Glen Slater has been teaching at Pacifica for over twenty years and is currently the Associate Chair of the M.A./Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Jungian and Archetypal Studies (Hybrid-DJA & Fully Online-DJO). He also teaches in the M.A./Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with Emphasis in Depth Psychology and is the author of Jung vs Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age.
Ever since I met Dr. Glen Slater in 2008, I have known him to be a particularly passionate and knowledgeable advocate of film. I often see his film reviews in Jungian and depth publications, and his background in clinical psychology and religious studies鈥攁long with his interest in technology and culture鈥攎ake his commentary especially valuable. In a recent interview, Glen and I sat down together for an intriguing depth discussion on Jung, individuation, and film.
To begin, Dr. Slater notes, while we can think of individuation as coming to one鈥檚 deep self or unique character, it鈥檚 also the place where one comes to contribute to the larger human story. The individuation process is both deeply personal but also transpersonal; both universal and archetypal. At any given time in a specific culture, individuation is about finding a deep relationship with those energies that are coming up from the collective psyche. Jung believed that 鈥渘o one can individuate on a mountaintop,鈥� Glen reminded me. Therefore, at the same time you are growing into your own genius, you are also finding where your own life resonates with what is emerging collectively.
Since we need models and mirrors, films are a key place we go today for myth. Films provide a wonderful arena where we can see characters going through the process of individuation鈥攏ot only experiencing change and transformation, but also finding a deeper understanding of who they really are. As聽Joseph Campbell聽pointed out in聽The Hero鈥檚 Journey,听there is often initially a refusal of the call, but eventually archetypal forces align to draw the character in to their deeper destiny, Glen states. While a character may initially be uncertain in the journey to individuation, more often that not, they reach a point where an event occurs that seems to spark the idea that they need to serve.
In our culture, we live in a dualistic state in which we all deeply long for a vision that is unitive; where what happens outside is connected to what鈥檚 going on inside our mind, Slater notes. Therefore, film, by nature, is an excellent tool for melding inner and outer, enabling us to recover that sense of presence, unity, enchantment, or magic.
So how does one begin to look at a film from a Jungian lens? The answer is definitely related to this idea that the outer world is reflective of the inner world, Slater insists. You must make the bridge with what is known in Jungian psychology as 鈥渟ymbolic thought,鈥� the idea that what occurs in the story is metaphorical rather than literal. The process of individuation may be regarded as 鈥渓iving the symbolic life,鈥� suggesting we must move from an egocentric place of being, to looking at events with a kind of curiosity that asks what things mean on a deeper level.
It鈥檚 not hard to know when a film is resonating with something going on in our inner worlds.聽 When we walk out of a film, it either stays with us or it doesn鈥檛. It鈥檚 a litmus test, Glen claims.聽Does it stay with you or linger in the way a powerful dream might?聽Paying attention to the way certain stories or characters stay with us helps us discern the material that is touching the psyche.
So what are the new values and energies that need to come in to drive the process? For one, films can empower us to see what鈥檚 on the horizon for our culture. As an example, Glen emphasizes that at a time when many Jungian and depth thinkers are talking about the return of the feminine in our current masculinized culture, certain female 鈥渉eroes鈥� (like Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron in the recent聽Mad Max: Fury Road) carry a very different value system than we have customarily seen before.
One especially important point Slater notes is that often a protagonist does not move up and out into the light, but rather down into the underworld. Intelligent filmmakers are able to show us the shadow side of our culture instead of parading the heroic values that are traditionally held up in a culture. In our discussion, Glen cites examples from films like聽American Beauty,听Million Dollar Baby,听Carol, and聽Star Wars聽for various interpretations from Jungian perspectives. Jung鈥檚 work provides a great toolbox in terms of articulating the archetypes, he asserts.
When I asked Glen how the word 鈥渟oul鈥濃�攕o commonly used in Jungian and depth psychologies鈥攁pplies to film, he had a fascinating perspective. He suggests soul refers to a sense there is something outside the ego, that is directing or shaping our experience so that we are drawn into a feeling that there are other presences at work. He points to Jungian and archetypal psychologist, James Hillman, as someone who thought of soul as 鈥渢hat dimension of experience where the spiritual comes into the world鈥濃�攊nto everyday embodied experience. For Hillman, the sense of soul requires something that is substantive, something 鈥渇elt.鈥� In this way, soul is related to the magic and enchantment.
Slater contends that we can identify the presence of an archetype when the 鈥渦niversal鈥� and the 鈥渦nique鈥� are together simultaneously. Film must absolutely engage our imaginations. And, while images do engage us, for our imaginations to聽really聽be set on fire, archetypal patterns have to be activated, creating resonance, and lingering on well after the lights come up and the theater empties.聽What鈥檚 the last film you saw that really set your imagination alight?聽If you have to think about it, it may be time to see another film.
Glen Slater studied psychology and comparative religion at The University of Sydney before coming to the United States in 1992 for doctoral work in clinical psychology. He has been teaching at Pacifica for over twenty years and is currently the Associate Chair of the Jungian and Archetypal Studies specialization. He also teaches in the聽Mythological Studies program. His publications have appeared in a number of Jungian journals and essay collections, and he edited and introduced the third volume of聽James Hillman鈥檚 Uniform Edition, Senex and Puer, as well as a collection of faculty writings,听Varieties of Mythic Experience: Essays on Religion, Psyche and Culture. Beyond his work in Jungian and Archetypal Psychology, he writes on psyche and film as well as the psychology of technology. He lectures internationally in these areas of interest.
Bonnie Bright, Ph.D., graduated from Pacifica鈥檚 Depth Psychology program after defending her dissertation in December 2014. She is the founder of聽, a free online community for everyone interested in depth psychologies, and of聽, a free-to-search database of Jungian and depth psychology-oriented practitioners. She is also the creator and executive editor of聽, a semi-annual scholarly journal, and regularly produces audio and video interviews on depth psychological topics. Bonnie has completed 2-year certifications in Archetypal Pattern Analysis via the Assisi Institute; in Technologies of the Sacred with West African elder Malidoma Som茅, and has been extensively involved in Holotropic Breathwork鈩� and the Enneagram.
