«Autumn insight» cinema lecture hall: the price of the perfect world

In late September, the Educational Psychological-Consultative Laboratory held its first film lecture series for the 2025-2026 academic year, titled «Autumn Insight». This event served as a space for deep film therapy, where the image of autumn acted as a symbolic metaphor for the beauty of change and sorrow.

Participants in the film lecture series, along with Viktoriia Fedoryk, a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology, analyzed the film «The Giver» (2014). The picture immerses viewers in an «ideal future» where, thanks to technological innovations, humanity is forever rid of pain, wars, conflicts, and diseases. However, this seemingly perfect scenario prompts the viewer to realize the high price of tranquility: it is a world devoid of love, happiness, sorrow, or memories.

The discussion focused on the key psychological and philosophical question: «Is an ideal life worth giving up everything that makes us human?» This very question prompted important realizations and insights regarding the nature of human emotions, choice, and the price of comfort.

The main result was the recognition of the constructive function of pain, fear, and sorrow. Participants understood that pain is a marker, a necessary signal that informs us about our needs and threats, upon which empathy and compassion for others develop. Happiness, in turn, is formed by contrast, as the ability to genuinely rejoice and appreciate happiness is impossible without the experience of sadness and loss.

The analysis of the question about the «Personal Barrier» and «Life Without Choice» revealed that many of us in real life consciously or unconsciously «switch off» certain emotions for the sake of social stability, conflict avoidance, or simple routine.

The discussion confirmed the key role of personal and collective memory in the context of forming a complete personal identity. Person = History: the absence of knowledge about the past makes a person “empty,” and thus, without a deep and conscious self-image.

The question about “The Keeper of Memory” shifted the discussion to the socio-psychological level. It was noted that in real life, this phenomenon corresponds to situations where one person takes on the emotional burden, responsibility, or guilt of others. This became the basis for discussing issues of codependency, emotional burnout, and responsibility.

The film lecture participants concluded that the pursuit of «ideality» at the expense of the full spectrum of human feelings leads only to apathy and the devaluation of existence. True life, in contrast, is the ability to rejoice, empathize, and accept emotions.

The «Autumn Insight» film lecture confirmed the value of film therapy as a psychological tool that helps overcome emotional apathy and stimulates deep personal insight.

Based on materials from the educational psychological and consulting laboratory