Friday, March 15, 2013

Otis' Dream, parts 1338 - 1341





1338. There were no good answers to these questions and after spending many days engrossed in deep reflection on all aspects of dream manufacture, he decided to take a break and go to see a movie. At that time Freud's favorite film star was the American Charlie Chaplin. He had seen all of his films many times. Although he had seen "The Gold Rush," twelve times already he decided to see it yet again.



1339. Perhaps you think that Freud would have been drawn to more serious fare, something like Fritz Lang or Von Sternberg seems like it would suit the tasted of the great man. But in his entertainments Freud liked to put aside all of the serious questions that preoccupied him, and give himself over to unbridled hysterical laughter.  Wiping tears from his eyes from laughing so hard he often found himself falling out of his seat onto the floor of the theater.





1340. There is a scene in the Gold Rush where the gold-miner's shack has been driven by a storm to the edge of a precipice. The little tramp's companion Big Jim falls out the door and is hanging by his fingernails from the doorjamb. Charlie falls out also. Hanging on to Big Jim's shoe he dangles over the abyss. Slowly he claws his way up the body of his partner and back into the cabin.



1341. That scene in the Gold Rush is one of utter desperation.  Everything has gone wrong, and only by impossible struggle can the little tramp save his life. That is the most comic episode in the film.  When the film first came out it was 1924 and at that time Freud would find himself laughing so hard at this scene his vision was blurred by his tears. Over the years he viewed this film over and over again like a child memorizing a Disney cartoon feature.
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