Blog 8

How would Freud describe Jack Bauer's masculinity?

Freud (or some other psychoanalyst) would need to analyze Jack in order to determine what problems he has and what the roots are of his hyper-masculinity. But the best guess is that Jack has an unresolved Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex for a male describes a young child's attachment to his mother and his unconscious wish to replace his father as his mother's lover. This leads to fear of the child's father's resentment over being displaced -- specifically fear of castration by the father. When the oedipus complex is resolved, the child bonds with and identifies with the father, no longer fearing him, no longer sexually desiring his mother and developing a healthy sense of his own masculinity using his father as a model. The result of this resolution is the formation of a healthy superego -- the fear of the father becomes internalized in the child as a conscience, an internal (no longer external) authority, and the resolution of the child's infatuation with his mother paves the way for normal relations with the opposite sex.

It's unclear exactly what problems are produced if the oedipus complex is not successfully resolved, but Freud viewed it as central to much if not all later neurotic problems. From Jack's history in 24, we can assume there were problems in resolving his oedipus complex. Jack's father is portrayed in seaon 6 of 24 as a controlling and dishonest (if not evil) figure who Jack confronts over the course of multiple episodes. Mention of his father before these confrontations is almost absent (repressed?). Jack has similar problems with his brother, who sides with Jack's father. As a result of unresolved Oedipal tensions we might assume both a problem with Jack's superego and view of authority as well as with his masculinity.

Jack's superego and view of authority is clearly not a typical one. Jack's conscience drives him to do things that others would consider extreme -- torture, extreme self-sacrifice, etc. At the same time that he can flout convention or authority he is also strangely bound by it, as evidenced by his repeated deference to various presidents, who he obeys completely (at least the honest ones) and goes to great lengths to protect.

Jack's masculinity is also super-charged and his relationships with women problematic, perhaps owing to failure to identify with a mature and stable masculinity because of the lack of a healthy relationship with his father. He has an affair while married to his wife. He has an overprotective devotion to his daughter that is extreme, even given an often selfless dedication to daughters by many fathers. He has a conviction in his near invulnerability, willing to undertake even the most risky endeavors with an expectation of success (or a more than usual willingness to die trying). While not necessarily enjoying violence (or does he?), he has an amazing ability to engage in it with a non-emotional, almost mechanical efficiency, even sacrificing friends when the greater good seems to demand it.