Volume 57, Number 2 Summer 2019
Bulletin of the Psychoanalytic Association of New York VOL 57, NO.2 • Summer2019 In This Issue…
Bulletin of Editorial The Psychoanalytic Elections , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ...... 3 Association of by Brenda Bauer Bringing a Psychoanalytic Sensibility to New York HBO Films ...... 4
EDITOR Bulletin Board ...... 6 425 EAST 79TH STREET, #1N NEW YORK, NY PANY’s Training Analyst and Certification Study 212-472-8867 Group e-mail: [email protected] The Indian American Psychoanalytic Alliance (IAPA) Editor PANY Members at the Gay Pride Parade Herbert H. Stein, M.D. PANY Scientific Meeting Schedule ...... 7 Assistant Editor Leslie Cummins, LCSW Film Essay by Herbert H. Stein PANY Shoplifters ...... 8 Director David Frank, M.D. Chair, Education Committee PANY News M. Carmela Perez, Ph. D. News and Notes of Members ...... 14 Chair, Graduate Society Committee Herbert Stein, M. D. Vice Chair, Graduate Society Committee Monica Michel, M.D.
Councilor to the American Psychoanalytic Association Arthur Lew, M.D. Alternate Councilor Barry Rand, M.D.
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Editorial
Election
Dr. Kerry Sulkowicz, a graduate, long time Speaking of elections, PANY will have some member, and current board member of PANY elections of its own this fall. Our bylaws require is a candidate for the position of President election for a number of positions at different Elect of the American Psychoanalytic intervals and this fall we are due to vote for offi- Association! cers and members of the Graduate Society If his status as a valued member of our com- Committee (formerly PANY Committee). munity were not enough to win our votes, Dr. When the society, which then monopolized Sulkowicz also has a unique qualification for the name, Psychoanalytic Association of New the position. Kerry, as many of you know, is a York, was merged with the psychoanaltyic psychoanalyst who has long practiced as a institute (IPE, formerly NYUPI, formerly The consultant to organizations, using his clinical Institute at NYUMC, formerly Downstate skills and knowledge of organizational struc- Psychoanalytic Institute), there were extensive ture. He is the Founder of Boswell Group negotiations and discussions aimed at insuring Consultants, which offers these services to that we preserve the structure and functions of businesses and organizations. As a member of the society. Some of you felt very strongly the American Psychoanalytic Association, he about this, and one of the lynchpins of that has served in an advisory capacity for the asso- merger was the establishment of a committee ciation. within the organization to take over the admin- What better qualifications could anyone istration of those functions and in effect have? Kerry is a psychoanalyst and a consult- replace the PANY Board of Directors. ant to organizations, an established expert in The bylaws are quite specific about the com- organizational functioning and problems. He position of the Graduate Society Committee. understands how we work both individually The elected officers of the committee, who are and organizationally. And, for many of us, he is Regular Members of PANY are the Chair, Vice- a friend. Chair, Secretary, Finance Chair and Councilor I urge you to vote for our own Kerry to the American Psychoanalytic Association. Sulkowicz in the upcoming election for There are two additional elected members of President Elect of the American Psychoanalytic the committee without specific title, who may Association. be Regular or PANY Affiliate Members. There HHS are also two ex officio members of the commi- tee, the Director of PANY and the EC Chair. Please consider this list of offices and think about offering your name in nomination if you are someone who is concerned about the viability and welfare of the PANY Society and our community at large. Think of it as an opportuity for you and for our community. In addition, please consider nominating others to be part of this committee, those that you think would offer an important voice. HHS
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Bringing a Psychoanalytic Sensibility to HBO Films by Brenda Bauer In February 2017 two psychoanalyst member screenings and discussions to generate con- colleagues, Jill Gentile (NYU Post Doc) and structive work around the important topics of Kenneth Feiner (IPTAR) approached APsaA's sexual abuse, adolescent development, trau- Committee on Status of Women and Girls with ma, psychological healing and feminine/mas- an intriguing invitation. It was a request for culine identity developmental constructions assistance, really, in “getting the word out” on a among other psychoanalytically relevant top- fascinating new film, “The Tale,” which had ics. The response from local institutes and soci- recently premiered at Sundance Film Festival, eties was overwhelming. About a dozen insti- and was in short order bought by HBO Films tutes, societies and centers hosted screenings and would premiere on HBO in late-spring. and created educational content around the The Emmy-nominated film