sigmund freud

Sigmund Freud was the founding father psychoanalysis, a method for treating mental illness and also a theory which explains human behaviour. he believed that events that happen in our childhood help to shape personalities and influence adult life. 

freud developed a topographical model of the mind in (1900), whereby he described the features of the mind's structure and function:

- the conscious: the small amount of mental activity we know about

- the subconscious: things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried

- the unconscious: things we are unaware of and can not become aware of

later (1923), freud developed a more structural model of the mind with id, ego and superego which have been most commonly conceptualised as three essential parts of the human personality.

the id is the unorganised part of the personality structure that contains a humans basic, instinctual drives. it is the only component of personality that is present from birth. it is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires and impulses, particularly our sex and aggression drives. 

the ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with the reality. just as the id is the unconscious part of the human personality, the ego is the conscious and logical part. the ego functions in both the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind. it operates on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic, logically and in socially appropriate ways.

the superego is the component of personality that provides guidelines for making judgements. it represents the norms and qualities of the individual, his family and the society and is an ethical constraint on the behaviour. the superego operates on the moral principles and is able to differentiate between good and bad, what is right and wrong. 

the id, ego and superego are inter-related. in order to create a normal personality, there must be a proper balance in the relationship among these three forces. 

Black Swan (2010) is a movie that treats freud's theory in an artistic way. it shows a lot of elegance and sexuality. it represents the freudian theory of human personality in distinctive ways by using different kinds of relationships and by looking from different perspectives. around the end of the movie, it is shown that all the psychological conflicts and fights with the other characters was Nina's fight with 'her selfs' and her passion to perform the role of the black swan perfectly which requires to be her rebellious and seductive self represents the id. her dance teacher in the movie thinks she is beautiful, fragile and fearful as the white swan should be, but the black swan is the evil sister who seduces the love of the white swan, she has to be passionate, seductive and impressive.