Healing with the Nonhuman Actor

A Study of the Recuperation from Loneliness and Isolation Caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic through the Cinematic Text Lars and the Real Girl

Dados Bibliográficos

ID20249196
AutoresShipra Tholia (0000-0003-3645-9756, Banaras Hindu University, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume12
Fascículo3
Páginas41
Data de publicação2023-05-23
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHumanities (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2076-0787 • E-ISSN: 2076-0787
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/h12030041
OpenAlexW4378084917
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas28

Loneliness and isolation were two factors introduced as “effective measures” during the COVID-19 crisis. The lockdown exacerbated loneliness among those already suffering from acute illnesses. In this context, a rereading of the film Lars and the Real Girl by Craig Gillespie is particularly relevant as it offers novel perspectives on loneliness. The interplay between Lars’s desire to be in a compassionate relationship and the fear of meeting and socializing is comparable to what was witnessed across the coronavirus-afflicted world. This paper explores the potential for understanding delusion caused by traumatic experiences as a form of communication rather than a mental disorder. The film explains how a silicone sex doll functions as a medium between the lonesome Lars and society in resolving the trauma. The paper focuses on the infantile nature of humans and uses infantilism in a conducive manner to understand anthropomorphism for bridging the gap between a lonely/delusional person and society while drawing examples from the film. The introduction of a nonhuman actor—an anatomically correct doll—becomes an opportunity for a traumatized person such as Lars to know himself well and gradually open up to socializing. As he moves from external to threshold en-rolling, followed by internal en-rolling, it indicates his opening up to communication as he moves from language to lalangue and creates his world with the doll. This film presents a therapeutic approach to treating schizoid personality disorder with the assistance of a nonhuman actor

Delusion · Developmental psychology · Girl · Loneliness · Psychiatry · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Social isolation · Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies · History · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Medicine · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology

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