The Characters of Caden Cotard in

Synecdoche, New York are

Representative of Jungian
Archetypes
SAE Institute, London
Mark Minors
16871
FDHE1012
Submission date: 4th October 2013
Word count: 3,180
Declaration
I hereby declare that I wrote this written assignment / essay / thesis
on my own and without the use of any other than the cited sources
and tools and all explanations that I copied directly or in their sense
are marked as such, as well as that the dissertation has not yet
been handed in neither in this nor in equal form at any other ofcial
commission.
Signed:
Print Name:
MARK MINORS
Date:
4th October 2013
Abstract
The lm Synecdoche, New York is grandiose in its vision and scope. It can be viewed as a
metaphor for Jungian psychology, where the character of the protagonist, Caden Cotard, is
manifested in other characters within the lm. Jung proposed archetypes: psychic
structures that have specic roles in the social development of all humans. This essay
discusses the relationship between the major Jungian archetypes and the characters
within Synecdoche, New York who play the role of Caden Cotard. It will consider the ego of
the protagonist, Caden Cotard, the archetype of the shadow as depicted in the character
of Sammy Barnathan, and the archetype of the anima as depicted in the character of
Millicent Weems.
Introduction 1
Chapter One: Synecdoche, New York 2
Chapter Two: Jungian Archetypes and the Self 3
Chapter Three: The Ego, the Persona and Caden Cotard 4
Chapter Four: The Shadow and Sammy Barnathan 5
Chapter Five: The Anima and Millicent Weems 7
Conclusion 10
References 11
Introduction
I dont know what else there is to write about other than being human, or specically, being
this human. I have no alternative.
(Kaufman a, 2002, p130)
Synecdoche, New York is an astonishingly ambitious lm. In it, the writer/director Charlie
Kaufman strives to create a piece of art which is wholly truthful, all-encompassing, except
he can never truly achieve this because he himself is always learning (Kaufman b, 2008).
The lm will never be wholly truthful because the lm itself is a nite entity. In Synecdoche,
New York, Kaufman creates a character with the same stratospheric ambition, and yet
Caden Cotard can never and will never realise his ambition for the same reasons as
Kaufman.
There is a great deal of subtext to the events depicted in the lm, notably regarding the
nature of self. The psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung -- foremost in the development of
analytical psychology (Lightfoot, 2010, p90) -- termed the Self as a central nucleus,
responsible for integrating the whole personality (Stevens, 1994, p47).
By considering the function of key Jungian archetypes, this essay will discuss the notion
that multiple players in the lm all represent the same individual character, not just literally,
as players, but philosophically, as archetypes proposed by Jung.
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Chapter One: Synecdoche, New York
In his feature directorial debut Synecdoche, New York, the acclaimed screenwriter Charlie
Kaufman gives us an uninching view of life -- his life -- through the examination of what
happens when an artist, in the face of death, attempts to create something truthful out of
the meagre parts of his own life (Smith, 2011, p239).
At the centre of the lm is Caden Cotard, a successful regional theatre director who,
through the receipt of a so-called genius grant, embarks on a mission to create an
impossible piece of theatre:
I wont settle for anything less than the brutal truth. Brutal. Brutal.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 00:59:46)
The theatre piece is gargantuan in its scale and ambition, lasting for decades and played
by an innumerable cast. When the futility of his Godly vision is suggested, Caden
immediately quells the disquiet:
Im not excusing myself from this either. Ill have someone play me, to delve into the
murky, cowardly depths of my lonely, fucked-up being. And hell get notes too and those
notes will correspond to the notes I truly receive, every day, from my God.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:00:16)
So begins the second half of the lm and, with it, the spiraling unravelling of the central
characters into constituent parts. Actors play characters, then have other actors play
themselves. Whole personas are transferred between players and what ensues is,
effectively, chaos: the breakdown of life and of lives. No one gets out alive.
