Hero of our period: rebel without Oedipus

Psychoanalysis of cinema

Abstract

Each generation has its own heroes. Nowadays it is difficult to unambiguously say who is the hero of our time. This can be done after a while, looking back to appreciate the overall picture of the past. For example, the icon of the 90s in Russia was a hero represented the intellectual killer Danila Bagrov in The Brother and The Brother 2 films of Alexei Balabanov (1959–2013), who wanted to save the whole world from the degenerate capitalism. Steve Jobs (1955–2011) who infected almost the whole planet with the apple technologies also could be considered as one of the heroes of the past Millennium period. Currently, we can say that in connection with rapidly growing technological progress, a modern person has become more distance and virtualized. He is changing and the configuration of his psyche changes with him. To understand the modern generation (in the everyday speech as Millenniums and Homelanders), it is important to look back to the past. As Jacques Peuchet (1758–1830) wrote on behalf of the French dressmaker Rose Berten (1747–1813) in his memoirs about the changing fashion: "All new is well forgotten old." In other words, history repeats itself. As Jacques Peuchet (1758–1830) wrote on behalf of the French dressmaker Rose Berten (1747–1813) in his memoirs about the changing fashion: "All new is well forgotten old." In other words, history repeats itself. Therefore, in this paper we turn to the film of Nicholaus Ray (1911–1979) Rebel without a Cause of 1955, in which the iconic actor of three roles James Dean (1931–1955) played the leading part of "the Rebel", embodying in cinema a universal image of "Rebellious Spirit" for subsequent generations. We shell consider this film from the point of view of clinical and applied psychoanalysis for better understanding the modern society of young people, as well as try to formulate the image of "hero of our time" that the current worldwide youth culture requires.