Wow. Last week, The Blacklist mentioned Carl Jung, Piaget, and Dostoyevsky. It was like the writers were giving a nod to Jordan Peterson.
And last night’s episode?
Fagen [an arsonist trying to change his ways]: I was staring at those trees, thinking how I wanted to burn them.
Reddington: I realize that I’ve stoked the flame, so to speak, which is why I brought you this.
Fagen: “Embrace the Struggle”?
Reddington: Zig Ziglar at his most persuasive. Are you familiar with his work?
Fagen: He’s a motivational speaker.
Reddington: Who motivated me to quit smoking and shoot from the neck down.
My head is spinning.
Previously here:
The Blacklist, Season 4, Episode 4
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 23, Season Finale
Blacklist: Redemption
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 22
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 21
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 20
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 19
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 18
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 17
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 16
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 15
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 13
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 11
The Blacklist: Season 3, Episode 10
Human Variables category
Mike Cane's Atomic Supermen 
Someone needs to do a project corraling all these guys together. Norman Vincent Peale, Napoleon Hill, Rhonda Byrne, Zig Ziglar, even (to some extent) Wayne Dyer and a ton of other Hay House authors. There are those who actually believe what they’re saying, and those who are snake-oil pitchmen, but regardless of the level of hypocrisy, they can be quite harmful to the susceptible. The New Thought movement is such an American phenomenon, isn’t it?
It all stems from New Thought. No one has really said much that’s new since then. Why I love Google Books. Go straight to the source of it all.
Piaget and Raymond Reddington. Wow.
I just recently discovered Jordan Peterson and I’ve been a Blacklist follower for years. I’ve been
listening to Peterson: archetype, personality, developmental psychology, how the child ‘boots’ himself, ‘you die into your personality’ and I keep thinking: did The Blacklist producers apply some of Peterson to the structure and texture of their story?
I’ve been profoundly impacted by Jung and Dostoevsky but had never heard of Piaget. Right now I”m listening to Peterson’s Personality Lecture 01 and I’m just positive Bokenkamp must have listened to it (ha!)
Each time I watch the Blacklist I am more and more certain there is something deeply archetypal, intuitive, fundamental about it. I mean, it’s just a tv show, right? but since most literature is now in visual form, ie. tv or film, I’m inclined to analyze these rather than novels anymore.
“The ripe apple falls. It doesn’t know what else to do” – Raymond Reddington
It’s clear not only with all the references to the arts, history, literature, philosophy, that there’s almost an origin story here. I’ve been checking for references to classical mythology and there is some, but it’s more like a ‘yes, and…’.
Anyway, thanks for ‘confirming’ my crazy association of Peterson and The Blacklist :-)
So much more to read and think about…
SPOILER ALERT
With the hinting of Reddington not being who he claims to be, it’ll be interesting to see where that comes from.