The Psychology of Dexter - Bella DePaulo [64]
THE DARK DEFENDERS
WIND GOODFRIEND AND CHASE BARRICK
Freudian Defense Mechanisms in the Minds of Miami Metro
“There are no secrets in life—just hidden truths, that lie beneath the surface.”
—Dexter, “Crocodile” (1-2)
Sigmund Freud is undeniably the most famous psychologist of all time. Many of Freud’s theories are known for their controversial nature, such as the Oedipus complex (the idea that all young boys want to have sex with their mothers) or penis envy (that all girls wish desperately for a penis instead of their own inferior clitoris), concepts that are almost laughable today. These fringe ideas are not the reason Freud is so famous, however. His impact on psychology endures because the vast majority of his ideas laid the foundation for modern therapeutic techniques. One of the most bedrock notions within almost all therapy perspectives is the idea that we each have a hidden self, lying in wait to surprise us. This secret self lives in our unconscious mind, as the quote above suggests.
What is the purpose of hiding our own true natures, even from ourselves? Freud believed that when reality is too traumatic, too anxiety-provoking for our conscious minds to handle, our unconscious minds take over. We twist and distort reality as much as necessary so that we can keep pretending that everything is “just fine.” Our unconscious mind plays these cognitive tricks on us all the time, so that we can fit in, go along with the crowd, avoid the crushing pressure of reality, and sleep at night. The term for these mental acrobatics is defense mechanisms . Within Dexter’s world, defense mechanisms abound—in fact, Dexter has been using them since he was three years old, and likely could not function without them.
Denial
The most well-known defense mechanism is denial. Everyone is probably familiar with the old cliché for addicts: the first step is admitting you have a problem. Within denial, we refuse to admit (even to ourselves) that something negative or anxiety-provoking is really happening. If the problem doesn’t exist, then it doesn’t produce any difficulty. Denial may be the most ubiquitous defense mechanism in the minds of Miami Metro. Every person working there has been trained to notice clues pointing to someone’s guilt, to follow paths leading to criminals. But in spite of their highly skilled training, almost none of them pick up on the fact that they are working alongside one of the most successful serial killers in the history of our nation—and that they are friends with him.
Denial can be seen more specifically in three people in Dexter’s world. The most obvious example is Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta. LaGuerta has a lot to deal with in her precinct, including a boss who hates her, the constant sexual escapades of the cops and detectives who work under her, and a feeling of general loneliness and separation from everyone else in her life. The only person she always maintained a connection with was her past partner, Sergeant James Doakes. Unfortunately for LaGuerta, in season two Dexter framed Doakes to appear as the Bay Harbor Butcher. Although Doakes was actually innocent, all the evidence pointed to his guilt, a fact LaGuerta simply couldn’t handle. She actually admitted to others that she was in denial about him being a mass murderer, because if her partner and friend was a killer, her entire concept of interpersonal trust would be shattered. Denial was probably the psychologically healthiest way for LaGuerta to deal with this situation, after Doakes died. She had to continue on, keep fighting criminals, keep leading her precinct; denial helped her do all of those things.
So in LaGuerta’s case, denial was useful. However, denial is used by others within Miami Metro and their families and friends in ways which are much more destructive. Rita was a sweet woman who just wanted to find a man to love and respect her. However, she was