Harry Potter and the Psychological Wish Fulfilment

Harry Potter and the Psychological Wish Fulfilment | therapist explains

Рет қаралды 11,385

Күн бұрын

JK Rowling's Harry Potter series is one of, if not the most, successful fantasy book series of all time. Whilst not exclusively for children, it's worthy an analysis pulling out some of the unconscious phantasies and wish fulfilment that the stories feed into. So here's my top 8 list of meaningful phantasies in Harry Potter that fulfil some of our unconscious desires.
My Little Thought Tree is my channel for drawing out the deeper meaning and emotion in film, TV, and the world at large through relaxed, analytical video essays. I am a professional counsellor and often draw on my psychology and therapy background to better understand characters, themes, and emotion in fiction. I upload every Saturday and occasionally on Tuesdays, if I'm feeling productive.
What made Harry Potter so successful? - • what really made Harry...
Subscribe for more analysis videos! / @mylittlethoughttree
Patreon link - / mylittlethoughttree
Music:
Jonny Easton - Aurora
Background video: Dave's Walks - • Bakewell Town Walk, En...
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:40 Escaping Home
03:00 Brutish Tormentor
06:36 The Secret Gift
08:47 The Unaffected Victim
11:07 Projected Enemies
15:55 The Reluctant Limelight
18:42 The Chosen One
19:55 The Unabandoned Orphan
21:32 What Can We Take Away?
Thankyou to my small thought tree patrons: CapoXproductions, Dani B, Alexa Rives, Gaponya, Eugene, Sam Moore, Daniel Zafer-Joyce, This Island Urth, Paul Wilson, Farian, John McKean, Maria Verghelet, Sheridan Vahldieck, Apple Chip, KrzychuKB, Clem, Ava Erickson, and LE MO.
#harrypotter #analysis #jkrowling

Пікірлер: 66

@milton7763 3 жыл бұрын

There’s another angle you can take on Malfoy, even though it’s not one I believe Rowling had in mind: You can see him as a lesson that you can’t run away from your bully. Because even if you run away to a magical world where you have remarkable powers, you will just run into a new bully. In the end, you need to face up to your bully and perhaps more importantly face up to what it is within you that ‘attracts’ the bully to grow and be able to stand up for yourself.

@uhuhuh1966 3 жыл бұрын

Hmm it seems you’re forgetting Harry’s extreme fit of rage in Dumbledore’s office after Sirius died, throwing things across the room and demanding to be let out to run away, wanting to attack Dumbledore to make him hurt like he does, I was so upset they didn’t include that incredible scene in the film.

@LiveHedgehog 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah. That, and trying to use Crucio on Bellatrix after she knocked Sirius through the veil. That, and in Dumbledore's office, is Harry exploding after keeping everything pushed down for so long.

@mylittlethoughttree 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, also one of my favourites. I think the 5th book might be my favourite because of how much more apparent his anger becomes

@queenoflammersland8562 2 жыл бұрын

Agree. Rowling really understands adolescent angst.

@Fox-Paw 3 жыл бұрын

Just gotta let you know. I love how down to earth you are when speaking about these subjects. Instead of grabbing a high and mighty tone, you have a civilized discussion with us. Just taking it easy and relaxing, utterly amazing, so thank you for making this.

@anna_banana7019 3 жыл бұрын

This was a really honest and insightful video. I really enjoy how down to earth and calm this channel is. The topics are always so intriguing and engaging and I always have really positive takeaways from it. It's very relieving and refreshing when there are these little corners of the internet that don't have pure chaos and anxiety every which way. Thankyou, I thoroughly enjoyed this and agree wholeheartedly with the points made :-)

@papercrane7685 3 жыл бұрын

Definitely agree with you in that Hogwarts is a completely fantastical world in which Harry becomes the chosen hero. I think part of what grips readers so much is that we are all trying to find our place, to feel like we are where we are meant to be, doing what is the right thing for us to be doing amidst a lot of uncertainty and dysfunction. I think sometimes we fulfil that momentarily, but because we aren't perfect, we can never arrive at a perfect existence, only maybe an existence that is meaningful. And that's probably better than a perfect existence anyway. Harry goes into the wizarding world feeling out of place, and he faces significant struggle, but by the end of the series, the wizarding world would be in darkness if it weren't for him. So, he finds himself in a place that is deeply meaningful, he has friends who would face the evil of the world with him and has achieved a purpose that concludes all of his past struggles. I think readers can find some fantasy of contentment in this sense of arrival at his "place." This was a bit of a weird thought but hopefully there's some truth in it :)

@sriku1000 3 жыл бұрын

Social Media & Mental Health. A good video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mp9noLd_3czSXZ8.html

