Joonto's Film Reviews: Freud's Last Session

I still can’t believe there is a movie like this! As you walk away from Hollywood, you can still find original ideas told through the medium of film.

Watching the daring take of imagining what Freud said in his last unconventional session was exactly the kind of delight I really needed after 2 years of therapy and 2 months of studying psychology with an online course from Yale University.

Just like Sigmund Freud, I don’t believe in God or the Universe, or any higher power, whatever you to call it. I don’t believe the universe pivots around me, nor that it is there for me either. Maybe I’m here FOR the Universe, definitely not the other way around.

Why am I talking about religion? Because that’s the pivotal topic this story revolves around. The authors of this film speculate that the last stranger to visit Sigmund Freud was a young writer, possibly no other than Clive Staples Lewis.

From one side we have Freud, a scientist so brilliant to invent a whole new science on his own, and because of this, so adamant of religion. On the other side, Lewis, still fresh of his newly acquired Christian faith, sparked from studying the oldest copies of the gospels left.

Though this interaction is set to be more a sort of interview of Lewis to Freud, the surreal afternoon it takes place turns this sublime intellectual exchange into a real session. And it’s not only Freud analysing Lewis. As a great writer, and sensitive man, Lewis is capable of understanding some of Freud’s inner weaknesses, including his tormented relationship with his homosexual daughter, Anna, the mother of childhood psychoanalysis.

When I was watching this story, I was reminded of how two really intelligent people exchange opinions and views. They start first and foremost from a platform of mutual respect, that is never forgotten, even during the most emotional and heated debates. They’re both aware that the two have different beliefs, hardly compatible, but this doesn’t kill the pleasure of the conversation, nor dims the esteem one has of the other. The characters are more than anything else curious to understand how the other came to have those beliefs.

I almost cried thinking about the exchanges of opinions we have nowadays, from TV, to social media. The other is no longer a conversation companion, but an enemy to destroy. How many videos on social media are titled “X destroys person Z (and their ideas) in 5 minutes”?

Understanding the other’s point of view is just a waste of time, because “they’re simply stupid” or “they must have been brainwashed” or again “they’re evil and must be destroyed”.

Modern self-made pseudo-intellectuals don’t have any self-doubt. They know the truth since the beginning, because they were born more intelligent than the others. They are the chosen ones and must be believed without any hesitation. Whoever even dares to doubt their theories is part of “the agenda to hide the Truth”.

After these thoughts, I went back to teenage-hood, one of Freud’s favourite realms. It’s during this period that I met the most precious teacher I’ve ever had.

No, she wasn’t particularly intelligent. She even taught a subject that I was going to avoid: Religion. Ironic, isn’t it? The year before I had disciplinary issues in this subject, daring to make fun of the Bible and bringing alternative theories about the role of the Israelis in Egypt, pointing to the fact that there was even a dynasty of Jew Pharaohs ruling over the region for a good time. I basically stated that we have no historical proofs the Jews were slaves in Egypt, and that the story in the Bible was probably told to make the people of Israel look more heroic. I was immediately summoned to the head master…

This susceptible teacher was old and God-fearing. The new teacher was young and open-minded, but this didn’t make her faith any weaker. All the other way around!

Ms Manna welcomed the fact that I was atheist, the only 12-year old in the class daring to do so. She just pointed out that, “it doesn’t matter if you believe or don’t believe something. The important is to have the will to KNOW.”

By “to know” she meant to be curious about everything, to dig deep on every topic, to go beyond what the majority says about a topic, be it the news, movies, books, or even the people in general. Ms Manna’s point was that people are always afraid of what they don’t know. If you know, you’re no longer afraid, or at least, you have a more precise idea of what to be afraid of and whatnot.

From this notion, I started walking towards a path of understanding, while I was seeing most people walking in the opposite direction, until social media was invented and their pace to mistrust and misunderstanding got to the speed of light…

If I didn’t meet Ms Manna, I would have become a social media beast like everyone else, ready to die for a cause I’ll never really fight for.

Thanks to my religion teacher, I become able to appreciate fruitful conversations with people who have different ideas, including religious people, that despite or thanks to their faith, have a lot of wisdom to share.

Religion is just another tool at disposal of the human kind. Even if its notions aren’t true, its beneficial effects can be real. Praying is just like meditating, with the same benefits. We can even say that meditation is prayer made digestible to secular people. If you ask a secular person to pray, they will feel stupid and will refuse. If you ask them to meditate though, they will feel cool and will accept the challenge.

Freud’s Last Session was a great present for me, that reminded me you can learn a lot from people you think you can’t share anything with.

Now I’ll dream of Democrats and Republicans beginning to learn from each other! Lol! Is this a dream or pure madness? I think it’s a genuine dream. Madness is already all around us.