faith is right about one thing concerning her basic enticing of Buffy to share her point of view, and that is that these two are connected. They are Slayers after all, and this is a representation of how the ego, which is narcissistic like the id, “…is originally derived from the id” (Freud packet, pg. 62). The connection that Faith talks about in relation with Buffy is what tempts Buffy to become like Faith because Buffy is not really sure who she is at this point in the show. The scene where Buffy and Faith are outside the manhole containing vampires is very telling about these two Thelma and Louise like characters. In reference to the manhole Buffy says to Faith, “It’s a manhole. Tight space; no escape.” This reference to a tight dark space is very important because this space is where Buffy and Faith both enter in this show. It’s the space without any moral boundaries guiding one. It’s the space that Buffy eventually leaves, and the space where Faith remains. Buffy then says to Faith: “You’re just going to go down there? That’s you’re plan?” and Faith responds with, “Who said I had a plan?” So far, nothing appears to be new in terms of the development of these characters. Faith is the ever, “primitive, unorganized, and emotional” slayer (Freud packet, pg. 60). She is, “…a chaos, a cauldron full of seething excitations…filled with energy reaching…from…instincts, (that) has no organization, produces no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of instinctive needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle” (Freud packet, pg. 61). Faith at one point in the episode says to Buffy that, “Life of the Slayer is very simple. Want, take, have.” She is in “…contrast to the ego” (Freud packet, pg. 61) or Buffy. Or is she? Here’s Faith’s response to Buffy: “If you don’t come in after me, I might die.” Buffy is putty in Faith’s hands and this is because the ego is intrinsic from the id.

If one were to read into the first diary entry that Giles wrote about Buffy, and which Wesley recites to Giles, than the viewer will see everything they have to about Buffy’s nature. The entry reads: “Slayer is willful and insolent.” This is the connecting link that Buffy shares with Faith. She certainly appears insolent to Wesley, who is the ultimate super ego character. (It seems that the Slayer’s ultimate goal-both the ego and id-is to be insolent to paternalistic authority figures). However, I feel that Giles’ response to this statement is even more telling. He says to Wesley that, “You have to get to know her.” Throughout this episode, it almost seems that all the psychological states are in flux. Giles, who really is a form of the superego, in a sense moves out of his position, i.e. does not get into Buffy’s way, in order to let her enact her id daydream in order to let her realize on her own that she is not like Faith, and is not ultimately id based.

However, first Buffy has to tread down Faith’s viewpoint in order to ultimately be repelled by her. Buffy’s change of state happens when she, in a sense, goes down that rabbit hole or manhole. In the manhole, she is temporarily drowned by a vampire, and in a sense for the time being becomes re-born. When Faith says to Buffy, “Tell me you didn’t get off on this?” Buffy responds by saying, “Didn’t suck.” Buffy even starts to wear a black coat in this episode. However, I feel that in the back of her mind Buffy knows that she is merely trying on this role for the time being. She is always in control; forever a representation of the ego. When Giles asks her if she is ok after the manhole incident, Buffy responds: “…Had to get the sewer out of my hair. But I’m good; thanks for asking.” This is an example of what I stated earlier about Buffy’s and Giles relationship, and how this metaphorical father figure basically lets his daughter discover who she is on her own. In a sense, Buffy and Faith’s Slayer relationship is very similar to Giles and Wesley’s Watcher relationship. The one is the extreme case of the other, reminding the other that they are not what they fear.

This not being able to differentiate night from day that Faith has (Buffy: “What’s up?” Faith: “Vampires.” Buffy: “Uh, unless there’s a total eclipse in the next five minutes. It’s daylight.”) is what ultimately proves to be Faith’s downfall morally. She can never escape her id state. Freud felt that the id, “…ignores the categories of time and space, and treats contraries like dark/light or high/deep as if they were identical” (Freud packet, pg. 61). This is what ultimately leads to Faith’s mistaking a human for a vampire, and what ultimately leads to Faith’s downfall. This is the primary difference between Faith and Buffy. Buffy, who is a representation of the id, “…represent(s) consciousness. (She) employs secondary process: that is, reason, common sense, and the power to delay immediate responses to external stimuli or to internal instinctive promptings” (Freud packet, pg. 61-62). The difference between Buffy and Faith is that Buffy ultimately feels guilt over the innocent person’s death. We the audience never see Buffy wash her hands of the blood from the innocent victim, while we endlessly see Faith washing the blood off of her shirt.

I think the comment that is the true essence of this episode comes from the commentary of this episode by Doug Petrie. He states concerning Willow that, “She feels like she is being left out, or that the dynamic is shifting. And she’s right. She knows that she is being left behind because she a’int got superpowers. Faith never liked Willow much. But Faith missed a lot. Willow feels things.” This episode is, finally, a representation of how the super ego and ego states are undervalued and how they shouldn’t be, and that the id state is ultimately a very over-valued and dangerous state for one to be in. The question that is implicit in the tv series is: yes, power is a great and liberating concept, but how far can one go in terms of obtaining power before one loses control? Buffy’s (and the character’s in this show’s) questioning of her identity is the tension that is always implicit in this show; what moral road will she eventually end up at? Will she ultimately lose control like Faith? The characters emotions are much scarier than the monsters that figure in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