went on to earn film that were used both for public outreach several important awards. and for educational instruction to candidates “The Tale” stars Laura Dern, Ellen Burstyn, in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. John Heard, Jason Ritter and rapper and actor In the run-up to the May 2018 HBO premiere Common. Screenwriter and Director, Jennifer of “The Tale,” HBO held a specific film screen- Fox tells the true story of her own childhood ing for female athletes, “influencers,” and sexual abuse by a trusted coach, and how it activists at which many attendees were affects her later relationships. It is exceptional involved with various dimensions of club, col- for its subtle, realistic, and psychologically true lege, professional and semi-professional sports and jarring depiction of the experience of sex- in which there is a surprisingly high percentage ual abuse and its toll on memory, identity, rela- of sexual abuse of girls and young women by tionships, and sexuality, in the aftermath of coaches and staff. Many in attendance were abuse. “The Tale” explores aspects of sexual themselves sexual abuse survivors. I was invit- abuse that are not black and white. Themes ed by HBO to attend this screening as a mental such as predatory behavior, victimization, con- health professional familiar with trauma of this flation of sexual violation with desire, consen- kind in the event that attendees had difficulty suality and non-consensuality, and power with the rather raw, emotionally-charged film dynamics are woven into a compelling narra- content. Serving in this spontaneous clinical tive. capacity proved to be a rather harrowing, and Jill and Ken had served as script consultants humbling, experience, and demonstrated to for “The Tale,” to ensure that the story of child- me just how common childhood sexual abuse hood sexual abuse, and personal narrative and is in specific populations (athletic clubs and memory authentically conveyed the raw expe- schools) where there is little oversight of rience of trauma seen by psychoanalysts in our coaching staff and there is little sensitization of consulting rooms. They hoped to extend the parent groups, which are largely unaware of reach of this remarkable film into the mental how great this problem is. health professional community and to link us I also designed a symposium for APsaA's to other supporting organizations, such as 2019 Winter Meetings titled, “Agency, the RAINN, NASW, Planned Parenthood, and Joyful Complexities of Desire, and #MeToo in HBO's Heart Foundation, among others. 'The Tale': A Conversation with Filmmaker APsaA enthusiastically signed on to this Jennifer Fox,” which framed the film as an important collaboration, and as Director of the essential retelling of the story of seduction that Social Issues Department for APsaA, I went to had erupted into the public realm just as the work on helping the team at “The Tale” link to #MeToo movement sparked and ignited an his- local institutes and societies and hosting torically unprecedented cultural firestorm.
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HBO Bauer The symposium panel argued that “The Tale” is public relations firestorm was created by the both a psychoanalytic story and the story of family of Michael Jackson and by fan groups psychoanalysis, and situated the film as a tale invested in preserving his legacy. of truth-telling, speaking truth to power, and After the March 3rd and 4th two-part HBO the reclaiming of memory and desire. Ken premiere, the Oprah Winfrey interview of Feiner, Jill Gentile, Barbara Mosbacher, and Jackson's accusers and the documentary direc- Lyn Yonack were panelists in conversation with tor, Dan Reed, titled “After Neverland,” would Jennifer Fox and feminist psychologist and follow the second part of the documentary. ethicist, Carol Gilligan, who helped us grapple OWN recruited 100 audience members who with the contemporary retelling of the story of were themselves childhood sexual abuse sur- seduction. vivors, some of them with a longstanding rela- HBO, it seemed to me as a long time viewer tionship with the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” to sit of their content, had taken a deep dive into in the first several rows of the theater. I was rather dark, stormy, previously untold subjects invited to be on hand for the audience mem- of great social significance when it brought the bers who may have difficulty with the quite Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order SVU) docu- graphic language and descriptions of child- mentary “I am Evidence” aboard their 2017 hood sexual abuse. Unlike previous groups primetime docket. That documentary film with which I had been involved with for explored the stories of four rape survivors screenings, the OWN-recruited audience whose rape kits went untested for years. members were remarkably comfortable speak- (Experts estimate that there are hundreds of ing about themselves as survivors of childhood thousands of untested rape kits in police and sexual abuse and had unfailingly sought psy- crime lab storage facilities.) It