Freud and “The Departed”

“What Freud said about the Irish is we’re the only people who are impervious to psychoanalysis.” Sgt. Colin Sullivan, The Departed

The Psychology of Noir in “The Departed”

When considering noir elements and ideas that contribute to the classification of a film as a film noir, it is imperative to recognize that these characteristics, in some way or another, all eventually contribute to the “blackness” of the film. What is meant by this blackness is simply that when the viewers watch a film noir, they are unsettled by the egregious fate of certain characters whom which they have spent most of the film sympathizing with. Consequently, viewers feel discomfort. Without question, one of the more personal and unsettling truths witnessed on screen is when viewers have the opportunity to act as voyeurs, looking into the psyche of realistic characters and understanding their motivations for their actions. While most noirs tend to attribute their characters’ demise to harsh, uninhabitable environments which the character has no control of, it is rarely the case that the character’s psyche, rather, has a greater impact. What is particularly interesting about the film, The Departed, is that it exposes the psyches of its main characters to emphasize their thoughts and motivations, eventually leading to various actions detrimental to their fate. Through its reliance on Freudian psychology, the film examines psychological issues that affect the actions of the characters, Sgt. Sullivan, Billy Costigan, and Madolyn. Consequently, the three main characters are imprisoned by their own psychological hindrances, which eventually lead to their dark fates.

What is particularly noteworthy about The Departed is that it is self-conscious of its obsession with Freudian psychoanalysis. In fact, the name “Freud” itself is mentioned four times throughout the film. Fundamentally, the viewer is initially overwhelmed by this primary component, as one of the main characters, Madolyn, plays a psychologist who both reflects and deflects the psyches of Billy and Sullivan. The mere inclusion of Madolyn as a love-interest to both Costigan and Sullivan works to underscore the duality of both characters, who are on complete opposite sides of the Freudian spectrum. When considering Freud’s “psychodynamic approach”’ to his three types of personality structures, the Id, the Ego, and the Superego, it is helpful in understanding the characters to attempt to classify them into one or more of these structures.

The first character, Sullivan, most appropriately represents the Id. The Id essentially is a personality complex in which a character demonstrates no sense of morality and does things for immediate satisfaction and self-gain (Cheng 6). Sullivan’s ruthless commitment to working as a “rat” for the villainous Costello in the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) reveals his indifference to justice or morality in leading his life. And while Sullivan is entirely aware of the dirty operations conducted by Costello’s crew, he utilizes his insider information to advance himself up the police bureau’s ladder. Sullivan is also constantly driven by materialistic and egotistical pursuits. Further, at the end of the film when Sullivan deletes Costigan’s file, thenceforth erasing Costigan’s identity, Sullivan is clearly more concerned with protecting his own reputation rather than worrying about the value of a man’s life. This absence of morality in Costigan’s conscience is indicative of his representation of the Id in the film.

Since the beginning of the film, he has his eyes on the golden statehouse which rests on Beacon Hill, boasting “high ceilings, parquet floors, a massive bedroom, and a great view of the statehouse.” When another officer catches him in his daydream, he reinforces Sullivan’s repressed anxieties: “Forget it. Your father’s a janitor. His son’s only a cop.” As Sullivan advances in the bureau, he maintains his constant desire to increase his status, and eventually inhabits his new home which will make him “upper class by about Tuesday.”

Sullivan’s thoughtless and ruthless self-interest is most evident in scenes with two of his coworkers during which his sexual feelings are exposed. In one scene when his coworker is walking past him, Sullivan shamelessly whistles at her while looking at her behind. Sullivan’s resulting reaction of shame when she looks back in disgust lends credit to the idea that Sullivan was not actually in control of his sexual spirit, and that it was impulsive.

The protagonist of the plot, Billy Costigan, can best be described as moralistic and highly self-critical of his actions. Secretly working as a rat for SIU by joining Costello’s crew, Costigan is in constant search of morality in what he does. While he understands subconsciously that he has a sense of purpose to what he’s doing, Sullivan’s character compromises Costigan’s hopes for morality and justice by sabotaging the bureau’s efforts to snatch Costello. Costigan’s character seems greatly torn between Freud’s concepts of the Ego and the Super Ego.

