Written by Greg Zhao “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”, said Buddy the Elf. As one of the most well-known Christmas movies, Elf (2003) features Buddy (Will Farrell) as an orphan that was adopted by Arctic elves. Due to a relationship breakdown between his birth father and mother, he was raised in an orphanage run by a group of nuns. During Santa’s visit to the orphanage on Christmas Eve, Buddy saw a teddy bear from the opening of Santa’s sack (of presents). He then escaped his crib to get the bear and was mistakenly taken back to the North Pole by Santa. At Santa’s workshop, Buddy was discovered and given his name by a group of elves. He was later adopted by an elder elf. Later in Buddy’s life, he found out about his human heritage and decided to venture to New York City to find his birth father. Being an orphan that was raised by essentially a different species makes Buddy psychoanalytically, a curious case. I will analyse the development of Buddy the elf and bring you all some Christmas cheer the Freudian way. Buddy’s early childhood experience draws many connections with his adult behaviours. Being abandoned and frequently having his caretaker changed, Buddy has had a troublesome oral stage (0~18 months old), which has led to an oral fixation. Typical symptoms of an oral fixation are problems with eating, drinking, smoking, etc., as at this stage the infant depends greatly on the caretaker (whose primary responsibilities include feeding them), and they develop a sense of trust and comfort through oral stimulation. The symptom of Buddy’s oral fixation shows through his disorderly eating. Those who have seen the movie are probably left astounded by the scene in which Buddy seasons his Bolognese by drenching it with syrup and candies. One might argue that syrup and candies are staples in an elf’s diet (as illustrated in the movie), and Buddy is just having his five-a-day. However, in a later scene where Buddy starts working in the mailroom, he drank a whole bottle of “syrup” and started acting intoxicated. If the Elf’s five-a-day includes getting intoxicated on the job, I’d be more than eager to change my diet, but if not, Buddy’s syrup habit is a waving red flag of a deep-seated fixation on the oral stage. From another angle, eating disorder expert Margo D. Melanie found connections between father hunger (paternal absence) and eating disorders in later life. Since Buddy’s infancy was spent in an orphanage exclusively run by nuns, we can also explain Buddy’s disorderly eating by the lack of a father figure in his early years. For those who have seen the movie, it is clear that Buddy is quite a people-pleaser. This is apparent when he visits his dad’s office in the Empire State Building, he spends his visit excessively complimenting and thanking his dad's colleagues. I was curious as to what made Buddy such a people-pleaser because he certainly didn’t inherit it from his birth father (whose demeanour is often the opposite of people-pleasing). Since there isn’t much information on his birth mother, Buddy’s environment as an orphan in the North Pole became my primary suspect. This is not to say that being a people-pleaser always indicates disorderly development, as there are many potential root causes of such behaviour. Buddy could be a genuinely compassionate person, and for the sake of not ruining Christmas, I reckon many would choose to believe that. However, from the scene in which Buddy spent the whole night decorating Gimbels (a department store) so that it can look “perfect” when Santa visits, I am compelled to put his striving for perfection together with his people-pleasing behaviour, as both could signify a low sense of self-worth. According to Psychoanalytic theory, the root cause of low self-worth is a harsh superego, as a harsh superego is extra judgmental and extra intolerant of mistakes. It might come as a surprise that Buddy’s childhood development would foster a harsh superego. After all, the land ruled by the kind and loving Santa Claus must be filled with nothing but pure joy. At the risk of being the Grinch, I must say that perhaps Santa Claus is the root of many of Buddy’s issues. However, if you take a closer look, reality begs to differ. From all the movies and folklore, we can observe that since the entire population of the North Pole not only work for Santa but also sees him as their fatherly spiritual figure for generations, Santa’s values and personality traits must seep deeply into the depths of every Arctic elf’s psyche. This begs the question: What is Santa really like? I believe he is a man with an unbreakable resolution, as that is what it takes for him to do his worldwide delivery, Amazon Prime style, at the same time every year, without fail. Contrary to popular belief, I am convinced Santa is not entirely a compassionate man. It takes a fiercely decisive and ultimately judgmental man to put the entire earth’s population into two lists: naughty or nice. Santa is the sole entity that decides what constitutesbeing naughty or nice, and for him to be compassionate enough to quietly leave his gift under the Christmas tree, one must adhere to his values and beliefs. Perhaps with some collaboration with the KGB, it’s possible for Santa to know if you have been “bad or good”; but for us to say, “He knows when you are sleeping, he knows you are awake”, Santa must be an entity that is an integral part of yourself. Otherwise, one can fake being asleep, and the lyrics will have to be changed to “he’s pretty sure you are sleeping.” We all have an internal cognitive entity that is resolute, conscientious, judgemental, and all-knowing. It is called the superego. Santa Clause, like many other figures in myths and folklore, is the external representation of our superego. Santa-the embodiment of a harsh superego-is the spiritual leader and fatherly figure to Buddy. At the risk of being the Grinch, I must say that perhaps Santa Claus is the root of many of Buddy’s issues. For a film to be deemed excellent, it is not solely dependent on cool visuals and sound designs. The development of the characters must be coherent with their background story, and when it does, we subconsciously know that the screenplay makes psychological sense. Films like The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Shutter Island, etc. are often considered cinematic canons because the subtle psychological movements of the characters make sense. My analysis of Buddy the Elf demonstrates that the movie Elf is one that can be considered highly regarded. But you don’t need to read my article to know it—its consistent popularity even two decades after its premiere speaks for itself. I do hope I didn’t ruin the movie for you. Merry Christmas in July!
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