followed them as chotherapy and other resources (like support they navigated the criminal justice system and groups, and joining the helping professions shone a light on the way our culture treats the themselves) aimed at healing and evolving per- crime of sexual assault in this country and the sonally. Seeing the long term “evidence” of all positive effects that occur when perpetrators their hard work was inspiring and reminded are held accountable and survivors are granted me yet again how important our work is with the chance for healing and justice. As an HBO this often quite fragile population. fan, I was impressed that they took on such Without the broad and deep exposure to dark, difficult, trauma-themed content and so models of psychological development, and the delighted to have found an opportunity to be a various models of trauma that our field has part of the HBO “The Tale” team in 2018. always been identified with, it would of course In early 2019, I was invited by HBO to take be difficult to present oneself as knowledge- part in what was at the time a rather “hush- able about the sequelae of traumatic experi- hush” project. HBO Films had recently pur- ences that our patients present to us. chased the controversial documentary film Increasingly, however, in the age of #MeToo, “Leaving Neverland,” after it made a splash at and in pursuit of a more authentic, integrated the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and had creat- sense of self amid changing social norms, it ed a collaboration with OWN (Oprah Winfrey seems particularly important to be sensitive to Network) to help with this much-anticipated opportunities outside of the office to both premiere. “Leaving Neverland” focused on two share what we know as psychoanalysts and to men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who be prepared to listen deeply to other perspec- alleged that they were sexually abused as chil- tives, means and treatment modalities dren by the singer Michael Jackson. The docu- employed in the service of healing traumatized mentary resulted in a backlash against Michael individuals. Jackson and a reassessment of his legacy. A
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Bulletin Board Of interest to PANY Members
PANY's Training Analyst and Certification The Indian American Psychoanalytic Study Group Alliance (IAPA) hosted a one-day confer- ence on March 10, 2019 in Delhi, India enti- The Training Analyst and Certification tled, "Socio-political and cultural factors in Study Group is a faculty peer group that the analytic space", with Monisha Nayar- meets monthly with the purpose of prepar- Akhtar, PhD as the keynote speaker. Bruce ing Faculty for American Board of Levin, M.D. gave a clinical paper discussed Psychoanalysis (ABP) Certification and/or by the panelists, Harvey Schwartz, MD, the PANY Training Analyst process. Barry Rand, MD, and Jacqueline Schachter, Members meet one Saturday throughout the PhD, all also members of PANY. year to discuss in detail their case write- ups, which are presented on a rotating basis Rich and intelligent discussion followed . The Study Group has been meeting for with the enthusiastic audience composed over two years, and has grown from three to mostly of local psychotherapists who told us seven members. The Group has just cele- they were eager for such psychoanalytic brated its first successful candidate in June, clinical conferences. The panelists all when Malini Singh was certified by ABP at agreed that we learned a great deal in this the Spring APsaA meetings. Anyone inter- cross-cultural experience. Prior to the con- ested in joining the Study Group or seeking ference the group enjoyed a nine-day tour more information is welcome to contact any of The Golden Triangle of Rajasthan, organ- of the group members listed below. ized by Dr. Schachter's India tour company, Royal Raj Encounters (not affiliated with IAPA), to experience this intriguing land of Leslie Cummins vibrant cities, enchanting countryside, and Carmela Perez ancient historical sites, including the Taj Barry Rand Mahal. Susan Resek Jennifer Schimmel Aneil Shirke Jacqueline Schachter Malini Singh
For the first time a contingent of psychoanalysts marched in the Alternate Pride March in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, including 3 members of PANY and their partners.
Barry Rand PANY Scientific Meeting Schedule
PANY 2019-2020
September 16 Seventeenth C. Philip Wilson, M.D. Memorial Lecture “Will you still need me? How Secure Attachments in Intimate Relationships may Protect our Minds as well as our Hearts as We Grow Old" Robert Waldinger, M.D.
September 21 Memories of Shelley. Memorial Conference for Shelley Orgel, M.D. Details to follow.
October 26th Panel: “Reverie, Field Theory and Contemporary Analytic Technique” Panelists: Howard Levine, M.D. David Power, M.D.
November 9th - Candidate Organized Meeting “Where have all the patients gone? Creating a Psychoanalytic Mind, Identity and Practice during Candidacy” Panelists: TBA
November 23rd Faculty seminar Presenter Dara Cho, M.D. Discussant Judy Kantrowitz, Ph.D.