He embodies characteristics of the Ego in that we realize how Costigan is figuratively stuck between a rock and a hard place, and must therefore follow Freud’s “reality principle” (Cheng 6). This principle simply means that Costigan in certain ways deals with his desires, motivations, and morals in a realistic manner—the Ego serves as a rational, middle-ground between the Id and the Super Ego.

This psychological mentality is initially set up at the onset of the plot when Costigan is given the option of feigning jail time in order to work for the police bureau as an undercover cop. Knowing that his history of being a cop might be detrimental to lying low and being a rat under Costello, Costigan sacrifices his pride and integrity of being a cop as he prepares to erase his identity for the greater good.

However, Costigan also exhibits a Super Ego, as he is in complete opposition to Sullivan’s Id. The Super Ego, which serves as the conscience of Costigan, is where we see the strongest sense of morality. Because Costigan is constantly feeling guilty for living what he perceives to be an empty, purposeless life, we sense how Costigan’s psyche is completely dominated by his inner voice of reason.

An example which truly displays the duality of Costigan’s mind is when he is in the presence of one of Costello’s men. As he describes his internal confusion to Madolyn, his psychologist, he illustrates an instance when feelings of anxiety were met with hopeful self-assurance: “You sit there with a mass murderer. A mass murderer. Your heart rate is jacked. And your hand…steady. That’s one thing I figured out about myself in prison. My hand does not shake. Ever.” Because Costigan’s softer, more sensitive side is challenged by his personal sense of purpose to what he is doing, he is constantly moving in between the Ego and the Super Ego.

Probably the most complex character in the film, Madolyn, seems to be constantly jumping in and out of each, the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego. Pivotal plot points illustrating this diversity of mind include her role as a rationally-thinking psychologist, cheating on Sullivan with Costigan because she impulsively feels like it, feeling morally-obligated to confront Sullivan about his work, and then feeling guilty about Costigan’s death. And while she knows that she has inconsistencies of mind, she refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing. When asked by Costigan why she lies, Madolyn responds, “You know. To keep things on an even keel.”

Madolyn is so rational and self-conscious about her actions that she finds ways of attributing a sense of justice to them. Madolyn can be viewed in this respect as both a reflection and deflection the Sullivan and Costigan’s psyches. On the surface she is more confident and aware of her actions than both characters are of their own. But her naiveté to what their real jobs concern leads to her failure as a psychoanalyst, and the eventual dark fate to which Madolyn succumbs.

Another concentration on Freud’s psychoanalysis emphasized in The Departed is of his famous Oedipus complex. This theory, which suggests the idea that the child experiences “sexual curiosity” with the maternal figure, is evident in Costigan’s character (Wilbern 100). While some viewers may consider this connection to be farfetched, the film incorporates several strategic plot points which constantly hint at this truth. The initial example of Costigan’s Oedipal complex is when he is being treated for wounds to his arm by an attractive nurse. While there are no words in this scene, it is deliberately shot at a high-angle on Costigan to accentuate his vulnerability and need for the maternal. Cositgan looks as if he is about to cry in this scene, and his “double-take” at the nurse in all of her beauty is the first indication of Costigan’s infatuation with sex and the maternal.

Evidence of this theory is also understood on the level that there really exists no maternal figure in the film save Madolyn’s character. Madolyn’s job as a police bureau psychologist requires nurturing and understanding for cops “if they had to use their gun.”.Madolyn fits the profile of the maternal figure in this sense, especially in Costigan’s case, since we see his biological mother die early in the plot. Images throughout the film which hint at this theory include Costigan resting upon Madolyn’s bosom, and Madolyn holding and stroking Costigan’s head. Madolyn listens to Costigan and works with him more seriously than for any other cop, trying to really figure out why Costigan is so disturbed. She nurses and babies Costigan like a child until their relationship spirals into one of sexual infatuation and lust.

Also prevalent in the plot is a Neo-Freudian psychodynamic theory called “Jung’s Analytic Theory.” A theory which concerns the “collective unconscious” of a person and its affect on the psyche is one which negatively impacts both Sullivan and Costigan with tremendous power. It is probably helpful to consider Jung’s theory comparable to the idea of heritable DNA: it is a crucial element which makes up humans that is inescapable and responsible for a lot of personality traits (Cheng 7).

