Index:
3.1. About the concepts
3.1.1. Transitional object
3.1.2. Transference
3.1.3. Fictional relationship
3.2. Movie as a transitional object
3.3. Transitional object transfers
3.4. Transference as transitional object
3.5. The stream of consciousness
3.6. Marks and meanings
3.7. Territory and expanding of it
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3.1. ABOUT THE CONCEPTS
3.1.1. Transitional object
In movie therapy we think that transitional object is a stimulant, irritant
or object that transfers an emotion from a situation to another,
from earlier connection to new connection.
Widely thinking:
all that we experience or feel appears from somewhere, bands to something and
moves, transfers by something - for a reason or another - to a new
connection. What does that transferring are transitional objects.
In every day life we don't think so much about transitional objects.
Things just seem to happen like automatically. Some colour, sound, picture,
shape, motion, composition, form, smell, heat, combination etc. just feels
for somehow better or worse, more or less suitable.
If we like black colour we don't like it without any reason.
Black colour may associate with many meaningful things in our mind:
sorrow, hardness, roughness, gloomy, lonely, death, night, satanic, rebellious,
defiance, cool, macho, solitary life, evil, sin, forbidden, dirty, etc.
Whatever semantic meanings of black are, colour black transfers that
(usually unconscious) meaning or emotion with it.
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3.1.2. Transference
Transference means transfer of emotions by transitional objects.
When we born we star to make pictures or figures of this life and set some
basic values on what's / who's good and what's / who's bad, what is right and
what is wrong, how we can succeed in or fail in life or doing something. We get to
know our "friends" and "enemies". We get to know what / who are interesting and
what / who are uninteresting. With those basic life-handling skills we go on and
maybe can handle our life.
That transference happens all the time. It's so natural that we don't even think
about it or notice it. When we meet a totally stranger, it takes only few seconds to
create a basic comprehensive image of that person. In some cases our first image is
quite right on long run, in some cases it is not.
Transference selects first with rough siffer like: interesting - uninteresting,
pleasant - unpleasant, etc. If our interest awakes then we go on observing and
classifying more.
And so it goes. When we are old enough we know better that in every person there
are different sides and levels, there is at least a little bit of "good" and
"bad" in everybody.
We call those positive relationships positive transference. It helps a lot to
build good and friendly relations or acquaintanceship from positive basis.
We call those negative relationships negative transference. And it does not
help so much to built good and friendly relations from that background.
Positive opposite transference makes life very easy with those people and
negative opposite transference makes it very embarrassing.
In many action, western, etc. movies movie makers cut those "unnecessary personality
levels" away and leave good to be all good and bad to be all bad.
It makes easier for us to identify with those movie characters, but at the same
time it may give us too black and white picture about this life.
It's useful to remember that there are many reasons and explanations behind every
behaviour.
Point of views and images arise from somewhere and are transferred by
something. That something is transitional object by which all sounds and
signs in movies are transferring and having individual meanings to every viewer
personally. Size of picture, view angles, light, motion, sounds, volume and
thinks like that are helping us to imagine and to create that affective and
believable story we are "watching". We watch it like we watch our dreams.
Better word than "watch" would be here "live".
While watching a movie we work very hard with our subconscious mind and
with our forbidden, muffled and prevented emotions.
At the same time it is like travelling in time and travelling in mind.
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3.1.3. Fictional relationship
More we become aware of our own transferences and origin of our
transitional objects better we can separate our images of fiction from
facts. Movie relationship is basically fictive, sum of our defaults,
reflexion of our subjective mind. What is interesting is that all our
relationships in real life are fictive too, our defaults of other peoples
essences and thoughts.
When we are lucky our thoughts match with reality, when we have bad luck
they don't.
To make it simple: transitional object is the sign; transference gives
meaning to that sign.
We need signs and signals to bind together all our emotions and
experiences. Transitional objects are like landmarks when we navigate through
our life. They help to orientate with new people and new events.
Let's think about believable news announcer and our relation to believable
news. What kind of a person is believable? What kind of a person is
unbelievable? Does a believable news announcer have to look straight in viewer's eyes,
be tidy and peaceful and clear and pleasant? Are news becoming unreal if
news announcer looks and acts just the opposite way? What if a news announcer
looks like untidy transvestite and chronically alcoholic, would that news be more
incredible? Or would a priest dressed like Hell's Angel is formal and convincing
in the Christmas church?
