BPS 134: Psychology for Screenwriters with William Indick

I’m taking a journey down the rabbit hole of screenwriting
psychoanalysis with Professor William Indick, who is a psychology
professor at William Paterson University in New Jersey, professor
of psychology executive chair of faculty at Dowling
College, and author of Psychology for Screenwriters.

We take a nerdy dig into the world of psychology and how it affects
writers, screenwriters, and characters. With some expert
contextualization, William psychoanalyzes some of our favorite
films and characters while also breaking down character archetypes
and themes he has studied.  

How did it all start, you ask?

Well, in 2003 he made the decision to incorporate more culturally
relevant theories of personality instead of antiquated theories in
his psychology classes by sorting references from famous films.
Based on his students growing interested and fascination, William
researched to find psychology textbooks about films, but none
existed. So he wrote one instead. 

The book was published by Michael Wiese productions in 2004. 
Psychology For Screenwriters supports that screenwriters must
understand human behavior to make their stories come alive. This
book clearly describes theories of personality and psychoanalysis
with simple guidelines, thought-provoking exercises, vivid film
images, and hundreds of examples from classic movies.

Basically, the book takes general psychology theories and
applications and adapts them into helpful tools for
screenwriters.

He delves into various genre archetypal characters and themes that
are repetitive in screenplays in the second edition of the book
which will be out soon.

Just this summer, William published his sixth book, Media
Environments and Mental Disorder: The Psychology of Information
Immersion. It deals a lot with narcissism, and the notion that all
media is a mirror, and how we understand ourselves at a time when
we're constantly being reflected in a million ways. The information
environments that modern society requires us to master and engage
in are based on literacy and digital communication. Mediated
information not only passes through our brains, it alters and
rewires them. Since our environment, to a large extent, is shaped
by the way we perceive, understand, and communicate information, we
can even think of mental disorders as symptoms of maladaptation to
our media environments.

This book uses this "media ecology" model to explore the effects of
media on mental disorders. It traces the development of media from
the most basic forms--the sights and sounds expressed by the human
body--to the most technologically complex media created to date,
showing how each medium of communication relates to specific mental
disorders such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and autism.
As the digital age proceeds to envelop us in an environment of
infinite and instantly accessible information, it's crucial to our
own mental health to understand how the various forms of media
influence and shape our minds and behaviors.

My conversation with William was one of those discussions that you
come out of, more informed than you went in.

We had a blast. Enjoy my very informative conversation with William
Indick.

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