Since I first watched it with my family, Arrested Development has defined my sense of humor and my worldview.
The thesis of the show is this: Wealth has the potential to arrest the emotional development of a family.
The show premises a family coming from immense capital wealth, once on top of the world, now forced into the middle class by a series of criminal investigations against the patriarch, George Bluth. Much of the humor – and much of the message – comes from the family’s shocking ineptitude as they learn the world doesn’t revolve around them anymore.
Freud would love Tobias Funke. After marrying into the Bluth family shortly after college, Tobias’ needs are all met by his wife’s family wealth. Now that it is gone, Tobias is forced to become a breadwinner. Though in episode one, he declares that he wants to act, despite having an unused degree in psychology.
Tobias’ desire to be an actor is set on by an incidental boat ride, which he attends only after a ridiculous set of unlikely circumstances. He mistakes a gay protest group for a Bluth party and feels a ‘bond’ with his new companions. Following popular stereotypes of 2003, the unnamed gay characters are members of various theaters. Tobias displaces his desire to be with these men with a desire to be an actor.
His wife sees better than he can. As Tobias attempts to confess his desire, Lindsay completes the thought for him. “You’re gay.”
I love Arrested Development and I love this post. It would honestly be really interesting if someone decided to do an IS psychoanalyzing every single character in Arrested Development (bonus points if it is through a Freudian lens). I would love to see the analyses of George-Michael and Maeby for this example, as they are cousins and have some sort of strange underlying bit about them being in love with each other (at least – George Michael is in love with her).
I’ve never watched Arrested Development, but you provided a succinct but brief synthesis! From what you’ve described, the show does seem like it would be incredibly riveting to psychoanalyze. This topic would be equally thought-provoking from the gender studies lens. The fact that he had to become the breadwinner contradicts heteronormative culture. I would have liked to read specifically why Freud would have liked this show and how he would have interpreted these events.
Ben, as someone who has never seen Arrested Development, your synopsis really drew me in. Your style in this post is also very engaging. I enjoyed your mix of different sentence structures and your word choices! I would have also loved to see a bit more of explicit Freud analysis, but I think it probably would have been clearer if I understood the reference.
I love Arrested Development and also think psychoanalysts would have a field day with the show, especially Tobias’ character as you point out. The way you write is engaging, and I liked how you wrote out the thesis of the show, highlighting the title. I think a short section on how you think the theory would specifically apply to the show would have strengthened your post. But, I couldn’t agree more that Freud would love studying Tobias.
I love Arrested Development! The Bluth family is so wild, but the premise and what we know about each character makes the actions they take believable and satisfying. Your point of view about the show and Tobias in particular is really interesting, and I enjoyed reading about it. That being said, I think a more direct correlation between the show and psychoanalysis would have aided the post’s message.