Transitional objects transfer our images and emotions.
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3.2. MOVIE AS A TRANSITIONAL OBJECT
Transitional object means object with what some (usually important)
emotional meaning or stimulus moves or transfers to new connection.
From the very beginning D.W.Winnicott used it to describe why those
dearest toys or pillows are so important to a child. He said that with
transfer power of those toys or pillows a child could easier separate from mother
and accept the world outside.
Photo is a simple example of transitional object. For me a photo of my son when he
is one year old is much more than just one picture of a child. It brings those
feelings and thoughts in to my mind that I had at that time. A single picture can
carry huge amount of information, especially strong emotions.
Transitional object "needs" some personal contact or background to carry that
important information.
How it works in a movie?
One example: in a movie we see for the first time a normal looking dog running
fast to us (= to movie camera).
What happens? If we love dogs maybe we think that the dog is so happy it wants to
kiss and hug us. If we are deadly afraid of dog's maybe we think that the dog is
going to bite and mangle us to death. If that ambience seems to be familiar to us
we may have a feeling that we can handle this thing easily. If it seems to be
totally strange, we must keep our eyes open all time and repair to face
worst possible threat. It has different meaning to different people what size
that dog is. I have two huge and lovely dogs at home and seeing a big dog in a
movie brings pleasant emotions into my mind. I know people who almost go to panic
when they meet a dog small like a cat.
In that example a dog is in fact a neutral stimulus but transfers very
meaningful and very personal emotions that are related to those experiences
we have had earlier with dogs.
I think that transitional object is maybe one of the most important elements
of our mind: a mark that binds certain meaning to a new connection with its
transfer power.
While we are watching Wallace & Cromit animation called Wrong trousers
we are not angry or aggressive to that tiny mean penguin (= a small piece of
plasticine) but to that mean, distortion, perfidy, wickedness we have experienced
in that same kind of situation what that tiny but nasty
penguin brings up from our subconscious mind.
To us that emotion is as real as it was happening in our every day life on
emotional level. That experience is real and it doesn't matter if we think at
the same time that it is only fiction.
We feel marks and signals like they are in proportion to our own mind and
our own reality.
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3.3. TRANSITIONAL OBJECT TRANSFERS
Transitional object have power to bind emotions and meanings in itself. In a way
it carries information and knowledge from a generation or place or people to
another. Like: "what you once learn, you remember it later."
Transitional objects help us in living because they carry our experiences and
memories and meanings from time to time, from place to place, so we don't have
to live life like totally forgetfully would have to live.
Transitional object separates "bad" to bad and "good" to good. It works like
conceptions filter; it passes "right" and reliable emotions and prevents "wrong".
It works just like a good doorman.
We improve positive transfer power and supporting thoughts and feelings.
Commercials do it too:
"Smoking XYZ-cigarette
is cool.
You're cool too
when you smoke XYZ."
Or:
"Our national heroes
drink ABC beer.
When I drink ABC beer,
I am a hero too."
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We feel that our transitional objects are familiar, safe,
predictable and reliable. We seldom think consciously meaning of those marks:
what brings those meanings? Where they come from? What supports them?
Or: why we are using those marks and meanings?
Transitional object reflects our mind and transports our own truth to
new connection.
For example: if we think that red is girls colour and blue is boys colour;
when we see a boy wearing red clothes we may think that he is a little bit girlish
or there is something "wrong" with him.
I convert transitional object here to higher terms to concern both physically
concrete and phenomena of consciousness and transferring all
information through years. Transitional objects have both "material" and
mental "sides" and meanings, including early transference objects.
Typical transitional objects in ever day life are flags, amulets, awards,
presents, souvenirs and photographs. They are much more than just lifeless objects
to the owner. They hold a lot more information, memories, feelings, dreams, wishes,
experiences, believes, history, human relationships, life - emotions we can
touch through and with those objects.
If a young man burns his t-shirt, it's ok, nobody cares. But if he burns our
national flag in public, somebody is going to care. Our national flag is not just
a piece of textile.
Amulets that bring us luck (jewel, rabbit's paw, treasure, ... ) have certain
placebo effect: they give us more hope and security.
Private photograph is much more than just a picture in a paper. It
builds bridges between (objective and subjective) past, present and
future.
Normal, "strange" photograph can help us to have some esthetical feelings,
but when it has connections to our own life it brings emotions and sometimes
very strong reacts.
