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Journals / Selçuk İletişim / 2025 / Cilt: 18 Sayı: Sinema Özel Sayısı Özel Sayı

Existential Anxiety in Contemporary Cinema: The Example of the Film “The Substance”

Çağdaş Sinemada Varoluşsal Kaygı: "The Substance" Filmi Örneği

Hasan Tutar(BOLU ABANT İZZET BAYSAL ÜNİVERSİTESİ, İLETİŞİM FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0001-8383-1464
Merve Diltemiz(BOLU ABANT İZZET BAYSAL ÜNİVERSİTESİ, İLETİŞİM FAKÜLTESİ)0009-0003-9685-064X
Pages
24–50
Publication Date
2025-12-25
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings reveal that the film powerfully reflects the existential dread individuals face in confronting mortality and meaninglessness, articulated through the tension between the body, societal norms, and the pursuit of an authentic self.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study conducts a psychoanalytic examination of Coralie Fargeat's "The Substance," analyzing its representation of existential anxiety within contemporary cinema.
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Key Findings & Data:Framed by the theoretical lenses of Freud, Jung, and Lacan, the research investigates how the film translates its characters' unconscious dynamics, internal conflicts, and identity crises into a cinematic language.
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Conclusion & Impact:The findings reveal that the film powerfully reflects the existential dread individuals face in confronting mortality and meaninglessness, articulated through the tension between the body, societal norms, and the pursuit of an authentic self.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Varoluş sancısı · Gelecek kaygısı · Dünya ağrısı

Abstract

This study conducts a psychoanalytic examination of Coralie Fargeat's "The Substance," analyzing its representation of existential anxiety within contemporary cinema. Framed by the theoretical lenses of Freud, Jung, and Lacan, the research investigates how the film translates its characters' unconscious dynamics, internal conflicts, and identity crises into a cinematic language. Employing semiotic analysis as a qualitative method, the study interprets selected scenes, visual motifs, and narrative structures. The findings reveal that the film powerfully reflects the existential dread individuals face in confronting mortality and meaninglessness, articulated through the tension between the body, societal norms, and the pursuit of an authentic self. The narrative forces its characters to confront the inner void of an existence reduced to mere physicality. This process signifies a transformative reckoning with the fragmentation and reconstruction of the ego. Ultimately, this analysis posits that cinema, as exemplified by "The Substance," can function as an effective psychoanalytic tool for concretizing and deciphering unconscious conflicts and existential anxieties, highlighting the productive dialogue between film and psychoanalysis in understanding body-centric existential dread.

Özet

Bu çalışma, Coralie Fargeat’ın “The Substance” filmini, çağdaş sinemada varoluşsal kaygının temsili bağlamında psikanalitik bir yaklaşımla incelemektedir. Araştırma, Freud, Jung ve Lacan’ın kuramsal çerçeveleri ışığında, filmin karakterlerinin bilinçdışı dinamiklerini, iç çatışmalarını ve kimlik bunalımlarını nasıl sinematik bir dile dönüştürdüğünü analiz etmektedir. Nitel bir yöntem olarak benimsenen semiyotik analiz aracılığıyla, seçilmiş sahneler, görsel motifler ve anlatı yapıları incelenmiştir. Bulgular, filmin, bireyin ölümlülük ve anlamsızlık karşısında duyduğu varoluşsal korkuyu; beden, toplumsal normlar ve özgün benlik arayışı arasındaki gerilim üzerinden güçlü bir biçimde yansıttığını ortaya koymaktadır. Anlatı, karakterleri salt fizikselliğe indirgenmiş bir varoluşun getirdiği içsel boşlukla yüzleşmeye zorlamaktadır. Bu süreç, benliğin parçalanışı ve yeniden inşasına dair dönüştürücü bir hesaplaşmaya işaret eder. Çalışma, nihayetinde, “The Substance” özelinde sinemanın, bilinçdışı süreçleri ve varoluşsal bunalımları somutlaştırarak çözümleyebilen etkili bir psikanalitik araç işlevi görebileceğini öne sürmektedir. Bu analiz, beden merkezli bir varoluşun yarattığı kaygıyı anlamak için sinema ve psikanaliz arasındaki verimli diyaloğu vurgulamaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Tutar, H., Diltemiz, M. (2025). Existential Anxiety in Contemporary Cinema: The Example of the Film “The Substance”. Selçuk İletişim, Cilt: 18 Sayı: Sinema Özel Sayısı Özel Sayı, 24–50. https://doi.org/10.18094/josc.1813863

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