[Safe] in a Narcissistic Closure

Year 2022, Issue: 27, 87 - 94, 28.01.2022

Defne Tüzün

https://doi.org/10.17484/yedi.963673

Abstract

This article offers an in depth formal analysis of the film Safe (Todd Haynes: 1995) By attending to Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection as the earliest attempts to demarcate a space in the common, indistinguishable territory of the mother-child dyad and as an endeavor to overcome spatial ambivalence, this analysis focuses on the topography of the pre-symbolic. The study deals primarily with the film’s protagonist, Carol’s abjection, as evidenced by her relation to corporeality and to spatiality. Carol goes through a crisis in life and suffers from an undiagnosed illness. As the film progresses, she goes to a healing facility out in the desert, where she seeks treatment for her disease, here, but gradually regresses to a narcissistic phase. The semi-religious philosophy of this facility leads her to isolate herself from society and negates her integration into the socio-symbolic network. This self-indulgence and self-love finally causes her to be trapped in a narcissistic closure. This article discusses this narcissistic closure through the visual and audio analysis of the film. 

Keywords

Safe, Todd Haynes, abjection, Julia Kristeva, narcissism, maternal, corporeality.

Narsistik Kapanmada Güvende

Abstract

Todd Haynes’in Safe (1995) filminin biçimsel bir analizini sunan bu makale Julia Kristeva’nın iğrenme (abjection) kavramından hareketle filmin baş karakteri olan Carol’un bedensel ve mekânsal olanla ilişkisini ele almaktadır. Makale, Kristeva’nın kavramsallaştırmasında olduğu gibi, iğrenme anne-çocuk simbiyozunun yarattığı bir uzamsal muğlaklık ve öznenin anne çocuk simbiyozunun dışına çıkıp kendi alanını kurma mücadelesi olarak yorumlayarak Carol karakterinin bir tür iğrenme deneyiminden geçtiğini savunmaktadır. Filmin anlatısında Carol tanısı konamayan bir hastalığa tutulmuştur ve bir kriz yaşamaktadır. Bu krizle baş edemeyince çölün ortasında bir şifa merkezine gidip burada yaşamaya başlar. Yarı dini bir felsefeye sahip bu merkez Carol’un kendini toplumdan tamamen izole etmesine ve sosyal sembolik düzenle olan bağını koparmasına neden olur. Makale karakterin bu narsistik kapanma sürecini filmin görsel ve işitsel yapısını analiz ederek tartışmaktadır.

Keywords

Safe, Todd Haynes, iğrenme, Julia Kristeva, narsisizm, annelik, bedensellik

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