About The Image Of A Loving And Fair Father. The Film "The Author! Author! " We Look Together With A Psychologist - Reviews, Society

The film "The Author! Author! " based on real events. Suitable for family viewing. His wife leaves the playwright Ivan Travalyan with many children, leaving all his children, common and his own from previous marriages, to him. He raises them, writes plays and tries to find himself. He is helped in this by his sincere love for children and a sense of humor. In one scene, he throws to his wife:

- You don't see people in them! Understand, they are not just the children you gave birth to. They are people!

This is the true story of Broadway playwright Israel Horowitz. Al Pacino starred in the title role in 1982. It is interesting that the actor was connected with the prototype of his hero Horowitz by many years of acquaintance, and he saw his story with his own eyes.

• USA, 1982
• Director: Arthur Hillier
• Starring: Al Pacino

The film is notable for the fact that it shows a positive image of a loving, devoted, fair father. And this is a deficit both in cinema and in life.

The Italian analytical psychologist and psychoanalyst Luigi Zoya in his famous book "Father" writes about this problem of our time, giving specific examples: the image of an adult man in cinema and glossy magazines. In modern culture, the prevailing image of a man as a "partner", but not "father". From the screen and from the pages beautiful athletic men are looking at us, they are conquering women, but there is no paternity in them.

This is the image of a young man, a young man, regardless of his real age: the stage of the male path, when you need to assert yourself, look for and travel, perform feats, conquer women … The stage of expansion.

But maturity, initiation to the next stage implies the creation of a family, i.e. strong partnerships and parentage. Not only biological fatherhood, but also taking care of the offspring! This is the stage of a grown man, not a youth. It is fatherhood that makes a young man a man, just as motherhood turns a girl into a woman. And, we repeat, this is not connected with the passport age. A pensioner can remain an eternal youth, and a very young young man can become a man.

For this initiation of a young man into a man, it is not biological fatherhood that is needed: in this, the role of a man is reduced to conception. We are talking about psychological parentage, in which love, responsibility, care are manifested … You may never become a real parent for your biological children, or, on the contrary, be a good father for those who were not conceived by you. If we talk about the hero of the film, Ivan, then he is raising both his children and adopted. But he loves them equally, and his children too.

It is such a male figure that is lacking in modern society and art. A good father figure is a shortage for many. The image of the father is depreciated, excluded from the family. Over the last historical period in Russia and in the West there have been world and civil wars, revolutions, mass repressions, famine, epidemics. The result is a high mortality rate among the male population. Women were forced to take on male functions, millions of children were left without fathers, and then it became difficult for them to create families and become good parents.

As a result, the image of the father in the psyche of children began to distort. He ceased to be supportive, loving, protective. What are these distortions?

Distortion of the father image

• Absent father. A father who is not present in the family space, both physically and psychologically. He seems to be excluded. For example, my father was repressed, and it's scary and ashamed to talk about it. Or he left the family, and the mother cannot forgive this. The figure of the father seems to be taboo, they don't even talk about him. And a child, be it a girl or a boy, is deprived of both the care of the father and the understanding of what a "father" and "a man" are. It will be difficult for a girl to build relationships with men, and for a boy to become a man and a father.
• Deficient father. He is there, but there is little contact with him. Dad is busy, is away for a long time or just comes to visit. How does this affect the child? He begins to cling to contact with male figures and may find himself in a dependent relationship: loving, friendly, working. The figure of the father will be projected onto the men, who was good at the moment of contact, but he was not enough, and the contact must be obtained.
• Distant father. My father was constantly at a distance, primarily psychologically. Perhaps, geographically, he lived with the child, but did not establish close contact with him. And then the child feels unprotected, lost, unnecessary to anyone. As an adult, he finds it difficult to establish close relationships and trust. He can withdraw into himself and prefer loneliness.
• Throwing father. Abrupt interruption of contact with the father: the parent could tragically die or interrupt communication with the family, including the child. Sometimes this may not be the choice of him, but of the offended mother, who prevents the ex-husband from communicating with the children. In this case, the child combines the fear of abandonment and clinging to contact. He can behave ambivalently: either not letting anyone near him, or falling into a dependent relationship.
• Negative father. The father image becomes scary or shameful. Perhaps this is due to the parent's real behavior: for example, he drinks, threatens, beats. Or the environment creates a negative image of the father for the child, telling him how bad he is. This can generalize and create distrust in all men, or even in people in general, in the world.
• Infantile father. A single mother runs the risk of overprotecting her son and infantilizing him. Psychologically, he never grows up, so he cannot become a good father. If he marries, he becomes a son for his wife, and their children then turn into "brothers and sisters" and become competitors. An infantile father can be loved, he can be a holiday dad, but he cannot be respected. And it is impossible to feel protected - the father's figure is weak. Such a child can grow up compensatory early or repeat the father's scenario, remaining psychologically immature.
• Feminine father. A boy who is closely related to his mother (due to the absence of a father or a violation of contact with him) is identified with a female image. His masculine identity is never formed or disrupted. As a result, he becomes feminine, he has many feminine traits and behavioral manifestations. Often he has homosexual elections, but he can marry, have children. Usually the wife of such a man is complementary to him - she has masculine behavior. And children get lost, they cannot understand: what is male and what is female? They may have a scenario of an inverted female-male relationship, that is, an inverted one, when a woman plays a male role, and a man plays a female one.

Rehabilitation of the father's figure, creating a positive image is an important task both in real life and in art. Unfortunately, there are not so many films in which you can see a positive fatherly image. And they are valuable!

Finally, a quote from the film:

“It's full of sharks. Do not go into the water, have mercy on the animals!"

“- I did bad things. But never, never slept with married women!

- Wasn't she married to a Spaniard when you started dating?

- Do not take me at my word, I do not like it!"

“Dad, I will never get married! Even if I get paid $ 150."

“- I like my dad, he is just like us! As far as possible for an adult.

"Don't tell dad that …"

“- You are a great son!

"First look at my grades in chemistry, then talk."