@tiffanym1108 3 жыл бұрын

I was actually able to put a bully in his place as an adult. And it was met with laughter from the group. So I was staying in a homeless shelter and there is a first come first serve seating chart. But all the tables were usually full in the mornings when I came out. So one morning I got up as early as I was allowed and got to the tables first. They were bench style tables. I also saved a spot for my then husband. Well the guy that usually sat there was fairly large and my ex husband and I are thinner than most. He came out demanding the spot back and I refused. So he starts talking s*** to the group and he said something along the lines of "she won't move her fat ass." I said, "my fat ass? Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Everyone was laughing and he gave up the seat

@crystalrowan 3 жыл бұрын

I honestly read the second title card as "British Tormentors" and thought to myself "wait, is that a thing?" I paused it and started thinking about Dickens and then went back and checked and saw that it was Brutish. Oops!

@mikanchan322 3 жыл бұрын

You've put to words what I've observed for a long time in myself. Escape-stories have always had a huge appeal to me, even in adulthood.

@trinaq 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for this spot on analysis! Harry Potter really has a lot of psychological elements, without you even realising, and it's fascinating to see how fantasy blends in with psychology.

@y345vash9 3 жыл бұрын

Very well spoken video. I also love the fact that you used the Stephen Fry version of the audiobooks for reading the quotes from the books. I have listened to the Stephen Fry versions for years, and very recently I decided to give the Jim Dale ones a try because I kept hearing people saying his is far superior. In my opinion, they are no where near as entertaining as Stephen Fry. Most of Jim Dale's character voices sound the same, and overall he just doesn't have the energy Stephen Fry does when reading. I'm 5 chapters into the Goblet of Fire and will finish the rest of the series, but I'm going the stick the Stephen Fry version from now on.

@anna_banana7019 3 жыл бұрын

0:34 Oh my gosh! I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I did precisely the same thing for longer then I'd care to admit ! Love it

@damianspence 3 жыл бұрын

I love the gentle and thoughtful expansion on ideas in popular media

@queenoflammersland8562 2 жыл бұрын

I sympathize with your love of the OED. Word etymology fascinates me. Appreciate the Harry Potter analysis. Rowling’s writing improves as the series progresses, but she’s no Tolkien. Nevertheless I enjoyed her books very much.

@ms.mittenz 3 жыл бұрын

Just... that Jeff bezos, amazon story? I'm in, that's the good shit

@_gremlinboy 3 жыл бұрын

This is already such a good video (and ty for the little note in the beginning about the author) the escapism was really the big draw in these books, which I think works really well when you're a kid. But in retrospect things do come into clearer focus and I find I have a feeling of unease about some of the implications in the story, particularly the ending. It's clear there's this pervasive magical political situation that values blood purity and segregation, and instead of it ever really being challenged, we're just shown a particular example of resulting intergenerational trauma and the villain it created, and then we defeat the villain. It falls a little flat, which stories for young audiences often do in that department, but I don't think it has to be that way- even as a 10 or 11 year old finishing the books I felt like the ending felt a bit hollow and I'm sure the theming is a big part of it. Kids deserve good and satisfying stories imo!

@racheldaniels3806 3 жыл бұрын

I do not really understand the second half of your text. The way I see it > in real life people have similar awful values and those won’t go away. Can you maybe explain what you wanted the ending to focus on?

@no_special_person 3 жыл бұрын

I love you Mr calm English accent

@nachgeben 3 жыл бұрын

I don't agree about the fact that we fabricate a teacher hating us due to factors like not being aware of the treatment of others, or that we're doing something wrong. It's an anecdotal set of reasons, but provable enough that teachers were removed from entire school systems. You have to be so careful when you say things like that, because I know as a child, I shut down anytime someone asked me, "Well, what did you do to make them do that?" It's why I ended up ceasing trying to report my parents for physical abuse. I think it's an awful thing to have this odd line for teachers, where it's acceptable to ask that sort of questioning, or make those assumptions. When you're being specifically targeted by someone like a teacher (in my case, I had the audacity to be friends with the only black girl in the school), it's scary. It's distressing, and damaging, and tells children and teenagers that it's okay to receive verbal, emotional, mental abuse from a teacher because, clearly, THEY did something to predicate it, or THEY'RE over-reacting.

@mylittlethoughttree 3 жыл бұрын

Oh no, I'd never dismiss a studen'ts claims, I approach everythign with empathy, and ofcourse there are horrible situations with teachers and safeguarding should be taken incredibly seriously. However, regardless of that, children do often exaggerate about the strict teachers. I always did as a kid, it's natural. Perhaps I've been lucky to work in very good schools where teachers are trained and checked thoroughly. I'm not saying student's shouldn't be taken seriously or we should dismiss anything they say at all, nor that every occurrence of "this teacher hates me" is an ordinary natural expression; only that it is a common thing that can happen.