December 10th- Joint Meeting of NYPSI, PANY and Columbia Psychoanalytic Institute “Creativity in the Science of Psychoanalysis" Moderator: Christine Anzieu - Premmereur, M.D. Panelists: Ted Shapiro, M.D. (NYPSI) Marina Mirkin, M.D. (PANY) Lila Kalinich, M.D. (Columbia Psychoanalytic Institute)
January 27th - Theodore Jacobs, M.D. “The Sense of Self and its Modifications in Analytic Treatment: The Evolution of Technique”
Marina Mirkin, M.D. Chair, Scientific Meeting Committee
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Lessons on the Superego in Shoplifters by Herbert H. Stein
It is always a gift for me when something I dinner with the family. am teaching in class resonates with a film I The other family members are an elderly have seen recently. Such a gift occurred woman, whom they call Grandma, a younger around the film, Shoplifters, which came to woman, Nobuyo, the titular mother of the mind as I was preparing for a class on the family, and a young adult/adolescent girl, development of the superego. called Aki. In the course of dinner, Grandma Shoplifters is a film from Japan that chal- notices that the girl's arms are covered with lenges us with questions about morality. It is scars. Nobuyo decides that they should take about the members of a makeshift family her back home before someone comes look- bound by compassion and dependent on ing for her. theft. The film begins with an act of compas- But when she and Osamu reach the place sion which is ultimately condemned and pun- where they found the girl, who calls herself ished. It raises questions not only about right Yuri, they hear a violent argument coming and wrong, but also about the meaning of from the apartment between a man and a family. woman.1 The gift that I experienced is the artfully “That's what you always say! You're never presented story of the development of con- here!” science in a pre-adolescent boy. “Artfully” “I told you.” because we, the viewers, experience the inner “I'm the one looking after her!” emotions of the characters almost out of our “Hell knows who the real father is.” awareness from subtle facial expressions and “Don't!” postures, brief comments, gazes and finally “Shut up!” action. The filmmakers do not provide music (We hear a noise.) to evoke our feelings, do not seem to tell us “That hurts! Why?” what to feel or what the people in the film are Now the woman screams loudly, “I didn't feeling. This creates for us the sense that we want to have her either!” are experiencing their feelings simply from Nobuyo wordlessly decides that she can't being with them. leave the girl in this home of violence, abuse The boy's name is Shota, a name given to and neglect. They bring her home, an addition him by his “father” in this self-created family. to the family. The father calls himself Osamu. As the film This is not the first time. We learn at some opens, we see them working as a team to steal point that Shota was also found by Osamu, items from a grocery store. The boy does the abandoned in a car. This is a family that came shoplifting under the watchful eye of the together out of necessity, all there because of father, who communicates through hand sig- some loss or trauma, and Yuri is its newest nals and nods and carefully blocks the boy member. from the view of others so that he can do his This opening sequence brings us into the work. film's complex presentation of morality. What We are introduced to them at an ordinary will later be viewed by the authorities and moment of their lives just before an event that society as a heinous crime, a kidnapping, is will change everything. On the way home, on here experienced by us as an act of compas- a dark, quiet street, they hear a noise and see sion; a girl is being saved rather than a girl is a very young girl—we later learn she is four— being stolen. It is on such matters that the sitting alone in an apartment. Apparently, drama hinges. As viewers just beginning to get they have seen her there alone before. This a sense of the plot and the characters, we time, the man, Osamu, offers her one of the don't necessarily make special note of this croquettes they have just bought on their way point, but we feel clearly that taking the girl home. As the scene shifts, we see that they back to live with them is an act of compassion have brought her home with them to share 1. Quotations are taken from the English subtitles.
