(Caution! Title Still in Progress/ Rough Draft!!)
It is undeniably evident that Woody Allen experiences his very existence through the dichotomy between his real life and his those of his works. He embodies his actual self in almost every single character he plays. As a man who has gone through over 30 years of intense Freudian psychoanalysis one can only except that the man himself is truly an egoist. It can be argued that a person who spends so much time trying to figure themselves out through therapy practices could essentially be obsessed with their own identity. Think about it, Allen is constantly talking or thinking about himself in both movies that he stars in and real life whether it be to a doctor, to a loved one or through the scripts he writes. It is always he, he, he and more he (and that’s not just because “he-he” funny).
In order to completely understand the male egoist’s way of thinking one must not think outside of the box, but rather think inside of the box as this is what an egoist does naturally. Man may maximize the attempt to appeal his or her selfishness, but in actuality the motives are altruistically apparent by the goaded action. A person’s body language may make individuals unaware that he or she is egocentric, but when one gets deep underneath their external shell may see the “hidden motives” that lie burrowed in the ever-sinking hole of haughty superiority. Never in this world until now did I think Allen was this complex until reading more about his life and studying his works. Then again in a way I am just getting to know him. Every person has a story even if they don’t seem they do. Some people say in life seeing is believing, but that is where an egoist can trick everyone. Nobody can ever physically see a person’s true soul, but we know it’s there. It’s the science of our genetic makeup that makes us have so many complexities and disorders, but it is also what brings us together making us individuals of originality, like the great Woody Allen himself. On the other hand all of those complexities can make us frightening human beings as well. Take the film American Psycho for instance. The main character Patrick Bateman is a serial killer who could make any person feel a tingle down their spine. Bateman and Allen are two different types of “into themselves personalities.” Allen is more of the warm-hearted funny egoist who is selfish but doesn’t hurt a fly (physically that is). Then there is Bateman who is more of a narcissist than an egoist. One of the main differences between an egoist and a narcissist is an egoist thinks highly of their own characteristics and wants to serve only the self and yet is still emotionally tied to the world in one way or another. A narcissist, like Bateman for example, is constantly in search for fulfillment and feels totally disconnected to the world around him. He acts as if he is the be all end all in this world; almost as if he is an entity rather than a human. This quote from the film explains exactly why I was lead to this conclusion: “There is an idea of Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gave, and you can shake my hand and feel the flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable… I simple am not there” (IMDB quotes).
...Not quite 5 pages yet, to be continued... work in progress...will be completed after first peer assessment.
Still Hard at work on laptop :)
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