Without question, the best realization of this theory traces back to both Sullivan and Costigan’s past. In the situation of Sullivan, a police officer whose father was nothing more than a janitor, there is constant self-loathing of the past he came from. As he eyes the landscape of Beacon Hill and corruptly moves up the ladder in SIU, Sullivan is constantly reminded of his dependence on Costello for his success. At the beginning of the film we see Sullivan as a little boy receiving pocket change from Costello, who remarks, “If you ever want to earn a little extra money, you come by L Street.”  Sullivan’s downfall greatly concerns the unrealistic feat of success he must earn, an uncharacteristic quality of the type of family he comes from.

Recognizing his own biological hindrance and the collective unconscious effect which challenges his rise on the socioeconomic ladder, Sullivan realizes that the only way he can maintain success is through deception and immorality. This truly is revealing of Sullivan’s pathetic nature in relentlessly pursuing success at the expense of his own integrity.

And in the Freudian sense, it becomes more apparent that Sullivan is troubled by his personal paradox when he wakes up one morning after dreaming he was dead. Because Freud would consider the dream to be a “wish-fulfilling restoration,” Sullivan’s dream is indicative of his inner self-loathing and subconscious realization that he doesn’t deserve life (Willbern 98).

Costigan’s situation is slightly more complex than Sullivan’s since Costigan has less a grasp on who he really is. His meeting with Dignam and Queenan who offer him a job as an undercover cop is pivotal to this concept because the viewers gain an understanding of Costigan’s past. Living with parents who were divorced, it is revealed that Costigan played a “double kid,” living on the North Shore during the weekdays and then in the Southy projects with his father on the weekends. Of course for Costigan to be convincing enough to be undercover for Costello, especially considering his past as a state police detective, it is decided that Costigan must start from scratch by serving a jail sentence before roaming the streets.

“We deal with deception here. What we do not deal with is self-deception,” sternly remarks Queenan, reminding Costigan of where he came from. Costigan struggles to gain insight on his psychological nature the entire film as he considers his past and his double life. Even when he is reminded by Dignam of the duality of his own life, on cultural, moral and socio-economic levels, Costigan never fully understands his role in society or considers choosing one identity (Odajnyk 601).

Although The Departed will certainly not be remembered for being a true film noir, it nevertheless exploits and explores the psychology of noir to its own grim benefit. It focuses on three extraordinarily complex characters to prove the idea that even though surrounding environments of characters have traditionally determined the character’s fate in past noir, greater attention should be focused on the human, whose complex empowerment of mind cannot be underrated.

While the inevitable doom of Sullivan, Costigan, and Madolyn is unfortunate and disturbing, their common inability to alter their psychological perspective for the better is what causes their lives to spiral out of control. Most particularly, it is the fault of the psychologist of the plot, Madolyn, for allowing the hidden lives of Sullivan and Costigan to persist without her ever noticing. Whether or not this proves that the Irish are truly “impervious” to psychoanalysis, or that Madolyn simply is not a talented psychologist can certainly be argued. Because The Departed is extremely self-aware of its penetrating psychological investigations into its characters, the psychologist most likely serves as a plot point used to underscore the idea that the minds of Sullivan and Costello, including their thoughts and motivations, are impenetrable from understanding by other people.

As a result, Sullivan and Costigan end up dead and Madolyn must live with the guilt of not being able to save either one of them from themselves. This is a dark, twisted realization that the audience must live with since it demonstrates that even an expert psychologist may not always be able to unearth the secrets of the human psyche.

Carmen Wexler is a Senior Writer for The Film Crusade.

Works Consulted

• Cheng, Clara. “A Lecture on Freud and the Psychodynamic Approach.” American University. The College of Arts & Sciences. 5 February 2007.

• Odajnyk, Walter. “On Strong’s Psychoanalysis as a Vocation: Freud, Politics, and the Heroic.” Political Theory. Vol. 12, (1984): pgs. 601-603.

• O’Hara, Daniel T. “On Freud’s Femininity.” Boundary 2. Vol. 26, (1999): pgs 193-198.
• The Departed. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perfs. Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Vera Farmiga, Mark Wahlberg, and Martin Sheen. Film. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2006.

• Willbern, David. “Freud and the Inter-Penetration of Dreams.” Diacritics. Vol. 9,   (1979): pgs. 98-110.