@SilverDemon456 2 жыл бұрын

This was very interesting and I loved the walk as I listened and contemplated your words. It made the whole experience very peaceful. I'd love to see more videos of a similar format.

@astrinymris9953 2 жыл бұрын

I was an adult when the Harry Potter books came out, and I remember thinking that the story seemed to be crafted to catch every hook in a child's psyche. It starts with unfair adults who didn't understand him and treated him unfairly. Even the other kids at school refused to be friends with him because of Dudley's fists. Dudley also serves the role as the sibling who's favored over Harry. It takes the real injustices every child has felt to some extent or another and ramps them up to eleven. Then the classical Freudian Family Romance is unveiled, revealing that Harry's real parents were not only much more special than the Dursleys but that he was effectively a secret heir. A secret heir who can do magic, no less. The boy with no friends is now surrounded by people eager to be his friend. Then it grants the reader vicarious triumph over both ordinary rivals and evil Dark Lords. Really, it's no surprise the books were a hit.

@Capydapy 2 жыл бұрын

Gryffindor: The heroic, brave, but sometimes arrogant class. Yeah, okay, you'll need a place for the heroes and maybe sneak in a villain in there to freshen things up, yeah. Ravenclaw: The nerdy, intelligent class. Yeah, okay, some kids love to study and learn about new things and new curious about the world. Yeah, sounds good. Hufflepuff: The kind-hearted pushovers class. Yeah, okay, some kids may not "fit in" and get judged for maybe being too sensitive and softer. Right, yeah. Slytherin: .......The dangerous Wizard supremacy group metaphor....... Wow, that got heavy FAST.

@oneslikeme Ай бұрын

Draco also affected the plot when he lied about recognizing Harry in the last book. You're right, he was pretty one dimensional in the first few books. The 6th book, we finally see another side of him. I found it fascinating that he chose a muggle ghost to confide in.

@chloejarvis721 3 жыл бұрын

This was brilliant, I forgot how much I enjoy your videos - I’m actually starting on my associates in psychology this fall, and it’s really cool to hear stuff from the perspective of a counselor Great job on the video again, it’s wonderful!

@Northflowo 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe you think there's no point to this video, but I liked it :)

@Kwistoweeish 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent analysis, and I loved hearing Stephen Fry! I enjoy Jim Dale’s but Stephen’s is my go-to audio version.

@TsmithJustin 2 жыл бұрын

I love these videos. Love your content. Would love to hear you do a breakdown of Pinocchio.

@nathandriel6437 3 жыл бұрын

Well, Harry is quite often a scumback to his friends, being harsh and repeatedly pretty unfair to them (most often in books 5 and 7 I think)

@Joebutcher66 Жыл бұрын

Just discovered your Chanel it’s a great Chanel keep going you will go far

@yentl Жыл бұрын

I’d love to see character analyses on “HP” characters like: Malfoy, Snape, Umbridge etc…

@xzonia1 3 жыл бұрын

I read most of the Harry Potter books and saw a couple of the movies (I was in my 30s when the first movie came out). It's a lovely story, and I enjoy hearing people discuss it, so this was fun. I loved your Twitter joke. :)

@apatternedhorizon 3 жыл бұрын

Slughorne was a Slytherin wasn't he?

@denizkenger52 3 жыл бұрын

yeah

@ellalawani1271 3 жыл бұрын

I really enjoyed this video a lot

@snipersEND 3 жыл бұрын

Great review Dan, watching now

@kirstyt4007 3 жыл бұрын

Who's Dan? 😂

@geekexmachina 3 жыл бұрын

Nice vid, personally i think its good to do videos about your thoughts about something you are currently experiencing its more natural and organic. I think that some You Tube videos can feel very forced when subject matter is contrived.

@caninecurry5823 2 жыл бұрын

I think there's quite a few adults who still believe in magical thinking... not pointing any fingers.

@bryankelly335 3 жыл бұрын

You have #paddington #analysis #videoessay as the Hashtags .. Just a heads up , appreciate yah

@mylittlethoughttree 3 жыл бұрын

I guess I must be overworked right now 😂

@thealiengirl104 3 жыл бұрын

Nice!!! ❤️❤️

@ethanhagelsieb9643 2 жыл бұрын

Nice vid

@quistwing 2 жыл бұрын

after seeing this, i'd love your take on the percy jackson books

@stapelchips6559 3 жыл бұрын

Do you know the therapy/counselor scene in Buffy - The Vampire Slayer? It was in "Beauty and the Beasts". What do you think of it

@zentrucker 2 жыл бұрын

The oxford dictionary is a spell book. Maybe one of the greatest spell book of our time. Take the word fantasy. Is it a fantasy if you actually do it?

