History FreudianExcuse / Film

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei finds out that the reason that [[MyBelovedSmother her mother]] is hard on her is that she tried to be a good daughter to Wu, only to realize that she would never live up to her mother's expectations, culminating in her transforming out of stress and rage, injuring Wu in one of her bouts and resulting in her becoming scared of her powers. [[spoiler:During the climactic fight, Mei [[CallingTheOldManOut calls her mother out]], saying that just because she had to be the perfect daughter doesn't mean that it was right how she treated Mei like an ideal extension of all her hopes and dreams and not a person.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei finds out that the reason that [[MyBelovedSmother her mother]] is hard on her is that during one of her transformations as a kid, she injured Grandma Wu and was scared of her powers. [[spoiler:During the climactic fight, Mei [[CallingTheOldManOut calls out her mother]], saying that just because she had to be the perfect daughter doesn't mean that it was right how she treated Mei like an ideal extension of all her hopes and dreams and not a person.]]

* Satirized in ''Film/AddamsFamilyValues''. The psychotic Debbie explains it was her parents getting her the wrong Franchise/{{Barbie}} that caused her psychotic break. In the form of a slide show.
-->'''Debbie:''' My parents, Sharon and Dave. Generous, doting, or were they? All I ever wanted was a Ballerina Barbie. In her [[PrincessesPreferPink pretty pink tutu]]. ''(slide change)'' My Birthday. I was 10, and do you know what they got me? MAL-I-BU Barbie.\\

''(Next slide shows their house on fire.)''

* The live-action movie of ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'' gave TheGrinch a lot of exposition explaining his Grinchiness. In both childhood and in a present-day incident in the film, he very nearly comes to enjoy Christmas, but something goes horribly wrong that just reinforces his view that it's a selfish, materialistic holiday. [[ForegoneConclusion It's only after seeing Christmas still celebrated even after removing all material possessions from the equation that the Grinch comes around.]]

* In the original storyboard of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', Jafar had a Freudian Excuse-themed song explaining why he was angry and evil. Jafar's excuse mainly focused on being mocked and unpopular when he was young, and having to live and work underneath the bumbling Sultan in adulthood. The song was later dropped and was replaced with a reprise of Prince Ali to satisfy the staff's wishes to have the voice actor sing. In the actual film, Jafar has no Freudian Excuse, but he's unhappy in his current position (which is sometimes all you need), thinks the sultan is an idiot, is greedy, and has a case of megalomania (thus the last genie wish). Sympathy is heavily undercut because Jafar now treats Aladdin as lowly as he himself was treated in childhood. The song and storyboards for it can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU6AfCWuZKI here]].

* Subverted in ''Film/{{West Side Story|1961}}'' in the song "Officer Krupke", the teenage gangsters of the Jets sing sarcastically about their deprived upbringings, acting out how they would play on the sympathies of social workers and juvenile courts.

-->'''Bond''': So, you killed your [[spoiler:father]].\\
[[spoiler:'''Elektra''']]: He ''killed me''. He killed me the day he refused to pay my [[spoiler:ransom]].

** Anakin Skywalker was raised as a slave on a hellish backwater planet, as Yoda pointed out in the very beginning. Then [[SacrificialLion the closest thing he ever had to a father is killed in battle]] before his mother gets raped and murdered by [[DesertBandits Tusken Raiders]]. Oddly, he seems to have been a fairly happy child as [[SympatheticSlaveOwner his master Watto cared for them and allowed them some freedom]]. This is expanded upon in the ExpandedUniverse; though we do see that while Anakin had [[DiagnosedByTheAudience deep-rooted issues]], the real problem laid in that he had no idea how to deal with them and the Jedi didn't know how to help him nor paid enough attention. The Sith, on the other hand, saw opportunity and exploited it.

* ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'': [[spoiler:Elektra King mostly blames her father for forcing her to sacrifice her humanity in order to survive her kidnapping ordeal.]]

* Subverted in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. The Joker explains what seems to be the source of his insanity when he reveals the origin of his smile-scars, involving an abusive alcoholic father who wanted to know why he was "so serious" -- after killing his mother right in front of him. But later in the movie, he eagerly reveals the origins of his scars again, [[MultipleChoicePast changing his story]] to one involving a wife who wanted him to smile more, who was disfigured to pay for her gambling debts, and taking to self-mutilation to make her feel better. Chances of both stories being outright lies (or at best delusions) suddenly look pretty good.

** Anakin Skywalker was raised as a slave on a hellish backwater planet, as Yoda pointed out in the very beginning. Then his mother gets killed by Tusken Raiders. Oddly, he seems to have been a fairly happy child. Probably would have cut his master's throat in the night if he'd made it to adolescence on Tatooine, though. This is expanded upon in the ExpandedUniverse though we do see that while Anakin had issues and deep-rooted problems, the real issue laid in that he had no idea how to deal with them and the Jedi didn't know how to help him nor paid enough attention. The Sith, on the other hand, saw opportunity and exploited it.

* ''Film/Halloween2007'' attempts this with Michael Myers.

** The original ''Film/Halloween1978'', while appearing to be a shallow motiveless-serial-killer movie at first, it is notable for how it stresses just ''how'' strange Myers' behavior actually is. Behind the scenes, Nick Castle (the man behind the mask) reportedly tried to figure out just what would drive a serial killer like Myers and act accordingly, but Carpenter specifically insisted on the "soulless killing machine" approach. One of the main characters, Dr. Loomis, is an experienced psychiatrist who is both baffled and terrified at the seemingly causeless evil lurking behind Myers' eyes. The overall idea is that, by any realistic standard, there should be a ''reason'' for someone to be anywhere near as warped as he is.

* ''Film/HalfPastDead'' centered around a group of mercenaries or whatever trying to get a location on stolen gold from a death row inmate by taking a group of hostages. One woman asks the leader what his motivation was, to which he insinuated he was beaten by his father and raped by his mother. Though he never actually admitted this to be true, he subverted the trope by claiming it had nothing to do with his actions as he's simply a sociopath motivated by greed. Earlier it was revealed that he suffers from Gulf War Syndrome and may suffer from Post Traumatic Stress as well, which may actually play the trope straight.
* The new remake of ''Film/Halloween2007'' attempts this with Michael Myers.