This paper argues that the practice of moviegoing involves a repetition of an experience of breakdown from early life. While certain kinds of cinematic pleasure and obsessive cinephilic practices seem to involve the development of a sense of omnipotence, at it's core the moviegoer is fundamentally disempowered by the presence of others and the scale of the cinematic world. This disempowerment, when held properly by the cinematic situation, can allow for the viewer to finally experience the breakdown of the mother/infant tie, which had previously been avoided due to the danger of states of what Donald Winnicott termed "primitive agony." By experiencing finally experiencing this breakdown in the safe confines of the movie theater, the moviegoer is able to more fully come into their own experience of the world both in and out of the theater.
