ABSTRACT
Virtual intimacy as a cinematic subject is quite a peculiar choice. It displays a discrepancy between form and substance. Discussing the cinematic topic of virtual love from a psychoanalytic perspective, psychoanalysts should keep in mind the characteristics and limitations of their approach. The psychoanalytic position, in film analysis as well as in therapy, is reflective. In the cinematic prehistory of virtual love the artificial other was depicted as an object or a powerful tool, as Maria in Metropolis or the artificial monster in Frankenstein, which runs out of control, turning against its constructor. From a psychoanalytic point of view, the creation of virtual worlds or objects is linked to a specific stage in infant development. From the greater perspective of psychoanalytic social philosophy, the virtual other is a cultural pattern. In the film-psychoanalytic perspective, the game experiencer, is not just a receptive viewer but an active participant of the game, represented in the game as an avatar.