It is in this closing maelstrom that we witness Cadens total deconstruction, as two new
characters are introduced to depict the character of Caden as he, initially, endeavours to
direct his masterpiece, and then retreats fully away from it.
Firstly, there is Sammy Barnathan. Sammy is a man with no acting experience, employed
to play the part of Caden in the great theatre piece. Secondly, there is Millicent Weems, a
stage actor whose resum includes more than one part which required her to clean and
who bears a weirdly close (Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:23:13) resemblance to
Cadens vision for her role: that of Ellen the cleaning lady.
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Chapter Two: Jungian Archetypes and the Self
Jungs hypothesis on the collective unconscious is essentially a concept to explain the
science of psychology, similar to a biologist researching genes and a chemist researching
molecules (Stevens, 1994, p47). He proposed that the collective unconscious is comprised
of archetypes, identical psychic structures common to all (Jung a, 1953, para224).
These archetypes -- which include the ego, the persona, the shadow, the anima and the
animus -- play specic roles in the social development and psyche of every human, and all
develop out of the Self, itself an imprint present in all humans at birth and central to the
integration of a whole personality.
Jung perceived the archetypes to be responsible for controlling the characteristics and
typical experiences of all humans through the generations. They -- encompassed by the
Self -- are the reason a persons adaptation to the experience of being parented,
recognising a stranger, learning language and community values, surviving adolescence,
nding a mate, procreating, parenting and embracing old age and death is similar to ones
ancestors adaptation (Stevens, 1994, p47 & p61).
There are a great many archetypes, and they often interact so the lines between them can
become blurred. However, generally, an archetype is a pattern of behaviour (Jung b, 1977,
para1228), which is incorporated into the Self and...remain under its guiding inuence for
the rest of life. (Stevens, 1994, p61)
Key archetypes, which will be discussed in more detail in subsequent chapters, include:
The ego -- the centre of consciousness
The persona -- the outward depiction of self
The shadow -- the unconscious opposite of the ego
The anima -- the unconscious feminine qualities of a male
The animus -- the unconscious masculine qualities of a female
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Chapter Three: The Ego, the Persona and Caden Cotard
The overriding motivation of the character Caden Cotard is his desire to leave an imprint
on the world, and to be loved for his legacy. Through the character of Caden, Kaufman is
saying the primary need of every human is to be appreciated and loved (Hoffman, 2009,
03:25). The grand theatre piece is something into which Caden can nally put his true self.
Ostensibly, Caden is on a hiding to nothing. By aspiring to be absolutely truthful in his
artistic vision, by trying to express as full a life experience as possible in his theatre piece,
Caden is doomed to fail. Kaufman has stated that Caden will never fully realise his vision
because he is constantly learning and, therefore, can never be wholly truthful (Kaufman b,
2009).
The archetype of the ego develops out of the Self during early childhood development and
is the centre of consciousness -- what is usually termed I or me. The ego is responsible
for ones continued sense of identity -- why one feels the same person in old age as in
childhood (Stevens, 1994, p61).
The rst we see of Caden Cotard is his reection in the bedroom mirror, as he wakes one
Autumn morning. However, the reection is not just Cadens but the audiences as well.
The placement of the camera puts the audience in the position to look directly in to the
mirror but, instead of seeing their own reection, they see Cadens. In that moment, Caden
Cotard is immediately the audience and the audience is immediately Caden Cotard
(Deming, 2011, p198). They are the one and the same Self.
The persona, according to Jung, is the form of ourselves we project in the hope of being
acceptable to others. Generally, it forms in early childhood out of the need to conform to
expectations of parents, teachers and peers (Stevens, 1994, p63). In the case of Caden,
the persona he projects is one of acute hypochondria. He is intensely fearful of illness and
death. Synecdoche, New York is littered with instances of Caden self-examining, self-
diagnosing. He reads magazines about the latest sicknesses, all television content he
sees relates to diseases and their treatments. The radio talk show that opens the lm
alludes that the month of Autumn is akin to death. At one point during his therapy with Dr.