A Female Cabby in Sidi Bel-Abbes

A Female Cabby in Sidi Bel-Abbes is a documentary that deals with the only woman taxi driver in Algeria. The reason for why her being a taxi driver is so significant and controversial has to do with the fact that the government is highly restrictive of the female sex obtaining their rights; they try to postpone female empowerment as much as possible and frown upon the female sex in general. The audience can sense this whenever there are images of the men looking upon the female protagonists of this film. The suspense in this film is felt very acutely, even though barely anything happens in the movie. All the audience sees throughout the movie is the woman cabdriver and her friends chitchatting about how ridiculous the situation is over there in Algeria. The audience gets a sense that these heroic figures are constantly looking over their shoulders to make sure that no one but us (the audience) are watching them tell their tales of plight. That’s all these women are doing. It’s ridiculous to believe that what these women are doing is so heinous; but that’s what the men over in Algeria feel.
It’s a terrifying movie because we as an audience do not know why we are so on edge until we hear of the deaths of the teachers. This is a metaphor for how one cannot do anything about the situation in Algeria until it’s too late. That’s certainly what these women feel, and yet they perservere anyway even with threats against their lives. This certainly kept my interest going, even though there wasn’t much “action” in the film. But isn’t that the whole point of what is going on politically in Algeria. This imposition, as it were, is something that is very hard to fight against because it is so subtle in appearance. It’s only simple ignorance as it were on the men’s part, right? That is the terrifying quality that is in this film. There are no resolutions in this movie because the story in that region is just starting to emerge for one to fully comprehend and do something about politically. The great quality of particularly the woman cab driver is that she always knows what to do and is not intimidated in the least bit by the male opressors in Algeria.
The problems that the filmmakers faced must have been trying to get some kind of flow in the footage that they shot. After all, all these filmmakers could shoot is the testimonials from the women. How does this build up suspense? Yet, I feel that A Female Cabby in Sidi-Bel-Abbes is one of the most suspenseful films I have ever seen. The suspense is the kind that is ever pervading and not really apparent. It’s like an invisible monster that is slowly seeping to the surface and killing all of the oppressed in its sight.
Really, I didn’t detect so much of a relationship between the filmmaker’s and the people on the screen. For the most part, there is simply a camera placed in the taxi and that is all. Perhaps this builds up suspense as well; it definitely provides a sense of cool detatchment on the part of the filmmakers. I think this actually adds to the films quality.
One particular scene that is truly terrifying is when the taxi driver hears that there is a rumour that she has been killed by someone. This strong heroic woman starts to cry in front of camera. Her whole purpose for being in this documentary in the first place, for showing how one fights oppression-for encouraging action-just went out of the window at this moment and she knows it. These oppressive men are crushing this woman’s spirit without even being present and she also realizes this as well and stops crying.

Favela Rising

The documentary Favela Rising focuses on Anderson Sa; a remarkable man who singlehandedly through his music (aided by the other members of his group AfroReggae) lowered the crime rate and drug dealing done in his homeland of Rio De Generio. It’s amazing, considering the amount of information given in the film of how much the area was swimming in drugs and violence, how through simply music and a good role model public image a whole area can clean up its act. That this all was done because of one man’s efforts is extraordinary. The film details this man’s struggles through his life, as well as Rio De Generio’s troubles, and how they both ceased after AfroReggae.
> The film was extremely successful in capturing my attention. First, through making me as an audience member extremely on the edge of my seat, watching how terrible the situation was over there. However, eventually this feeling left me and was replaced by uplift and happiness over the creation of AfroRegae and the ceasing of the problems in Rio De Generio. Anderson’s determination, after everything that he had been through, and then him finally seeing his plan come into fruition, was awe inspiring. I guess I was much like the citizens of Rio De Generio at that point—initially anxious and then simply in awe of Anderson Sa. I also learned a great deal about Rio De Generio and AfroReggae, which I knew nothing about before watching the film.
> The filmmaker’s challenge must have been documenting how dangerous it was over in Rio De Generio. After all, they can’t be privy to a drug deal with out fear of being killed in the process. However, the filmmaker’s seemed to have caught many moments of strife through the use of surveillance film cameras. That general feeling of initially paranoia is very much felt in the film (probably due to simply documenting the citizen’s faces). As I stated earlier, once AfroReggae comes into fruition this feeling is replaced by confidence, happiness, and hope. The audience perfectly understands what Rio De Genrio’s citizens are going through. The filmmaker’s are simply in awe of the members of AfroReggae. These members are living heroes that the filmmaker’s are lucky enough to have documented with their cameras. One feels that these filmmakers are particularly in awe of Anderson Sa, as they should be.
> The one particular scene that I feel epitomizes this film is the whole section detailing Anderson’s paralysis due to his surfing accident. One immediately gets a sense of this man’s knowing how important he is to Rio De Generio. I almost got a sense that Anderson is like the land and if he is paralyzed, Rio De Generio’s people would be also and the land’s progress would come to a halt. This is the section where the audience becomes completely in awe of Anderson. He eventually walks again and continues AfroReggae. Why aren’t there more inspiring karma-imbued men like Anderson?
> The film initially is edited and shot in a very rough fashion, which very much reflects the turmoil that Rio De Generio is going through. Once AfroReggae comes into fruition the film’s tone becomes more calming and peaceful and more beautiful to look at. The shots of the sea that Anderson frequents in, combined with the happiness on the faces of Rio De Generio’s citizens inspires hope for a better future—a future that is already happening.
> The way the members of AfroReggae move in their dance moves is very much a reflection of their feelings and the hope and confidence that they want to project to the rest of the citizens of Rio De Genrio. It’s amazing that this music has so much power. What AfroReggae does for Rio De Genrio is almost a subconscious process. All music should have this impact and power.