The Medusa Gaze in war media: Trauma, shame, envy, and voyeurism in the eyes of an analyst-victim.

Abstract

In this article, I argue that war victims, unlike distant viewers, turn to war media not only to satisfy unconscious sadistic and masochistic desires or voyeuristic pleasure, but also as a strategy for psychic survival. Amid trauma, they seek containment and control. They imagine the media screen, like a containing mother, to frame war experiences - making them digestible and offering a coherent mirror in which the fragmented self can find recognition. For war victims, the media is not a neutral window onto the world but a reflective surface - a gaze they hope will reflect an integrated image of self. When sensational, graphic violence is broadcast, the media gaze dehumanises the victims depicted and destabilises the viewers, amplifying emotional disarray and psychic fragmentation. The media's gaze morphs into an Evil Eye, whose envious power inflicts psychic harm. Those consuming footage of their war become both subjects of this gaze and its casualties. Their shame in helplessness transforms into envy, and their gaze turns into defensive voyeurism, where vulnerability and complicity coexist. Instead of providing containment, trauma coverage - like dreaming and dream-telling - should facilitate the psychic digestion and symbolisation of shared experience.