Gravis, Caden mishears her and thinks she has asked him why he killed himself. Caden
constantly assumes the worst when conversing with Doctors and his fears are transferred
to his daughter Olive, even though she is only four years old:
I dont want blood!
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 00:07:30)
Kaufmans choice of character name is wholly relevant in this respect. Cotards Syndrome
is a rare mental disorder (Helldn, 2007). Loudet and Martinez...described the real
Cotards syndrome as being only found in anxious melancholia and chronic
hypochondria (Debruyne, 2009, pp197-202). It can be thought of as a delusion where the
individual feels as if they are dead. People feel as if they, or parts of their body, no longer
exist (Thomson, 2013, p1). Additionally, the name of the owner of the at which Caden
visits as Ellen the cleaning lady is Capgras. Capgras Syndrome is the delusional belief in
the existence of identical doubles of signicant people in a patients life (Berson, 1993,
pp969-978), a prevalent theme suggesting the persona of Caden is absorbed with the
notion that he is dying, or already dead.
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Chapter Four: The Shadow and Sammy Barnathan
The archetypes most clearly characterised from the empirical point of view are those
which have the most frequent and the most disturbing inuence on the ego. These are the
shadow, the anima, and the animus. The most accessible of these, and the easiest to
experience, is the shadow, for its nature can in large measure be inferred from the
contents of the personal unconscious. The only exceptions to this rule are those rather
rare cases where the positive qualities of the personality are repressed, and the ego in
consequence plays an essentially negative or unfavourable role. (Jung c, 1948, p112)
As discussed in Chapter Three, the ego of Caden Cotard -- the conscious personality he
exudes -- is one of hypochondria. The Jungian archetype of the shadow, the
unconsciousness which usually contains those characteristics which the ego does not
identify in itself, can be applied to the character of Sammy Barnathan. The shadow can
hide positive aspects of ones personality, especially in those of low self-esteem (Young-
Eisendrath, 1997, p319), like Caden.
For the rst half of the lm, Sammy is merely a voyeur onto the life of Caden, a literal
shadow, lurking in the corners of the frame, hidden away in the unconscious (Stevens,
1994, p64). In this role, Sammy stands in for the audience, taking them out of their chosen
theatre, or living room, and placing them directly into the lm. The audience identies with
Sammy as he, in turn, identies with Caden. This incessant melding of watcher roles
distances the viewer from their own sense of self, and aids the connection to Caden and
the wider themes of the lm (Deming, 2011, p198).
The character of Sammy Barnathan is only introduced in the second half of the lm, when
he is cast in the actual role of Caden, playing the part of him when Caden steps back to
purely direct his theatre piece. During this phase of the lm, Sammy displays those
aspects of Caden which exist, but which Caden cannot acknowledge or cannot identify
with. Sammy is successful where Caden fails. All the things which are hard for Caden are
easy for Sammy, most notably in respect of Cadens greatest failings in acts of love.
Firstly, Sammy is wonderfully eloquent in his wooing of Hazel:
Hazel, I dont think we need to talk to anyone else. This guy has me down. Im gonna cast
him right now, and then maybe you and I can get a drink, and we can try to gure out this
thing between us. Why I cried. Because Ive never felt about anybody the way I feel about
you. And I wanna fuck you until we merge into a chimera; a mythical beast with penis and
vagina eternally fused; two pairs of eyes that look only at each other, and lips ever
touching, and one voice that whispers to itself.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:02:54)
Then, ultimately, Sammy commits suicide over the loss of Hazel, where Caden could not:
Caden, look at me! ... Ive watched you forever, Caden, but youve never really looked at
anyone other than yourself. So watch me. Watch my heartbreak. Watch me jump. Watch
me learn that after death theres nothing. Theres no more watching, theres no more
following, no love.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:35:00)
The scene of Sammys suicide is key in revealing the characters role as shadow to
Cadens persona. According to Jung, not only do we repress the shadow in the persona,
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but we deny its existence altogether, and project it out on to others. This is done
unconsciously and is an act of ego-preservation, enabling us to attribute our own failings
to others (Stevens,1994, p66). By committing suicide where Caden could not, Sammy, the
shadow, takes ownership for Cadens own failings including, ironically, Cadens failure to
commit suicide; Caden attributes his own weakness to Sammy in the same moment:
I didnt jump!