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Shoplifters Stein and courage. A little girl has been taken from a pass a couple of children with school bags, he home of neglect and abuse to a home of love tells her, “Only kids who can't study at home and compassion. go to school.” Shota doesn't go to school, Without our fully realizing it, we, the view- obviously because it would expose the family, ers, have been drawn into a world of unfamil- and this is the rationalization he has adopted, iar moral ground; and, as we watch, the boy, presumably from Osamu. We see him taking Shota, will begin to question the morality he Yuri to a local store, Yamatoya, where he does has been living with, and we will be there to some shoplifting, making sure to keep out of see it. That morality centers around a culture sight of the elderly owner. At a later point he of shoplifting and teaching children how to says he'll teach her someday. shoplift along with other forms of institutional And, quite naturally, we begin to see a touch theft, such as taking money falsely from a of sibling rivalry. Osamu, Shota and Yuri go to pension belonging to Grandma's late hus- a store where Osamu distracts the salesman band. The filmmakers give some justification while Shota grabs a pair of fishing rods and for it, presenting this family as living in a Yuri unplugs the alarm so that Shota can walk world that lacks protections for the poor. out with the rods, Yuri following. When Osamu suffers an injury to his leg on On their way home we see Shota walking his job as a construction “day worker,” he is apart from Osamu and Yuri. not eligible for workers compensation. When He says, “We don't need her help.” Nobuyo's employer lets her go because of ris- Osamu replies, “This is what you call work- ing expenses, she has no recourse and no share.” unemployment benefits. It seems to justify her “What's that?” having stolen objects from the pockets of the “It means what it sounds like, we all share clothes she has been handling as a laundry the work.” worker. Certainly, the film seems to be per- “She's in the way.”_ suading us to accept the necessary “crimes” of “Don't say that, she's your sister.” these poor people in an unjust world. “She's not my sister.” But it is through the pre-adolescent boy, Shota runs ahead, Osamu calling out to him, Shota, that we see a struggle with moral ques- “She's your sister, Yuri is your sister!” tions and a gradual shift in values. It is here Osamu pats Yuri on the head, reassuring that we get a fictionalized, but clearly under- her, standable process of the development and “You're his sister, right? It's no big deal. He honing of morality as adolescence approach- doesn't mean it. He's just rebelling.” es. And it is that awareness of moral corrup- Back at home, Yuri waits outside, looking for tion by the boy, Shota, that pulls the film Shota, who hasn't come home yet. Nobuyo towards its tragic ending. tries to reassure her. Osamu finds Shota out- Once Yuri enters the family, some of the side in an abandoned car he uses as a little responsibility for her is automatically delegat- workshop to shine some of the metal objects ed to the older child, Shota. The first day that he's collected. Yuri is there, we see Grandma receiving a visi- Osamu tells him, “Yuri's so worried, she's tor. As he comes in the front door, Shota leads been waiting for you by the door the whole Yuri out the back door and takes her for a time. You don't like Yuri?” walk. We soon understand that this is to hide Shota shakes his head, apparently meaning their presence from the visitor. She follows it's not that. him at a distance. Osamu asks, This becomes a pattern, with Yuri following “So what's wrong?_“ Shota during the day. As the older brother, he “It's more fun with just us guys.” begins to casually teach her things he has “Of course it is. But for Yuri, if she helps us learned from his father, giving us some sense out, it's easier to live with us. Right?” of his view of the world as well. When they After Shota nods approval and responds,
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Shoplifters Stein
“Got it,” Osamu asks him, “Yuri is your what?” guilt or shame. “My sister.” While blowing up a lifesaver on the beach, Osamu is pleased, but he can't get Shota to Shota appears to focus on a woman's breast. A say that he is his father. Nevertheless, in the moment later, while playing in the water with next scene we see him and Shota playing Shota, Osamu begins an adult discussion. together, clearly having bonded again. “Shota, you like boobs?” The film gives us a similar bonding experi- “Not especially.” ence between Nobuyo and Yuri as Nobuyo “Liar, I saw you looking.” attempts to help Yuri with her experience of “Why?” abuse. This is set off by the family seeing a “It's all right. All men like boobs. Your Daddy report on television that Yuri has been loves them, too.” declared missing. They decide to disguise her, Shota laughs. cutting her hair and buying her new clothes. Osamu goes on, At one point, in the dressing room as