MovieChat Forums > The Master (2012) Discussion > The ambiguity of Lancaster Dodd

The ambiguity of Lancaster Dodd

posted 9 years ago by The-Last-Prydonian
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One of the many things I loved about this movie was that Lancaster Dodd is the ambiguity of his character. It's never really made clear whether he's willfully deceiving people with his baloney a la L. Ron Hubbard or he's a deluded nut-job who believes his own myth. He certainly gets very aggressive and defensive when his "beliefs" are challenged as in one earlier scene at a party he's hosting. He seems incapable of doing so with losing his temper and becoming verbally abusive. Is he getting on the defensive because he sees there being a threat of being exposed as the charlatan that he is, or is he that deluded that he genuinely perceives the guy that's criticizing him as being a narrow minded ignoramus? It was hard to tell.

[–] calvinl 8 years ago

I agree that there is no clear cut answer to if Dodd was deceiving vs. honestly passionate.

Here are some things I noticed that I feel related to this topic of Dodd's true ambitions:
- Dodd's son tells Phoenix that "don't you know he just makes all this up?"
- Dodd quickly fires back at the first scientist that questions any of his research.
- Dodd clearly finds comfort and admires Phoenix's character; I believe he admires his lack of boundaries, his beast-like nature.
- There is a repeating theme of "the beast within us" and that we must tame it.
- Phoenix can easily be compared to a beast with the way he acts, however, Dodd against his entire practice falls into an intimate relationship with Phoenix.

My reasoning for why Dodd acts the way he does is because he himself has not mastered his own emotions. Over and over we see Dodd losing his temper, going against his own morals, drinking mixed drugs, acting out, allowing a "beast" (Phoenix) into his world. Dodd clearly has some issues deep down inside and thus takes pride in being "The Master" over other people on a public level. Adams seems to take pride in controlling Dodd through the background (quietly), there are scenes where Adams and Dodd are alone and she is now the master in that situation, controlling the entire group through Dodd. Finally, Phoenix is a master of only himself, he willingly tries to be tied down by the groups rules but they can not control him - he is the only character that is completely disconnected and free from society's rules; (this is evident with the last scene where it is clear that Dodd misses Phoenix and invites him all the way back home. Only to have Adam tell Phoenix that he may only come back into the group if he drops all his addictions - he declines). In this very last scene we specifically only have the three of them, you clearly see their relations with one another and that Adam embodies the superego, Hoffman the ego, and Phoenix the id.

TLDR: In summary, I feel that Dodd is aware of the lies he is spreading, that Adam is the one that runs the entire show privately, and that Phoenix is an example of the one thing that Dodd yearns for - complete freedom.