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:35:42)
As with the signicance of the name Cotard, there is subliminal meaning too in the name
Sammy Barnathan. In the Talmud of Jerusalem, Rabbi Samuel bar Nathan removed a
prayer leader from leading a religious service on account of his excessive bowing. The
Rabbi was angered by the overly submissive gesture, and red the prayer leader as a
result (Kaufman c, 2010, p138).
During the scene where Caden meets Clare for a drink and Hazel and Derek are in the
same bar, Caden excessively bows when excusing himself and Clare from the
conversation:
Why am I bowing?
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 00:42:09)
The character of Sammy Barnathan, then, can be thought of as ring Caden from his own
life:
...so hire me, and youll see who you truly are.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:02:39)
Sammy, the shadow, is the true face of Caden.
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Chapter Five: The Anima and Millicent Weems
Jung believes that men and women are basically different. A woman, by nature, possesses
feminine qualities such as receptivity, warmth, patience, and openness. These are
feminine characteristics that each woman has by virtue of being a woman. A man, likewise,
possesses certain masculine characteristics such as activity, decisiveness, and logical
thinking. A man does not only possess masculine qualities, but also feminine qualities
which make up his anima. The masculine qualities, however, are the dominant traits in a
man (Karaban, 1992, p39).
The archetype of the anima, therefore, is the personication of the feminine nature of a
mans unconscious (Daniels, 2011, p6), and represents those qualities often thought of as
feminine.
Caden is mistaken for women throughout Synecdoche, New York. When he attempts to
telephone Adele following her move to Berlin, Adele mishears his name and queries:
Ellen? At this point of the lm, the signicance of the name Ellen is not clear, but Caden
eventually takes on the role of Ellen the cleaning lady in the denouement.
Caden is accused of smelling like a woman by Claire. When pressed further, Claire
suggests he smells like hes menstruating (Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:10:11),
even though Caden is a man and, therefore, cannot menstruate.
Caden suggests to Tammy that he thinks he would do a better job of life if he were a
woman. This is shown to be true. When Caden relinquishes the role of Caden and takes
on the role of Ellen full-time, he is wholly successful, earning regular praise for his efforts
in the notes Adele seemingly leaves for Ellen. Adeles New York apartment is spotless and,
concurrently, Millicent excels in the role of Caden, bringing the theatre piece to a
devastatingly truthful close -- everyone experiences the same horrors in life; everyone
feels the same pain; everyone dies.
After Hazel has died, Millicent, in the role of Caden, directs Sammys funeral scene. In a
moment, she removes the superuous elements, such as the main players (those playing
the roles of Caden and Hazel), she directs all the extras to play overwhelming grief where
Cadens direction was staid, players to break the fourth wall and, crucially, the priest to
deliver a crushing monologue which, in a few sentences, captures the truth which Caden
and his ego spent years trying to discover:
...even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are only here for a fraction of a
fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead, or not yet born but, while alive,
you wait in vain, wasting years for a phone call, or a letter, or a look from someone or
something to make it alright. And it never comes, or it seems to but it doesnt really. So you
spend your time in vague regret, or vaguer hope that something good will come along.
Something to make you feel connected. Something to make you feel whole. Something to
make you feel loved.