@buriedstpatrick2294 3 жыл бұрын

I genuinely worry sometimes just how much influence the series had on my personal development. I was so lost in that universe as a kid, but in my own kind of way. I couldn't relate to the abuse angle, yet it was very intriguing to think about. How would I act in a situation where I was treated comically unfairly but secretly had an ace up my sleeve? I wonder how much overlap there is between this and narcissistic tendencies. People who look at themselves this way with the thought in the back of their minds that they're secretly better than everyone else. I don't exactly think this way, but it is sometimes where my mind goes if I can't deal with certain insecurities. Like it compensates by telling me stuff like "yeah, you're down bad, but it's only because you're so deep and interesting". Even writing that out made me cringe, but I honestly think that's how my mind works in many situations.

@sriku1000 3 жыл бұрын

Social Media & Mental Health. A good video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mp9noLd_3czSXZ8.html

@buriedstpatrick2294 3 жыл бұрын

@@sriku1000 I don't use social media. I think Contra's video on envy pretty much summed up why my main reason for abandoning it. It's like a knife in the chest every time I open my feed. The extreme examples he cites is not the stuff I'm following and I really don't care about them. Mine are simple things like seeing old friends moving on in their lives and hitting milestones I'll never reach. Things moving on without me, people posting about having a nice day after I've had over a decade of depression. I don't think it has anything to do with what I was originally talking about though.

@racheldaniels3806 3 жыл бұрын

To be honest, I don’t see an overlap between how you where thinking as a kid and narcissistic tendencies. Can you explain to me how you see the overlap?

@conordoonan8669 2 жыл бұрын

@@racheldaniels3806 I’m obviously not the original commenter but I feel like I can relate to them. Having read the books at a very young age it was very easy to project myself onto Harry and Harry onto myself. He was relatable and had enough gaps in personality that a young enough child could really become him, in a sense at least. That obviously presented an issue when it came to superiority. Harry is better than most of the people around him. Hermione might be smarter but Harry is still the stronger wizard. He’s rich, he gets the girl, and he beats the villain. The mindset of ‘I’m secretly better’ starts to bleed into other areas of thinking. The automatic fallback for when you get criticized is that others just don’t understand and that they aren’t as good. You never confront the reasons you get called out and learn from them. The people that do criticize you can also become one dimensional like the early books portrayal of Malfoy. They can’t be right because you are the hero. That means the only other option is that they are bad or evil. It’s a weird way to think but children are like that sometimes. The best thing the books do is force Harry to not be the hero all the time. He gets angry in later books and he is arrogant. He ends up hurting Malfoy and for a while he is distant from Ron and Hermione. It forces you to realize that everyone is capable of good and of bad. Not sure if this is coherent. The comment just made me remember how I felt when I first read the books.

@SmartVideosJarkaWatched 2 жыл бұрын

at about 2:10, I "umm, actually ..." interrupt: actually, he's escaping from 'his aunt & uncle (or foster-parents upon whose doorstep he was left after his parents were killed or something).' ... carry on B-)) ...

@nathandriel6437 3 жыл бұрын

Nice video ^^ (and do you intend to continue the spirited away series?)

@mylittlethoughttree 3 жыл бұрын

Ofcourse :) I have started work on it, but it'll take quite a while to finish, then to appeal the inevitable copyright strike studio ghibli issue on it...it'll come at somepoint, though

@nathandriel6437 3 жыл бұрын

@@mylittlethoughttree Awesome! Thank you ^^

@DrTomb 3 жыл бұрын

15:30 If they're ambitious, they might just not be fighting it so they can be accepted.

@jaybonn5973 2 жыл бұрын

Hm. Yeah I'll watch this.

@bigzube_8919 3 жыл бұрын

omfg love that mental image of jeff bezos. showstopping lmao

@bsnf-5 Жыл бұрын

Harry Potter is a story about a boy that wasn't a good wizard, that's the whole point of the books. He had lots of luck and friends that were better than him. It is hinted like 100 times in books and movies; he was no talented at all. And yet the author cleverly turns this disadvantage to his advantage, making a twist and saying: it doesn't matter, it is not who you are that is important, but how much good of a person you are. It's a story about good and evil, the good old story that we all love! And Harry is the obvious hero, but he does defeat evil with the power of love, not brute physical or intellectual force. That's the beauty of it.