Going through psychoanalytic training and learning to think psychoanalytically not only enhances the clinician’s capacity to understand the deepest layers of human experience but can also facilitate richer and more deeply satisfying cultural experiences, whether through literature, drama, opera, or cinema.

In this presentation, Maxine Nelson will use Peter Weir’s 1993 film Fearless to illustrate the manic defense as described by Melanie Klein in two classic papers, “A Contribution to the Psychogenesis of Manic-Depressive States” (1934) and “Mourning and Its Relation to Manic-Depressive States” (1940). Fearless, based on the novel of the same name by Rafael Yglesias, follows the life of Max Klein, a San Francisco based architect after he survives a plane crash in which his partner and best friend Jeff dies. Maxine’s comments will focus on the initial and final scenes of the film: first, how Max uses manic defenses to temporarily help him deal with psychic trauma and, then, how these defenses are eventually overcome. Participants will be invited to share their comments on the presentation, as well as to share relevant clinical vignettes.