Existentialism & Disorganised Attachment in Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky

TORONTO - Nov. 8, 2014 - PRLog -- An in-depth analysis of Bertolucci's film is provided by registered psychologist Betty Kershner, Ph.D. at:

http://www.bettykershner.ca/sheltering-sky-existentialism-disorganized-attachment/

Why does Kit leave? Why does she take the hand of an exotic stranger and climb onto the back of Belquassim’s camel, going off with him into the unknown? And why does she flee again, after being devastated and then rescued from hospital, failing to seek safety or to learn to conform after what most of us would see as a colossal mistake made in the throes of harrowing grief? Having amply demonstrated her inability to take care of herself, why does she ferret off, as if locked on target, and avoid Tunner, who would be only too happy to idolize and idealize her? These are some of the questions that press themselves upon us, while events press upon our protagonists, as we watch The  Sheltering Sky.

First, the existentialist background. Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Sheltering Sky is the 1990 film version of the 1949 book by that name, by Paul Bowles. Bertolucci, consistent with his personal convictions, put his own Marxist spin on it in places. It is a story of alienation. Bowles, the author of the book, was an American expatriate existentialist, part of the philosophic and literary circle in Paris following wartime Nazi occupation that included Sartre and Camus among many others. Existentialism became extremely fashionable at the end of WWII re-asserting, as it did, the importance of human individuality, choice and freedom that had been so acutely threatened by Fascism. Existentialism is a search for, one might say a hunger and an appetite for, meaning. Simone de Beauvoir described existentialism as the first media postwar craze.

In existentialism, the individual has the sole responsibility to create meaning in one’s own life and to live that life passionately and sincerely, authentically, in spite of despair, angst, absurdity, alienation and boredom. Existentialism does not view itself as an abstract philosophy based on ideas and rationality. It sees meaning as arising from the concrete, practical circumstances of one’s history and situation – and the choices that one makes within that specific context.

Secure attachment occurs when an infant or youngster can take for granted that her special adult will be there for her: will provide not only food, shelter and protection but, in times of stress, will do what is needed and will offer comfort. The attachment figure will make the child feel safe and cared for. The youngster learns to run to the adult when feeling threatened. They learn which way to turn. That is the strategy that secure youngsters develop for times of stress: to turn to the attachment figure.

An in-depth analysis of Bertolucci's film is provided by registered psychologist Betty Kershner, Ph.D. at:

http://www.bettykershner.ca/sheltering-sky-existentialism...