#2 Marxist Psychic?

In a Marxist analysis of Psych, the Santa Barbara Police Department represents the bourgeoisie while Shawn Spencer represents the proletariat. It is mentioned in the pilot episode that Shawn has worked 57 jobs since graduating high school and that employment at any one of those jobs did not last long. Obviously Shawn, like Marx, finds that work is alienating. None of the jobs he had make him feel as if he is contributing something of importance to his community. They were simply jobs to get by or to enjoy while the novelty of the work lasted. Most of these jobs didn’t require any real skill so Shawn was easily bored of them. The ones that required more expert knowledge or prior experience, he failed at. Even after going through 57 different jobs, Shawn still wants to find a job or career that is more fulfilling to him. He is bored of the status quo of the system and is looking for something that will not only make him money, but also bring him happiness and self worth. 

One way in which Shawn makes money between his unusual array of jobs, is by calling in tips to the police and collecting reward money. Most of the tips he calls in are from observations he makes when watching interviews with victims of crime on the local news channels. Throughout Shawn’s childhood, his father -who worked for Santa Barbara’s police department, trained him to be impressively observant. A “game” they often played was meant to keep Shawn on his toes at all times and sharpen his skills. His father asks him to close his eyes and describe all the hats in the room.

Shawn’s observation skills are meant to set him up for a successful career as a police, like his father, but Shawn is more of a revolutionary. One of the most important aspects of a successful revolutionary is having a foot on both sides, which Shawn has with his father having been a police, and his internal hatred of the system. Although some may describe him as more of a playboy or man-child, Shawn bucks the status quo at every opportunity he gets and enjoys showboating his special skill over everyone else, especially over Carlton Lassiter. 

Carlton Lassiter, the senior detective for the Santa Barbara Police Department, in typical bourgeoisie fashion is fed up that his power at the police department being questioned by the simple working man and has Shawn brought in for interrogation as a suspect. Of course there is no evidence that Shawn is

involved in any crime because he’s not involved in any crime, but Lassiter is determined to keep him in his place. Everything Lassiter does is classically by the book and in his mind there is no time for nonsense, in particular, Shawn Spencer’s nonsense. While being questioned down at the station, Shawn changes from being complacent with the system to being a huge disruption. Rather than telling the truth about the skills he was taught by his father, Shawn decides to tell Lassiter that he is actually psychic. The Santa Barbara Police Department’s interim chief believes Shawn and decides to accept him further into the bourgeoisie circle, assigning him to help solve difficult cases, which enrages Lassiter who wants to maintain the purity of the “upper class” (or in this circumstance, the police department).  

In Shawn’s revolutionary quest he recruits his best friend, Burton Guster- Gus for short. Gus represents the typical, unquestioning proletariat. He is happy with his career as a pharmaceutical sales representative, where he sits in an office mindlessly playing computer games between calling clients about orders and new samples. Gus acts as a juxtaposition to Shawn; he likes the status quo and is happy to oblige by societal rules. He constantly warns Shawn about the consequences of upsetting the system. Despite Gus’s ideological position, he helps Shawn solve crime because of the excitement and enjoyment it brings him (whether or not he wants to admit it). 

In classic Marxist theory, having a specialized technical skill is a detriment to one’s life because of

the limitations it puts on one’s ability to do work outside of his or her skillset, making workers easily replaceable, and work insecure. One way in which Shawn is successful as a revolutionary is by differentiating his skill from others in the police force. Although it is a lie it allows Shawn to  set up his own private investigation business based on the success of his talent and skill, which is representative of the capitalist reform that can happen when the working man refuses to abide by the status quo.