By: Keaton Marcus

PREFACE:

Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, one of the two "black sheeps" of the consistently well-received director. Although it has garnered a cult following years after its release, it is a film that confounded viewers, leaving them confused, bored, and even a bit disappointed. But, unfortunately, this is an impeccable piece of work from a giant at his craft. It's an allegorical study on a man's PTSD and longing for a "master." A leader. Almost working as a fictional parallel to Scientology, we follow Freddie, a World War II navy veteran attempting to adjust to a post-war society before he meets the charming Lancaster Dodd, who welcomes him to his cult, known as "The Cause." This analysis aims to somewhat plunge into the psyche of this character and explain him to readers.

PART ONE: A WELCOMING CAUSE

Expected from a movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, this guy's another loner, bereft of confidence and purpose, just a soul hurtling to the end of life on Earth. Before meeting Dodd, Freddie more or less wanders through existence, failing to make a genuine connection or have any settlement in one place for a solid amount of time. Constantly traveling, he has zero faith in humanity and only cares for himself. Freddie's a man without a direction, without a cause. That is until he meets Dodd and his version of internal peace, purpose, and overall engagement with life. On the surface, like every real-world cult, The Cause seems almost magical. The group has a bizarre type of hypnosis therapy, shall we call it, and the treatment can cure just about anything. Treating anything from allergies to leukemia to one's stability in mental health, Dodd's promises slowly but surely condition Freddie into finally joining. How is this? Dodd claims that discovering trauma lived in past lives and "correcting" them, returning humanity and faith in existence to anyone lost, sounds like just what Freddie desperately needs. The marriage between The Cause's tenacity to help and Freddie's desires constructs an unbreakable connection of one-sided adoration. Like anyone would do in this situation, our main character is inherently skeptical of the bells and whistles Dodd can ring and blown on. However, as mentioned, a bond forms that will be more challenging to break than it was initially to make.

PART TWO: FREDDIE'S SOFT SIDE

So, how does Dodd seduce Freddie exactly? It all principally starts when he finally gets to "process" him, where he points out a particular "weakness" or "soft side" that Freddie is harboring. Then, to initially deconstruct Freddie's very being, Dodd, who I will now refer to as the Master, rapidly fires random questions at him with barely any relevance. A simmering an unexpected technique that sends Freddie off the rails slowly but surely. Processing rules include that the Master must repeat specific questions and ask Freddie to answer them without blinking, or the subject must start at the beginning. As a distraction from his apparent uneasiness, Freddie resorts to his usual vulgar humor and temper, using his personality as an attempt to prevent insanity. Unfortunately, the madness begins to overtake his childish persona, and as the Master starts to uncover his past trauma, a pang of guilt hits him while reminiscing on accidentally killing someone earlier in the film. He remembers his dead father and psychotic mother before being accosted about Doris, a girl he reveals to have loved. As the Master interrogates him why Freddie isn't with her right now, Freddie's fragile shell crumbles completely as his being becomes vulnerable. This hellish but ultimately therapeutic encounter between Freddie and the Master gives this man a catharsis he had never experienced before. Through honesty and vulnerability, the Master has cracked into Freddie's soft side without fulfilling his desire for women and drinking.

PART THREE: GOD'S LONELY MAN

As explained earlier in this essay, a part of the reason why the Master broke down the walls of Freddie's mind with such ease is the fact that he's lonely. He blindly searches for an artificial connection between alcohol and sex, but the Master provided a genuine link, and Freddie takes it with slight suspicion. In the iconic desert scene near the end of the film, Freddie is challenged by the Master, given a motorcycle, the chance to find freedom. Elated and surprised, he takes it and rides off into the distance to Doris, the woman he mentioned in the processing scene. It's not just with his sweetness or the welcoming surface of The Cause that leads to the Master's easy manipulation, but also Freddie's unfortunate detachment from humanity. To his disappointment, Doris is already married and has children, and his seemingly imagined future with her has vanished out of thin air. Realizing that his obsession over Doris was once again a product of an obsessively daunting lack of authenticity in past relationships, he turns to his one and only definite friend, the Master. Although simplistically, the story sounds insane and with an overarching sense of taking advantage of the depressed, it also can be interpreted by viewers as an emotional, even heartwarming tale. As Freddie pays the Master one last visit, something ticks in him. The Master was the only man who defended him, drank with him, gave him women, provided him with naturally cultivated honesty, a trait that he didn't possess before. They were friends. Believe it or not, despite their arguments and occasionally unhealthy relationship, this was a true bromance. However, like all sailors, Freddie's internal and indulgent solitude prevents him from staying in one place.

PART FOUR: MOVIE BECOMES MIND

What ruined the film for many and even made me skeptical was the final shot. It features Freddie lying next to the sand woman from the beginning of the film. What could this possibly represent? Most people, including me, believe that this is Anderson's way of telling audiences that Freddie never really changed. So what was the justification for the film happening? Doesn't this mean that the ending destroyed Freddie's entire arc? Maybe it does, but it also carries a point of great significance. That there was no point. This man ends where he started, and that is because the movie isn't a study of his mind; it is his mind. It encapsulates his entire personality and shows that even with therapeutic changes in character, this man will forever be who he first was at the start of the film. This "theory" of sorts could all sound meaningless, pretentious drivel to cover up a miscalculated conclusion mired by indulgence, but I will stand by it nonetheless. Events in a film do not always meet our perceptions of significant character transformations. Do not take those words for granted.

CONCLUSION

As only some readers may have noticed, I adore this movie, and writing the analysis made me appreciate it even more. With another re-watch (I've seen it three times now), I can easily see it climb to my top ten favorites of all time. Paul Thomas Anderson has indeed shown audiences an inspiring achievement in cinematic history. In my interpretation, this movie is one of the only films that has successfully entered and become a human being's psychology. Proof that art can transcend boundaries and become more significant than its expectations is evident here, and if anyone has not seen this movie yet, I highly recommend it. The ending can be--challenging to comprehend, but please give it an open-minded shot!