Please Shrink Mulder: Why the Heck Does He Feel So Guilty?

Portia  wrote:
>Gizzie, Gizzie, Gizzie.  You're so predictable.
>
>Apparently we don't have a Town Shrink resident, because my call for
>education on DID/MPD was met with silence.  However, let me try again
>because TFWID raised some intriguing questions.
>
>Assume for the sake of argument that the reincarnation stuff is bunk,
>which from Scully's perspective it is.  (I personally think M&W
>intended to imply this with the chronology conflicts.) As others have
>said, Mulder was massively motivated and pre-hypnotically suggested to
>act out past life regression under hypnosis.  What is *wrong* with this
>guy?  Melissa/Sarah had DID/MPD, what's his excuse?  In some ways this
>episode fleshed out a somewhat cartoon version of Mulder (every problem
>and motivation goes back to Samantha's abduction).  In other ways, it's
>the same old thing, suggesting that the guilt from failing Samantha
>motivates his desperation.  I just don't buy that losing a sibling left
>him this f***ed up.  So what's the diagnosis, anyway?
>
Well, although I am not a big believer in Freud, I have to admit that 
Freudian theory does have an elegant explanation for Mulder's whole 
"Samantha" problem.  I wasn't going to inflict it on y'all, but you 
begged! :)  So here it is, "New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis: 
Part X for X-Files":
Yes, Mulder's problem is guilt.  Even he could be pressed to admit this 
-- he would perhaps say he feels guilty because he failed to save her.  
Because he can admit this, we know it is not the true explanation (if it 
were, bringing it to consciousness would resolve it).  He feels guilty 
for her disappearance because he wanted it to happen.
Everyone knows the Oedipus complex, right? (Like so much of psychodynamic 
theory, it works out elegantly in the male case but not in the female 
case; lucky for us Mulder's a boy).  Baby boy is blissfully united with 
Mommy, but as he becomes older he realizes that he has to share her with 
big hairy stranger, Daddy.  Not cool.  Boy wants to kill Daddy and 
possess Mommy.  (We won't go into the resolution of this complex right 
now.  Suffice to say that the dynamics of the situation often force some 
sort of resolution in mid-childhood that ends up with boy identifying 
with Daddy).
Sibling rivalry works the same way.  Child doesn't want to share mommy, 
and wants to kill the siblings (as far as a child understands death, that 
is; the child basically wants them to go away and not come back).  
However, there are no forces compelling a resolution of this conflict; 
this primitive wish can keep simmering away in the id, showing itself in 
more socially acceptable ways as the kids get older.
When a sibling dies, on one level the child knows s/he is responsible 
for the death because of the wish.  Any child faces this guilt...why 
is Moose so messed up?  Because with a little therapy or sensible 
parenting, a kid can work through this.  Remember, these things lose their 
force when they are made conscious.  But let us not accuse the Mulders of 
sensible parenting.  First, they never talked about the event (they both 
knew the truth and it was something that couldn't be spoken of), so he 
never had a chance to bring the true source of guilt into the light.  
Second, the family was basically destroyed by the event, which Young 
Mulder knew sure as shootin' was his fault too.  So the added guilt 
caused the original wish to become even more threatening, and it was 
repressed even further.
So Mulder is left with a screaming, over-the-top example of reaction 
formation (trying to deny threatening feelings by professing their 
opposite).  Because he cannot possibly afford to admit to himself that he 
wished for this event to happen, he has to devote his entire life to 
making it appear that he is the last person who wanted this to happen.
Let me know if y'all want a more detailed analysis of the various 
Samantha scenes supporting this theory.  Take home message: Mulder really 
doesn't give a fig (or at least, not a very big one) about Samantha as a 
person.  This is all about desperately keeping threats to self-integrity 
at bay, and secondarily, trying to regain his parents' love.
(Important disclaimer: although I am a psychologist, I have no 
psychoanalytic training, so it's possible that I've presented an overly 
simplistic take on the theory -- correct me if so!)
EP

And a continuation of this thread...

 portia wrote:

>> 
>> Thanks, Doc Eap, for bringing this to *my* conscious level.  I just
>> knew that run-of-the-mill survivor guilt couldn't account for his
>> symptoms/personality.  It *was* pretty suspicious that he was so
>> irritated with Samantha over that Stratego game and the TV show. 
>> (Mulder, obsessed with a TV show?  CC was having fun with us even in
>> Season 1?)
You are absolutely right about this scene.  It shows the perfect mixture 
of a little patronizing fondness (from the superego) and rivalry (from 
the id).  My favorite part of the scene:  If you'll recall from the last 
lecture :) , a successful resolution of the Oedipal conflict is 
identification with Daddy.  When Young Mulder's superego (internalized 
parent voice) conquers his id and compels him to try to save Samantha, 
what does he do?  HE GOES FOR HIS FATHER'S GUN, if I remember correctly.  
How Freudian can you get?
>> Aha.  That fits with what I was trying to say about his selfishness. 
>> He always seemed to want her back to satisfy his own needs, and not
>> to have a real sense of her as a separate person.  I think we had a
>> hint of the emptiness he would feel if she really returned in
>> Colony/Endgame.  Even her "safe" return couldn't satisfy his needs at
>> this point, could it?  Would it even make things worse in some ways?
>> 
>> And YES, I'd like to hear more about your (and/or Freud's) thoughts on
>> this.  I find it fascinating.
When the fake Samantha shows up, does he seem happy to see her? No.
Is he willing to trade her for Scully?  In a heartbeat.
When Scully is trying to comfort him over his loss, he says something 
along the lines of "The hardest part is going to be telling my father".  
When his dad lights into him, the worst cut he saves for last is "Do you 
realize what this is going to do to your mother?".  Samantha has just 
become an object in the original love triangle between Mulder, Mom, and Dad.
I honestly don't know what will happen upon Samantha's return -- when a 
sibling dies, it's usually not an option!  When I get a chance I'll comb 
through Freud and see if there are any ideas... A provocative question...
Incidentally, I think this is a case in which those who bring us this 
show ARE aware of this dynamic.  I happened to leaf through the latest 
copy of British GQ (just by chance :) ), and the ever-erudite DD talks 
about a book he admires by Harold Bloom, called "The Anxiety of 
Influence"; apparently, it's all about psychoanalysis and literature, 
particularly the relation between the Oedipal conflict and the writing 
process.

EP