they are “Tell me. Are you getting big down there in talking about the dresses for Yuri, Yuri tells her the mornings?” not to get a yellow dress that they thought Laughing, Shota again asks, “Why?” then looked better. When asked why, she asks after a moment adds, “All men do?” Nobuyo, Osamu replies, “Everybody does. All men do. “You won't hit me later?” Feel better?” Nobuyo gently reassures her that she won't A smiling Shota nods “Yes,” then adds, “I hit her. thought maybe I was sick.” We see them soon after back home. Yuri is “You're healthy.” wearing the yellow dress sitting beside the tub “Great!” where Nobuyo is taking a bath. Yuri notices Much like Nobuyo has done with the little that Nobuyo has a mark on her arm. girl, reassuring her about the abuse she had Nobuyo explains, “I got burned with a hot suffered, that she is ok, Osamu has given iron.” Shota fatherly reassurance. Yuri shows her a similar burn on her arm, We move immediately to a friendly, loving saying, “Me, too.” exchange between Nobuyo and Grandma sit- Nobuyo responds, “We're the same.” ting on the sand. The other family members Moments later we see them sitting outside are at the water's edge, holding hands as they apparently burning Yuri's old clothes. play with incoming wavelets. After Nobuyo Nobuyo holds her, saying, “Let's burn it. gets up to join them, we see Grandma looking Ok?” out at them, barely mouthing words we see in Yuri nods “Yes.” the subtitle, Her arms still around Yuri, Nobuyo tells her, “Thank you.” “The reason they hit you isn't because you are It is this loving, caring family atmosphere in bad. If they say they hit you because they love which the children are encouraged to enjoy you, that is a lie. If they loved you, if they real- life and overcome their fears that gives us, the ly loved you, this is what you do.” viewers, a warm feeling that prepares us for She hugs her and rocks her, tears in her the development of the film's tragic finale. eyes. It is a tender loving moment. Already, in the scenes just described, we see These scenes of parental understanding and hints of my association of this film to a class compassion culminate in a family trip to the on the development of the superego, a moral beach that brings out for the viewer the sense, in children. Both Nobuyo, the mother rewards of having a warm, caring, loving fami- and Osamu, the father, have encouraged the ly. children to adopt a morality that is reassuring, There, Osamu provides the boy with fatherly Yuri over the abuse she has suffered and Shota advice, caring and encouragement. He invites over his budding sexuality. But that is not him to enjoy his budding sexuality without what particularly drew me back to the film.
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Shoplifters Stein
The motive force for the dissolution of the Shota, saying, “I'll give you these.” family comes from the development of He looks at him a moment and adds, mak- Shota's conscience, which we can follow in a ing the ritual finger motions he has obviously series of scenes shortly before and right after observed, “Don't make your sister do it.” the tranquility of the beach trip. It is also that Shota turns and walks out of the store. development that stood out in my mind as I Clearly the store owner has known for some prepared for a class on the development of the time about the shoplifting, has allowed it to go superego. on, but is drawing a line. We can deduce that, The detailed development of Shota's morali- but can only surmise how aware Shota is of all ty might be used in a psychoanalytic textbook. of that. We know only that it has started him Our understanding is that a child's initial thinking because at a later moment, in the understanding of right and wrong comes from midst of a family fun time with Osamu per- parental “do's' and “don't's”. At around the forming magic tricks for the children, Shota Oedipal period, as the child begins to develop says, quietly so that only Osamu hears him, some autonomy, those moral rules cease to be “He said, 'don't make your sister do it'.” directly connected to the parents, becoming “Who said? Do what?” the core of an inner authority that seems to Shota replies, “This,” making the ritual hand come from within. motion. Freud first emphasized that when we lose or “Who did?” move away from a loved one, in reality or per- “The Yamatoya guy.” ception, we often take some aspects of them Osamu, looking away, starts to answer, “Of into ourselves, attaching ourselves to their course, it's still too early for Lin to ...” and beliefs and their values. The film shows us then breaks away to help someone find some- how this can happen at a later time in child- thing across the room, seemingly avoiding the hood, at the movement into adolescence, an question. even more striking period of growing autono- This is left hanging, perhaps percolating fur- my from parents. ther in Shota's mind as we go through the We see—perhaps I should say experience— beach scene and its positive family dynamics. Shota beginning to question his father's Immediately