ABSTRACT
Psychoanalytic criticism has tended to take filmic texts as its primary concern. Because it focuses on the unconscious desire of the spectator, psychoanalytic media theory seems ready-made for addressing questions that arise when spectators respond in ways that defy their own intention or interest, when they react contrary to their conscious will. According to psychoanalytic theory, desire shapes the perception and knowledge so that one can never look neutrally on any text. Desire undermines the position of mastery and control, but this is precisely what the initial incarnation of psychoanalytic film theory never fully grasped. This theory operated by translating the psychoanalytic subject of desire into a subject of power. When approaching texts for interpretation, psychoanalytic theory focuses its attention on the moments when a traumatic disturbance of seeing or hearing occurs, moments in which the text forces the spectator to confront her or his desire.
