"The Wall" is a dark, expressionistic musical, told from the point of view of Pink, a depressed rock musician. The film is structured around Pink's reflections on his life, all of which center on the building of "the wall." This wall is a metaphor for psychological isolation, a barrier Pink creates to distance himself from his pain. The foundations for this wall are lain in childhood, with the death of Pink's father leaving him to be raised by an overprotective mother and a repressive school system. He seeks freedom from this world through writing and music. However, even after he achieves success as a rock star, the wall continues to grow, with Pink feeling trapped by fame and wounded by his failed personal relationships. Lost in despair and self-loathing, he attempts to isolate himself from the world entirely. Pink leads a dreary life, finally turning to drugs and as a result of the drugs and the gloomy memories, Pink spirals into a void of insanity. This insanity soon causes a psychodynamic personality and paranoid schizophrenia to rule his mind and actions.
Freud's psychodynamic approach can be seen throughout many of Pink's experiences. The approach says that the interplay of various unconscious psychological processes determines thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Freud thought that people were born with basic instincts, not only for food, but for sex and aggression as well. Freud believed that the need for love, knowledge, and security were derived from these fundamental needs. A personality develops out of a person's struggle with a task and which is then reflected by the way they deal with it. .
Through Freud's beliefs a personality is made of three components: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id seeks immediate satisfaction, regardless of what society considers right or wrong. The ego is the part that knows what the id wants, but knows that the id must wait. It also organizes the thoughts so that the id can be satisfied at the time society says is appropriate.