after the comforting resolution at teachings to develop his own beliefs. It the beach, we experience a series of events revolves around his relationships with his that lead the film to its tragic ending and allow father, Osamu, and his sister, Yuri as well as us to experience and understand the develop- the shoplifting that gives the film its name. ment of a new morality in a boy just entering Having accepted Yuri (now called “Lin” as adolescence. All the pieces leading to that part of the disguise) as a sister, Shota has development have already been set in place. taken it on himself to teach her shoplifting, in It begins with a death, one of two that will effect taking on his father's role. We see them be part of this “lesson.” Grandma simply does- together in a small store. Shota stands behind n't wake one morning. We hear Aki trying to Yuri to block her from the storeowner's view wake her, then the others rush in. Osamu seemingly looking at some candles and reach- starts to call for an ambulance, but Nobuyo es back to nudge her, giving a signal. Going stops him, saying that she's dead, the ambu- through a little ritual motion with her fingers lance can't help her, and they can't allow that we have seen Shota use, she takes a small themselves to be found there. Instead, Osamu piece of candy and moves out of the store, warns Shota that it must be kept a secret. looking back at him. “Grandma was never here.” As he is about to follow, we hear the elderly He and Nobuyo dig a grave and bury her, storeowner say, “Hey!” essentially hiding her body. The storeowner walks over to Shota, pulls The scene shifts to the street, where Nobuyo down a couple of candles and hands them to is at something like an ATM collecting
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Shoplifters Stein
Grandma's pension money. Shota is with her, Having heard the dialogue with Nobuyo and they begin to talk. I've put in bold the dia- almost moments before, we are inside the logue relating to the morality of shoplifting. boy's mind. “Whose money?” Shota asks. Osamu looks at him and says, “It's Grandma's money.” “So what?” “So it's not bad.” Shota just looks down. “It's not bad.” Osamu again asks, “What?” and then offers “What about shoplifting?” to let Shota use the “crusher” he is holding to “What does your father say?” break the car window. “Whatever's in a store doesn't belong to Shota shakes his head and walks away. anyone yet.” “In that case, you be the lookout by the “Well, as long as the store doesn't go bank- stairs,” Osamu tells him. rupt, it's OK.” Shota, walking away, ignores him as Osamu He quietly shakes his head “Yes.” breaks a car window, pulls something out of This dialogue almost puts us inside Shota's the car and runs. head. He has been taught that shoplifting is As he runs away, Shota hesitantly following, not bad because no one really owns those Shota asks, things yet. But he has asked the question, and “Back when, when you saved me ...” gets back that answer. We don't really know if “What?” he knows the meaning of “bankrupt.” “Were you trying to steal something from As they walk, we hear a vendor asking the car, too?” Nobuyo, “Hello young mother, croquettes for “No, you dummy. That time I was just trying your son?” to save you.” It leads to Shota asking her whether she Shota stops and watches Osamu run off. likes being called “Mother” and when she asks We next see Shota and Yuri approaching the him why he asked, he says, Yamatoya store. It is closed. “Because he wants me to call him Dad.” He reads, “In Mourning.” “But you can't,” she answers with under- “What does that mean?” she asks him, as standing. they look in the door, “Day off?” “No, not yet.” He says, “Did it go bankrupt?” She reassures him that it's not a big deal. Two deaths of elderly people, Grandma who The scene moves. We are back in the house, was the elder of the family and the owner of where Osamu and Nobuyo are celebrating the Yamatoya store, who attempted to teach having found Grandma's hidden stash of Shota a moral lesson. money. They cheerfully count it out, “30,000 A rationale for shoplifting that no one was yen each.” Shota and Lin look on and the actually hurt by it shattered first by a “crush- camera focuses on Shota's face, showing er” on a car window and then by the death nothing in particular, but leaving a sense of and closing of the store reminding Shota of disquiet in the look. Nobuyo's comment about bankruptcy. In the film's typically understated way, we Together, they explain the next scene, the have been made aware of Shota's growing dis- scene that plummets the film to its tragic end- quiet and doubts. The next two scenes change ing, crushing the family as if with a metal that doubt into certainty, the consolidation of crusher, sending it to its demise. a harsh morality. After leaving the shut down Yamatoya store, Shota and Osamu are in an open-air parking Shota and Yuri go to another, bigger store. He lot. Osamu is looking into the car windows. tells her, “You wait here.” Shota asks him, “Don't these belong to He goes in, but she follows. He is looking someone?” around to steal something when he sees her Again, I've used boldface for emphasis. getting ready to take something. He tries to
