Synopsis: The Enterprise is tasked with delivering a mediator with a very unusual way of communicating to a warring planet in order to negotiate a truce between the factions.
In “Loud as a Whisper” viewers experience a physical manifestation of how a complex works in our psyche. It also can be seen as an analogy of the progression from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory to Carl (C. G.) Jung’s analytical psychology.
In the episode, Riva, initially communicates through a beautiful and intricate system – his chorus, a group of individuals that can read his thoughts and speak for him, each one coming from a different part of his psyche. One rational and Logos-driven, one emotional and Eros-driven, and one that connects the two and seeks harmony. Which are analogous to Freud’s id, ego, and superego. But then Riva’s chorus is killed and although deeply wounded by their deaths, Riva must find another way to communicate and move forward.
When Counsellor Deanna Troi comes to Riva to find an answer, Riva realizes that his real secret to being able to negotiate between opposites is to turn an advantage to a disadvantage. In “Loud as a Whisper” it will mean that the warring factions will both need to learn sign language in order to communicate with Riva and each other. In Jung’s theories, the breakdown of a common way of doing things caused by an uncontrollable force, could be seen as a wound creating a complex. The complex then brings the wound, or bit of unconscious material to the attention of the conscious ego, and the conscious ego, to move forward, must find a way to integrate that within itself. This is similar to how when Riva can no longer use his chorus, he must instead work with the warring factions on the planet to find a way to communicate. When this occurs, understanding a more stable planet will be the result. When it occurs in a human psyche, it makes it more whole.
Original post created 11 June 2021
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