Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman (2020): A Psychoanalytic Review of Masculinity and Rape Culture

Authors

Marjorie A. Briones, University of Washington, TacomaFollow

Author Biography

Marjorie A. Briones (she/her) is currently a third year student attending University of Washington Tacoma. Majoring in Arts, Media, and Culture, Marjorie has always had a passionate interest in the world of media. Combined with a personal love for films, Marjorie is pursuing a film/media track with the intention of joining the film industry. She truly believes that in order to truly create a good film, one needs to have an open perspective for the ever evolving media--but never limit your creative outlet.

Document Type

Undergraduate Research Paper

Abstract

TW: mentions of sexual violence and rape

When it comes to the subject of sexual violence, there are systemic and cultural effects that prevents assaulters from being properly prosecuted. In the U.S., perpetrators of sexual violence largely consists of heterosexual, white men (RAINN, 2022). So, we begin to question the ways in which sexual violence and masculinity are interconnected. By conducting a psychoanalytic analysis of Emerald Fennell’s 2020 film Promising Young Woman, the ideas of toxic masculinity and “rape culture” will be deconstructed in regard to Cassie’s–the protagonist–story. Theories by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung will be connected to real-life relations regarding society’s attempts to justify the acts of sexual violence committed by men. Character analyses of major characters in the film will also be discussed to add further support that ties sexual violence to toxic masculinity, with psychoanalysis as its foreground.

University

University of Washington Tacoma

Course

TCOM 444 Gender, Ethnicity, Class, and the Media

Instructor

Ellen Moore

Recommended Citation

Briones, Marjorie A. (2022) "Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman (2020): A Psychoanalytic Review of Masculinity and Rape Culture," Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/access/vol6/iss1/7