Award is not just any silver spoon (or what ever) one among the others. It
represents meaning of sacrificed work, sweat and tears, testing one's limits,
pain, joy, suffering, despair, defiance and at last: public respect
and self-esteem.
My souvenir is not only a piece of clay or metal or cloth. It holds
memories of that certain holiday with dreams and people and experiences:
whole holiday in miniature size.
A transitional object is loaded with strong private meanings that
don't tell or mean so much to other people. With transitional objects those
lifeless "memory marks" resuscitate.
This is important:
everything a human being does has some meaning or sense to him/her in
spite of are we aware of it or not.
We make decisions we think can satisfy our needs.
We move from a situation to another thinking that new situation is "better",
that kind of a place we want to stay.
That transfer is made with transitional objects.
We can't be empathic without transitional objects, without a capability to
face and live those emotions other people have. We only think thoughts
we know. Those we don't know are strange to us and of those we make
suspensions; we believe that they are true.
We watch usually movies from cultures we know well, because we are able to
understand meanings of marks they have. Strange and weird marks don't
tell us enough we could understand them or use them in our every day life.
It's just the same as reading a book made in language we don't understand - we can
see marks but can't reach their meanings.
Communication needs three dimensions: sender - method - receiver.
Strange and weird mark can't transfer a message; it can't be a transitional
object.
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3.4. TRANSFERENCE AS TRANSITIONAL OBJECT
Transference means transferring an emotion.
Generally it means that we transfer those meanings we have had in our
earlier human relationships to new situations. From a person
we know to a new situation, to a person we don't know at all, but who
has and is sending marks we think we know well enough.
As said earlier:
Transference needs "targets".
There must be male and female on the silver screen
because there are male and female in the cinema.
There must be good and evil on the silver screen
because there is good and evil in our mind.
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In our every day life transference is shown in a day light like this:
a) We meet a person for the first time
b) In few second we make our first conclusions of that person
c) That person carries many marks we have noticed before in our life
d) We think / know that those marks carry certain meanings
e) We think that this person is so and so.
From only few marks we may make strong conclusions and decisions about what kind
of a human being this person is and it is all based on our believes and
early experiences.
If we feel that this person is interesting we may go on making other discoveries.
If we feel that our experience (= transference) is negative we maybe stop
making discoveries. And the case is closed.
Positive transference brings those early positive experiences, thoughts and
emotions to new relationships and help to build them more.
Active transference works in two-way relationships. Passive transference works
only one-way, just like in movies:
without transferences those lifeless creatures on
silver screen are not touching us but with transferences those dead pictures
start to live and tell a story we are "writing" while watching.
We need believable transferences and that is why a famous actor can't
chance role characters too often. It would not be believable enough.
We have strong need to put passive transference to both human and
animated figures because without it they would not live and have
personalities well enough. All personal figures of movie characters and
their emotions are born in our transferences and those transferences
are born through the marks those characters stimulate in our mind.
Transferences are based on transitional objects.
Marks bring certain meanings that are based on our experiences. To make it
simple: it's like with Pavlov's dogs: phenomenon of stimulus - consequence.
We cover important movies with illusions of
reality and believe that illusion couldn't be wrong.
In a horror movie we can face our fears or think that this is only a movie,
there was a cameraman behind the camera, ...< BR/>
We try to convince that our fear is in vain but at the same time
we want to believe this illusion to be true. We have so big need to
feel and transfer our emotions.
There's a joke about a man who was driving his car when a wheel
went empty. He could fix the wheel but had no pump to put air in. So he went
to look for a pump. He saw a house and thought that there is nobody at home.
And if there is, they won't open the door. And if they open the door, they say
that they don't have a pump. More he was thinking more angry he became
and at last he was so angry he took a stone from the ground, threw it through
a window and shouted:
keep your goddamned pump!
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3.5. THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
The stream of consciousnessgives a good picture of transferences.
