Envelhecimento e velhice: uma leitura psicanalítica sobre o filme Tomates verdes fritos

Abstract

Old age and aging are commonly seen as synonyms, but it is important to differentiate them. The last stage of the subject's life is called old age, with aging being the process until the arrival of this final stage. With the demographic transition, the elderly population, which was previously a minority, has become the majority, requiring a close look at subjectivity, aging processes and the relationship of these individuals with society. This research has the general objective of investigating how psychoanalysis can collaborate in the understanding of aging, based on the film Fried Green Tomatoes, and as a specific objective, to articulate the aged body and the Freudian notion of helplessness. Therefore, we seek to establish a dialogue in the psychoanalysis and culture interface, in the extension dimension of the psychoanalytic method, proposed by Freud, as applied psychoanalysis, based on a bibliographic survey and the chosen film. The material selected for the study was submitted to content analysis, guided by listening and instrumentalized transfer of the researcher in relation to the material. The analysis demonstrated the importance of looking not at the elderly, but at the aging subject and the possibility of an analytical work. Considering that the object of study of psychoanalysis is the unconscious and it is timeless, the subject of old age is the one who has his body degenerated by time, but the drives remain active. Despite the aged body, desire does not age.