And the truth is: I feel so angry. And the truth is: I feel so fucking sad. And the truth is: Ive
felt so fucking hurt for so fucking long. And for just as long Ive been pretending Im okay
just to get along, just for...I dont know why. Maybe because, no-one wants to hear about
my misery, because they have their own. Well...fuck everybody. Amen.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:43:15)
After the priests monologue, Caden admits to being out of ideas to his assistant and to
Millicent. The staging of this scene sees the assistant move from one side of a desk,
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alongside Caden, to the opposite side, alongside Millicent. This action marks the point at
which Caden and Millicent swap roles completely: Millicent becomes the theatre director,
the lm director, the life director, and Caden takes on the role of Ellen, the cleaning lady. In
doing so, Caden hands control of his life to Millicent and, shortly after, functions only
through the stage directions given him.
During the closing monologue, in which Millicent directs Caden totally, she delivers a
number of statements which further suggest she and Caden are essentially the same
character.
Firstly, Millicent is revealed to harbour regret at not mothering a child -- mirroring Cadens
experience at the effective loss of Olive -- and the lack of meaning in her life resulting from
that regret. A ashback to a picnic Millicent had with her mother at a young age (which
Caden witnessed soon after Adele left with Olive for Germany) sees Millicent promising
her mother that she would repeat the picnic with her own child twenty years hence. Now
older, and childless, Millicent says:
There was supposed to be something else, I was supposed to have
something...love...children. A child, at least. Children. Meaning.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:46:41)
Secondly, when visiting Olive on her death bed, Caden is accused of abandoning Olive
and Adele in favour of his homosexual lover, Eric. Eric is actually the husband of Millicent.
During her closing monologue, Millicent prepares breakfast for her husband, and asks him:
Everything okay, Eric?
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:47:07)
Erics reply (Everything is everything.) mirrors a statement Millicent makes later in the
monologue, suggesting she and Caden are one and the same:
You realise you are not special. You have struggled into existence and are now slipping
silently out of it. This is everyones experience. Every single one. The specics hardly
matter. Everyone is everyone.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:50:58)
Then, referring to Adele, Millicent says:
Remember the time she got you to pose for one of her paintings? How she told you how
beautiful you were? How she made you feel pretty again, for a little while?
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:48:51)
This monologue is juxtaposed with the painting entitled Ellen, which Caden viewed at
Adeles retrospective earlier in the lm, and used as a reference in originally casting
Millicent in the role of Ellen. Millicents words suggest the painting was actually of Caden.
Later, as the sounds of the apocalypse ring outside, the pictures of Adele, Olive, Hazel and
his parents, alongside Cadens bed, are replaced with a picture of Millicents mother.
Finally, Millicent is direct:
You are Ellen. All her meagre sadnesses are yours. All her loneliness. The grey straw-like
hair. Her red-raw hands. Its yours. It is time for you to understand this.
(Synecdoche, New York, 2009, 01:51:22)
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The role of anima gives Millicent a feminine perspective on the world Caden has created
and, more importantly, his own life. Whilst there are parallels between their individual
experiences, it is their shared experiences, such as the regret at the lack or loss of a child,
that enables Millicent the insight to philosophise on Cadens situation. Crucially, however,
that shared experience of regret is only important insofar as it allows Millicent to
demonstrate empathy to Cadens situation. Empathy is a traditionally feminine quality
(Kempe, 2011, pp430-433), so could be considered a virtue of the anima. Finally, when
directing him through his nal moments, Millicent reveals to Caden the truths which he has
spent the whole lm trying to dene.
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Conclusion
The theme of Jungian psychology is prevalent in Synecdoche, New York (Grant, 2009,
16:40). Personality integration and Jungian archetypes can be applied to Caden and the
characters around him.
Firstly, the persona of the protagonist Caden Cotard is vivid in its depiction. The character
traits displayed are almost wholly representative of low self-esteem, which gives rise to the
notion that the Jungian archetype of the shadow can display positive characteristics.
In the character of Sammy Barnathan, we have an individual who is a literal shadow to the
character of Caden Cotard for the whole of the rst hour of the lm. In the second half of
the lm, Sammy takes on the role of Caden in the theatre production and, by virtue of
being Cadens Jungian shadow -- the positive opposite of Caden -- proceeds to succeed in
the aspects of life in which Caden has routinely failed.