For example:
I hear from my radio a song where they sing: "Ma, he's making eyes at me" -
and while listening my mind starts to wander on it's own way:
1. MA = Ma Wen Pu, our kind guide in China in 1974
2. 1974 = we lived at that time in Tampere City
3. TAMPERE = snow on the shoulders of statues in Hämeensilta
4. SNOW = that winter was very cold
5. COLD = my grandma made warm woollen stockings every winter to me
6. GRANDMA = 90 years old beautiful woman cooking bacon
7. BACON = a frying pan in campfire while wandering in the woods
8. CAMPFIRE = smooth taste of smoke
9. SMOKE = I made a big grill roof when we lived in countryside
10. COUNTRYSIDE = a long hot summer day
11. SUMMERDAY = strawberry field, birds singing and sunshine
12. STRAWBERRY FIELD = we had troubles in our marriage and nobody took
care of that strawberry field
13. MY WIFE sometimes I miss her very much
- and so the story goes
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Those meaningful, travelling thoughts - based on mental transitional objects -
lead our thinking from a stepping-stone to another. Just like in movies,
we can travel in few seconds million miles and in time and inside our mind
and our emotions.
Transitional objects make bridges over from one meaningful thought to another
and those separate thoughts make a new story that has never been told in our mind
or elsewhere.
In this example Ma, 1974, Tampere, Snow, Cold, ... were those transitional
objects.
That mind breaking poem started from Ma Wen Pu and ended in my divorce while I was
listening a song from radio. This is one way our brain is functioning.
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3.6. MARKS AND MEANINGS
Transitional object work through different kinds of marks. And a movie is full
of marks waiting a viewer to let stimulation to start and create personal
and private pictures of our individual reality and history of our lives.
We can realize only what is in our mind and what we can think of. We can have
experiences only connected into our mind and history and needs.
Marks in a movie (= colours, shapes, sounds, movements, lights,
shadows, atmosphere, landscape, distances, near hood, situations, time, ... )
are more or less private and meaningful and in some kind of a relationship
with our history.
Usually we don't notice marks as clear transitional objects, we don't really
understand what we see and feel or notice those bridges of our mind through which
our mind travels in high speed. Normally we think that life is this and that,
those basic realities we know and can handle and live with. We don't even think
about semiotic values of those things in this puzzle of our mind games.
Like time our mind is build as a non-stop adventure where this moment is on the
edge of past and future, always present but newer here. Only at a moment that
exists and on the other hand: that does not exist.
We learn through marks meanings meaningful enough to carry something
important from a present moment to the future.
To believe we need to have basic thoughts about life and humanity. We learn our
own language because we were born here where people are speaking this language.
By the same way we learn our basic ideas, norms, morality, believes, culture,
... all those important parts of our mind. We learn marks and meanings for our
neighbourhood.
In a movie we see and create our own experiences. We are fascinated by all
those private meanings there are. That is why we see movies so differently.
In a way movie is a private show into our mind and at the same time it shows
something important of our collective way of thinking and our collective mind.
It is easier to watch movies if our picture reading skill is good enough.
A large picture in front of our eyes makes it easier to have close
relationship with people on silver screen.
A small picture makes those people more like strangers.
Walking from left to right means that you are going and from right to left
that you are coming - maybe because in the western world we read text
from left to right.
A picture scale from up to down means authority relationship just like an adult
looking at a child.
Or montage:
in first picture a child is crying and when editor cuts after that a picture of
a) empty dining table - we may think about hunger
b) a woman drinking in pub - we may think about abandonment
c) laughing adults - we may think about cruelty
d) a man closing his fly - we may think about sexual abuse
e) expensive toy - we may think about disappointment
... the second picture has very important role in how we define the meaning of the
first picture.
Image is a product of conceptional transitional object, result of a chain that
connects separate marks together. And all that is functioning in direct relationship
with our early experiences.
In fact we move all the time in the middle of those flowing meanings and marks
while we try to adapt in this moment, between history and future. We transfer
all the time our earlier meanings to new situations, from old form to
new form.
Let's think about our attitude to aggression. If we feel that anger,
quarrelling or discord is negative or positive or all the same we transfer that
our own basic meaning to that situation what we are observing on silver
screen. Just like a group therapist is always inside, not outside the session, just
same way a viewer is taking up a position. We are in, not outside of what's
happening and in many cases we react physically: our heart start pumping more,
blood pressure goes up and we make some moves.
If we manage to ask ourselves "why they did it / what happened?" we already know
the answer that came from our history. We know only those truths and explanations
that are familiar enough to us.
This is interesting point of view: human being is carnivorous and if (in nature)
one wants to eat meat, one has to kill that living thing first. We human beings
have this instinct and basic skill somewhere deep down inside of us.
At war we use this ability (and licence) to kill and when we are hunting or
slaughter animals for our dinner. But in every day moral it is very difficult and
often denied question.
