Psychoalysis In The Driver's Feetish And His Oedipus

In many schools of thought, from the fine arts to film, creators and intellectual circles alike often broaden their perspective with cross-disciplinary philosophy. Many still give credence to the antiquated concepts of psychoanalysis, particularly Sigmund Freud, who has been a large part of literature, art and film theory within the post 20th century. While psychoanalysis holds importance to the historical context of philosophy in the humanities and the arts, psychoanalysis also provides very limited perspectives in analyzing film form. Nicolas Winding Refn introduces some elements of Freud’s fetishism within his film Drive (US 2011). However, in order to have a more holistic understanding of Drive as a film, it is necessary to add other perspectives of philosophy outside of psychoanalysis to

This leads to one of the significant themes in Drive; the concept of self, and how one presents themselves to others—in Freud’s word’s, “splitting the ego” (Freud 151). The Driver derives satisfaction from many things in the film; Irene, Benecio, and eventually Standard who he comes to respect. They are all symbols of kindness and wholesomeness; they are elements of his superego and embody the version of himself that he strives to be. When he wears the scorpion jacket, he is The Driver; the getaway man with a strict moral code and strong sense of identity—his ego. His third “self” comes to fruition when wears the latex mask on later in the movie. He is neither the gentle man who Irene knows or even the risky getaway driver the audience comes to understand for most of the film, but a shell of whom he thinks he should be. He is no longer sidelining as voyeur of Hollywood heroism, but the action hero of his own life. The violent, hero-obsessed man is the id of The Driver’s