The personication of Cadens anima is the character of Millicent Weems, employed to
play the role of Ellen the cleaning lady. Although only introduced in the nal quarter of the
lm, Millicent quickly grasps the concept of Cadens vision, and achieves it fully. In
essentially taking charge of Cadens life -- his visionary theatre piece, his role within it, and
the life of Ellen which he comes to play -- Millicent, the woman, ends the search for truth
for which Caden has been striving throughout the lm. It is her empathy for Cadens
situation -- as demonstrated by her shared regrets -- which conrm her role as Cadens
anima.
Whilst the focus of this essay has been purely upon Jungian theories and, particularly,
archetypes, further insight into the roles and relationships of the characters depicted in the
lm could be obtained through research into other philosophies concerning the nature of
self. The screenwriter/director Charlie Kaufman no doubt has the greatest understanding
of the themes underlying the lm, and the character breakdowns (if ever created) would
likely detail this. However, this information could not be found during research.
Additionally, this essay focussed on those characters in the lm who explicitly portrayed
the role of Caden Cotard and, thus, the possibility of other characters also being
representative of other Jungian archetypes was overlooked.
10
References
- Berson, Robert J., Capgras Syndrome (The American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol.140(8),
1993) http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1983-32773-001
- Daniels, Victor, The Analytical Psychology of Carl Gustav Jung (Victor Daniels, 2011)
- Debruyne, Hans et al, Cotards Syndrome: A Review (Current Psychiatry Reports, June
2009, Vol.11 issue 3) http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11920-009-0031-z#page-1
- Deming, Richard, Living a Part: Synecdoche, New York, Metaphor, and the Problem of
Skepticism (The University Press of Kentucky, 2011)
- Grant, Andrew, Infectious Diseases in Cattle - Bloggers Roundtable Synecdoche, New
York, DVD Extra (Revolver Entertainment, 2009)
- Helldn, Anders et al, Death Delusion (British Medical Journal 2007; 335: 1305) http://
www.bmj.com/content/335/7633/1305
- Hoffman, Philip Seymour, The Story of Caden Cotard Synecdoche, New York, DVD
Extra (Revolver Entertainment, 2009)
- Jung, C.G. a, Symbols of Transformation, Collected Works Vol.5 (Pantheon Books,
1953)
- Jung, C.G. b, The Symbolic Life: Miscellaneous Writings, Collected Works Vol.18
(Princeton, 1977)
- Jung, C.G. c, The Shadow, Collected Works Vol.9 (Bollingen, 1948)
- Karaban, Roslyn A., Jungs Concept of the Anima/Animus: Enlightened or Frightening
(Human Species Press, 1992)
- Kaufman, Charlie a, cited in Rob Field Q&A with Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze,
Adaptation: The Shooting Script (New York: Newmarket Press, 2002)
- Kaufman, Charlie b, Script Factory Interview with Charlie Kaufman, London Film
Festival 2008 Synecdoche, New York, DVD Extra (Revolver Entertainment, 2009)
- Kaufman, Charlie c, Confessions of an Original Mind (ABC-CLIO, 2010)
- Kempe, Vera et al, Digit Ratio is Linked to Affective Empathy in Women (University of
Abertay Dundee, 2011)
- Lightfoot, Anthony, A Parallel of Words (AuthorHouse, 2010)
- Smith, David L., Synecdoche, in Part (The University Press of Kentucky, 2011)
- Stevens, Anthony; Jung, A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 1994)
- Synecdoche, New York (Revolver Entertainment, 2009)
- Thomson, Helen, Mindscapes: First Interview with a Dead Man (New Scientist, 2013)
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23583-mindscapes-rst-interview-with-a-dead-
man.html#.UkbIwmRxtGQ
- Young-Eisendrath, P. et al, The Cambridge Companion to Jung (Cambridge University
Press, 1997)
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