Jump to content

person .. personality


sissyrobbi

Recommended Posts

My favorite film is Ingmar Bergman's Persona, which explores this sort of issue. A nurse and her mute patient (an actress who has suffered some kind of apparent mental break) are secluded, and the nurse, trying to rehabilitate the patient, starts to find her identity, her public self and the way she presents and perceives herself, being taken over and shaped by her encounter with her patient. (The first time I saw it I had the only nightmare I've had as an adult!)

 

I'm not clear on the distinction between person and personality. Are we right to think there is some singular true person always there in every moment of our lives? What about the ways that the intersubjective contexts shape the personalities we adopt, the ways that we relate differently to different people and surroundings in different sitautions? I believe biology and upbringing both very powerfully shape the parameters of our personalities, but I am not convinced we each have a singular true self or person. I suspect it is more like a spectrum, different ranges of which we occupy in different moments of our days and lives.

 

Some people can manipulate this more intentionally than others, and some people do so for any number of reasons, including many reasons that would strike me as healthy or compassionate or the like. Like Mistress Kang, I'm not totally sure what ittybitty's question is, but I find the concepts of person, persona, personality, and self really interesting and important.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...