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Shoplifters Stein get her attention, then runs to grab some fruit avoiding her mother, and ultimately sitting all in a bag and runs out, obviously drawing alone, with no one. We, the moviegoers, look attention. He is eventually caught between on with a very different moral compass. two pursuers on an overpass and jumps over. The power of loss and separation is brought Yuri is watching and runs home. out in one last touching moment in the film. We, the viewers don't need to be told why Shota, who is now enrolled and living in a this happened. We don't even need a psycho- school, has a visit with Osamu, who is now liv- analytic textbook to explain that with his ing alone. They go fishing with the stolen fish- death, the words of the “Yamatoya guy” have ing rods, have dinner, and then the boy sleeps become a moral injunction: “Don't let your over. At night in bed, he asks Osamu if they sister do it.” were indeed planning to leave him behind. Shota is hospitalized and as matters devel- Osamu says it's true that they were trying to op, the family inquiring about him at the hos- get away before they were caught. Shota then pitalized draws police attention. They are tells him that he deliberately got caught. In caught trying to escape from their home. In the morning after they say goodbye, Osamu the scenes that follow quickly, they are each impulsively runs after the bus that is leaving, interrogated and lectured at by police, social tears in his eyes. Shota is sitting in the bus, workers and other young, self-confident gov- looking forward, seemingly unaware, then ernment workers who accuse them of cor- turns back and under his breath (we see the rupting minors, theft, and above all kidnap- caption) says, “Goodbye ... Dad.” ping. They are told that they are not a real The loss of Osamu has solidified his place in family, and, most tragically of all, Yuri is sent the boy’s mind, just as Freud said it would. back to her real parents, where we see her PANY Members
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13 News and Notes of Members Authors Honors Speakers Books Dr. Theodore J. Jacobs was Dr. Harold P.Blum presented Garrett, Michael awarded his 2018 Sigourney "On the Road to Object Psychotherapy for Award honoring psychoana- Constancy" the opening Psychosis: Integrating lytic achievement at the July paper for the 50th anniver- Cognitive Behavioral and meeting of the International sary of the Margaret Mahler Psychodynamic Treatment. Psychoanalytic Association Symposium in Philadelphia Guilford Press. August 22, in London. on April 6, 2019. 2019. Rania Kanazi was graduated Desiree Santos presented Papers from the Adult Psychoana- “Paving the Way: An lytic Training Program at Interdisciplinary Model for Mirkin, Marina (2019) PANY on May 2, 2019. Social Work Continuing Judge not the play before Education in Healthcare" at the play is done: the role of Desiree Santos was graduat- the 9th International Social creative play in the treat- ed from the Adult Psycho- Work Conference on Health ment of a child with a his- analytic Training Program at and Mental Health at the tory of congenital impair- PANY on May 2, 2019. University of York in England ment. Psychoanalytic on July 25, 2019. Study of the Child. 72:1. Dr. Malini Singh was certi- fied in adult psychoanalysis Dr. Harvey Schwartz “Illness Whitman, Laura (2019) by the American Board of in the Analyst—30 years Using a spoon to claw your Psychoanalysis at its June later” at the Israeli Psycho- way out of a steel cage: a 2019 meeting. analytic Society on June 25th candidate works with the- 2019. frustration and defeatism Dr. Laura Whitman was cer- Dr. Schwartz was the Chair of of a college student with tified in adult psychoanalysis the Panel, Sexuality, Culture inattentive ADHD and by the American Board of and Woman's Health: A depression. Psychoanalytic Psychoanalysis at its June Tribute to Marie Langer at Study of the Child. 72:71- 2019 meeting. the meeting of the 87. International Psychoanalytic Whitman, Laura (2015) Association in London on Child psychotherapy, child PANY Members July 25, 2019. analysis, and medication: a Dr. Schwartz is the Executive flexible, integrative Please send your informa- Producer of the IPA Podcast, approach. Psychoanalytic tion for News and Notes to “Psychoanalysis On and Off Study of the Child. 69: 394- the Couch.” 415. (not previously noted in the PANY Bulletin) [email protected]. or by snail mail to Dr. Herbert Stein presented Herbert H. Stein, M.D. Kong: King? Slave? Monster? Father? Child? at the 425 East 79 Street Psychiatry Grand Rounds of New York, NY 10075 the Brooklyn Campus of the NY VA Medical Center on June 21, 2019. Dr. Jennifer Stuart will be happy to hear from PANY faculty and candidates interested in reviewing books for JAPA.
14 Bulletin of the Psychoanalytic Association of New York