Claire Corbeaux, Kat Johnson, Joshua Mora, Corinne Scanlon, Taylor Tisdale, Analiese Vasciannie
Franz Anton Mesmer was an Austrian doctor in the 18th century. He had great interest in astronomy and believed that the moon and the planets could induce disease in humans. Human diseases caused by the cosmos could be healed using his technique of “animal magnetism” or mesmerism. Mesmer incorporated magnets into his experiments as a way to disrupt gravitational tides that caused sickness in his patients. However, Mesmer found that magnets were not the true cause for his success and believed that it was his own animal magnetism that healed his patients. Mesmer achieved hypnosis in his patients by gazing at them intensely and making passes, or strokes, usually on the patient’s arms.
In I am Not Sidney Poitier, Not Sidney discovers a book in his public library that details the process of “fesmerization.” Fesmerization is a lesser known type of hypnotism that lacked notoriety due to its similarity in name to the “debunked” mesmerization. Not Sidney describes Fesmerism as “the perfect form of self-defense.” (Everett, 16) In contrast with mesmerism, which requires extreme physical intimacy, fesmerism can be accomplished by simply making eye contact with one’s subject. Furthermore, the process of mesmerization depends upon mutual consent between patient and practitioner, but fesmerization allows for its practitioner to gain control over its “patient” without said patient’s awareness. Additionally, fesmerization differs from traditional hypnosis as subjects can be forced into doing things that they would normally find morally abhorrent.
While Mesmer approached hypnosis as a way to help others overcome disease, Not Sidney uses fesmerization for his own benefit. Where Mesmer wielded power and affluence as a doctor and thus authority figure, Not Sidney often feels powerless in his daily life. He was born into the reputation of “Elephant Boy” due to the strange circumstances of his birth. Not Sidney was also powerless in the face of the illness that took his mother’s life and left him an orphan. Despite being left with his mother’s extensive fortune, he is unable to fully utilize these funds.
At first, fesmerization represents the perfect antidote to Not Sidney’s lack of control; it provides him with a way to take charge of his own life and become more confident in his own abilities. Not Sidney eventually learns to master fesmerization, despite having some initial failures with a boy named Sidney, who beats Not Sidney “within an inch of [his] life” (Everett, 18). However, Not Sidney becomes adept at the process of fesmerization and thereby gains more self-confidence. This, coupled with his rapid growth, causes the bullies who used to antagonize him to begin to fear him. As a result, Not Sidney begins to use fesmerization to his own personal gain, rather than as a form of self-defense.
When Not Sidney goes sailing with Ted Turner, his wife Jane Fonda, and her niece Wanda Fonda, Not Sidney fesmerizes Wanda Fonda into taking off Jane’s bikini top in order to satisfy his desire to see “actual tits” (Everett, 25). When the sight of Jane’s breasts fails to satisfy Not Sidney, he fesmerizes Jane into throwing her sunglasses overboard so that he may get a glimpse at her eyes. Thus, Not Sidney, who was once powerless at the hands of bullies, becomes powerful with his new, beautiful weapon of fesmerization. He is able to manipulate those around him, and in some instances even causes them harm. For instance, when Not Sidney is first discovering the powers of fesmerism, he tests the practice on his karate instructor, Raymond. Raymond inadvertently beats Not Sidney in his attempts to teach him self-defense techniques. Not Sidney avenges himself against Raymond by successfully fesmerizing him and beats him up. The act of fesmerizing could be seen as Not Sidney simply attempting to defend himself against Raymond’s abuse. However, Not Sidney does not merely fesmerize Raymond in order to protect himself, he also uses it to give Raymond the same abuse that Not Sidney previously received.
This assertion is ultimately called into question later in the novel, when Not Sidney uses fesmerization to stop “Big Brother” Morris from beating fellow pledge, Eugene. Here he uses fesmerization to ensure the safety of another. However, Not Sidney punishes Morris by fesmerizing him into starting a recycling campaign across campus, an act that ultimately alienates many of Morris’ fellow fraternity members. In this way, Not Sidney exerts power over Morris, who had previously mistreated Not Sidney, by meddling with his social life and turning him into a campus-wide pariah, which is not dissimilar to what Morris did to Not Sidney earlier in the novel.
Therefore, a shift can be observed in Not Sidney’s intentions while utilizing his power of fesmerization. Though it initially served as a defense mechanism, his growing comfort with the skill enables it to develop into something that Not Sidney uses in order to satisfy personal desires. It is in this way that Everett asserts that the desire to have power is an inherently human trait, one that Franz Mesmer himself was susceptible to.
Everett uses I am Not Sidney Poitier to question Mesmer’s true intentions–arguing that Mesmer did not use mesmerization to help others, but actually used it to gain power and glorify himself as possessing an irresistible “animal magnetism.” This parallels Not Sidney’s experience with fesmerization; at first, it seems that Not Sidney is using fesmerization to defend himself, but as the novel progresses, it is apparent that Not Sidney uses fesmerization to ameliorate his feelings of powerlessness by controlling the minds and actions of others.
What has truly been accomplished by comparing mesmerism with Everett’s parodical equivalent of fesmerism? A mere Venn diagram? Or perhaps something more? In comparing fesmerism to its arguable inspiration of mesmerism, a critical insight into the human condition is exposed. Humans by nature seek to control those around them in order to establish a sense of safety and power. It is part of the human condition to crave this security, especially if one has experienced feelings of powerlessness or has had their individual agency threatened in the past. Therefore, controlling others and their actions becomes very attractive to one who has suffered at the hands of others, specifically those who have power over them or who have sought to strip one of one’s inherent power as a human being.
Thus, Everett’s inclusion of fesmerization presents an interesting contradiction. He exposes mesmerism as a grab for power and questions the legitimacy of Mesmer’s desire to help individuals overcome their illnesses. Yet, he also demonstrates that power may be sought after as a way to defend and empower oneself in order to compensate for the abuse that one may have previously endured. Interestingly, Everett displays that despite Not Sidney’s initial desire to defend himself, he eventually uses fesmerization in a way that is comparable to how Mesmer used his own hypnotic tool; as a way to bolster his own power over others for the sake of feeling the more powerful.