I have been thinking about this basic primitive need to kill and how young boys
and men get along with it. Because in early days it was men who went out hunting.
I think that because especially young boys and men
are willing to watch so much violence and killing and adventure, and they are
playing that kind of games on consoles, they maybe try to satisfy that
primitive need subconsciously.
When I was a little boy we were playing indians and cowboys. I wanted to be indian
because they could shoot "real" plastic arrows and cowboys had only cap guns.
I can hear someone thinking: "movies are dangerous because there are too much
violence". It's true and it isn't true.
Too much everything can be dangerous. Drinking too much water (what happens
sometimes in mental hospitals) can be deathly dangerous. Many people have died
because of that.
Watching too much violence is not good for nobody. Often it is a serious sign:
there is something wrong in this person's life. There is too much anger and hate
one can't get rid of.
We don't think about this too often, but it can be very dangerously if a
person can't face and accept and demolish strong anger and hate that is swelling
inside. It can be like a pressure cooker: one - not so - sunny day, when the
pressure is too high, it may explode with serious consequences.
Let's go back to transferences.
We transfer meanings from marks the way we done earlier.
Simplified example: let's think we assume that
1) black claimed, dirty, scar faced represents threat and negative to us
2) white clothed, clean, large-sized represents safety and positive to us
3) we feel ourselves as small, sensitive and kind.
Let's put those figures in a western movie, in saloon, where a small, kind
looking man is having his tea.
In a doorway appears black claimed, dirty, scar faced cowboy and at the same
time, from back door comes white clothed, clean, large-sized man.
Wild guess: what's going to happen?
Everything new is strange and maybe frightening until we get to know it better.
Positive transference helps us to adapt.
Wise thought about "time will cure the wounds" is based on same thing.
Threat that may shake our basic security will disappear after we get to
know it better. Stranger will become a friend.
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3.7. TERRITORY AND EXPANDING OF IT
Transitional object means that we transfer old meanings to new connections.
Transfer happens with images on imaginary level and it's very important that
there is enough basic safety in it so we can anticipate what is coming.
Walk of life expands just like growing up to
independence and adulthood:
. . from lap of parents
. . . . to closeness of them
. . . . . . to moving alone inside home
. . . . . . . . to moving alone outside home
. . . . . . . . . . to immediate surroundings
. . . . . . . . . . . . till the end of world
Permitted, safe environment, our territory surrounds us as a 360-degree circle.
Outside of it is uncertain zone and outside of uncertain zone is unknown
zone.
Growing of permitted environment must happen towards uncertain zone
and towards unknown.
We need safe enough territory, our every day playground, where things are
predictable enough and where our control works.
Smaller
our
permitted
area
is
nearer
is
threat
of
insecurity.
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A person who has very little contacts with other people thinks more probably
that other people are threatening than a person who has many contacts.
A person who’s permitted circle of life is a tightly limited feel more
threatened than a person who has big enough ”playground”.
A person whose life is built on limited truth is going to face more threats
than otherwise.
Most popular movies contain basic questions about good and bad, threat
and winning of it, omnipotent heroes and immortality - from children movies
to adult's tales, for example James Bond or Lethal Weapon.
We need happy endings and victory of justice in movies because that’s what we
want to happen in our own life. We need threatening danger and defeating of it to
grow in our combat effectiveness.
We need to face our fears when we are walking towards unknown zone so we
could grow and be stronger.
We need safety and predictability in our life to keep our stress level low
enough. And same time we need more surmountable challenges.
That's a skill we can practise by watching movies that contains excitement,
horror, adventure or action.
To face something new means to face possible threat and fear. To face
fear we have to have courage. One way to test our courage is to face
excitement, horror, insecurity or chaos in movies. We can use movies like we
would use a “real life simulator”. In cinema we are safe, in good hands. Once
we have touched those frightening emotions maybe we are at least a little bit
stronger and can use them in “real life”.
Transitional object work in different levels of depth with our territory and
in relation between safe, uncertain and unknown.
I present here maybe a megalomaniac presumption:
We use movies as a transitional object between our past and future to ease
adapting in life and get along with it. To create enough basic security and to
face real or fictional threat.
The concept ”movie bigger than life” describes this phenomenon and our need
to that. It describes its transfer power. It is quite same when people have
connection with God in church / temple / Holy Place. That Holy Place works like
movies when we think about transitional objects.
It works both ways – which is typical to transitional objects.
- The End of Chapter Three -
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