Borderline personality disorder has gradually become widely known in the past decade. This type of individual is characterized by four aspects, namely "unstable interpersonal relationships, unstable emotions, unstable self-image and obvious impulsiveness". The prominent manifestations of borderline personality disorder are the instability of interpersonal relationships, emotions, self-image and impulsive behavior, persistent emptiness, loneliness and some transient mental symptoms. Basic features of borderline personality disorder.
Birdman describes the conflict between the two self-images of the protagonist Riggan. Riggan became famous for his starring role in "Bird Man", and he gained both fame and fortune, but he felt that the role of superhero in such commercial films was not him, so he refused to make Episode 4. After getting angry, he wanted to prove that he is a real artist by writing, directing and starring Carver's "When We Talk About Love, What Are We Talking About". To achieve this goal, he will spare no expense. But from the rehearsal of the play to the official performance, at every difficult moment, the "Bird Man" image would appear around him chattering, complaining, sarcasm, and intimidating. Almost every time, Riggan became emotional and even impulsive to destroy things. This difficulty of self-identification is fundamental and has not been improved by "self-actualization". The play is ultimately a great success due to Riggan's suicide on stage, but Riggan has not been able to get rid of his identity predicament. At the end of the film, he is still chose suicide.
Another notable symptom of Riggan is emotional instability. People with borderline personality disorder have a hard time integrating the good and the bad worlds, and things are black and white to them, with no gray areas. Therefore, the evaluation of people and things will also change due to changes in the situation, completely good or completely bad. For example, Riggan's evaluation of the other protagonist Mike, because of Mike's excellent acting skills, is a treasure, he signed at no cost, but he was furious because of Mike's completely unruly behavior in the rehearsal, and asked his assistant to fire him immediately, he had no choice. Integrate the two and treat Mike with a relatively objective, fair, and calm attitude. Also because of all or nothing, the emotions of patients with borderline personality disorder are extremely intense and changeable, which will cause them serious social adjustment problems, and the most direct impact is interpersonal relationships. It is difficult for them to establish stable intimate relationships. Riggan is divorced, his father-daughter relationship is unfamiliar, his relationship with his partners is tense, and his relationship with theater actresses is chaotic... But these are not Riggan's subjective willingness. On the contrary, he is particularly eager for a stable relationship and is particularly afraid of being abandoned. In the movie, Riggan and his wife are violent After quarreling and his wife decided to divorce, he committed suicide for the first time. People with borderline personality disorder often feel overwhelmed by their strong emotions and impulsive behaviors, and ultimately destroy relationships. Fragile interpersonal support also allows them to experience more setbacks, more failures, and more instability, creating a vicious circle. Stable instability is arguably the most striking emotional and behavioral characteristic of borderline personality. In the movie, Riggan is always in crisis, and all kinds of unhappiness in the play are always accompanied by his uncertain emotions and his self-identity swaying from side to side.
The play-in-play "When We Talk About Love, What Are We Talking About" ends with Riggan's big monologue, "Why do I always have to beg people to love me? I just wanted to be what you wanted, what you wanted . Now I spend every fucking minute trying to be something else, something I'm not...I don't exist. I'm not even here..." It's Riggan's true inner activity that people with borderline personality disorder can't complete themselves. Integrated, without a stable self-concept, they have a strong desire to be noticed and loved, trying to find themselves in the perspective of others, but unfortunately all others are as unstable as self, "I don't exist, I'm not even There is a strong sense of nothingness in here", which is also one of the symptoms of borderline personality disorder. Speaking of this, I can't help but think of the Chinese custom of "Chinese New Year". This is not an ordinary festival, but it has profound psychological significance for Chinese people. Going home, visiting your hometown, visiting relatives during the New Year is all linking with the past. These are A psychological symbol of stability, with good soothing and healing properties. However, patients with borderline personality disorder have no way to obtain a sense of stability, the world has no sense of constancy, nothingness and despair.
Another testament to Riggan as a borderline personality is his brief episodes of psychotic symptoms in times of distress, such as "bird-man" imagery and his ability to teleport and destroy objects, which are hallucinations. But compared to schizophrenics, these hallucinations are less absurd and less lasting because they have a realistic basis (Riggan's former movie character). In the movie, Riggan stood on a high-rise platform and tried to commit suicide after hearing the female commentator's threat of "I'm going to ruin the show", but after jumping off, it was a shot of flying freely in the air, and finally landed safely. It looks magical and confusing. However, there is a scene where a peddler is chasing after Riggan for money after landing, so I think the flying scene is still an illusion. Maybe Riggan is in a hot air balloon, or maybe it's just a delusion in a taxi. The defenses of people with borderline personality disorder are naive and immature. Riggan's main defense method is isolation. At critical and difficult times, he always fantasizes that "Birdman" will add to "Birdman" those parts that are not accepted by the current self. As for the weak current self, he will Coupled with the "almighty" imagination that is divorced from reality, such as the superpower of taking objects from the air. Omnipotence is achieved between the ages of 0-3, and Riggan has a high degree of psychological regression, suggesting that his problems originated in infancy. It should be said that the description of borderline personality disorder in "Birdman" is careful. In the film, Riggan talked to Mike about the father's sexual abuse of his brother and sister. Although Riggan explained it with acting skills, from Riggan's realistic emotions and behavioral performance Look, it's probably true. It is impossible to speculate on the care Riggan received earlier in life, but childhood sexual abuse from a loved one can completely destroy the normal development of the personality.
Riggan's play at the end of the film was a resounding success, but Riggan showed no greater joy. He pushed open the window of the ward, and the picture of the film suddenly became bright and fresh, and the soundtrack changed from dense drum beats to melodious tunes, which was very relaxing. Sam's expression turned from panic to smile, and the whole film ended. Many viewers are confused whether Riggan committed suicide? I personally think Riggan committed suicide. Before opening the window, Reagan took off the gauze that was very similar to the "Birdman" mask, and said "Bye Bye, fuck you" to the "Birdman" huddled in the corner. "Birdman" has always been domineering and dominant in the film. In the end, he finally shrank to the corner without saying a word. Obviously, Riggan's self-strength has been enhanced. Impulsive suicide and self-destructive behavior have never stopped, and success has still failed to help Riggan achieve self-integration, but the increase in self-strength has made his suicide behavior more determined. This is the tragedy of people with borderline personality disorder, who often frantically try to gain attention and be loved, but all efforts are made in vain due to a lack of a constant sense of the world inside. Riggan did not hesitate to give up everything to make the play staged, and at the same time he felt a huge sense of emptiness, because the problem was not whether he succeeded or not, the problem was that his relationship with others and the world was never stable and unfulfilled.
So why is Sam smiling? The film Sam's drug dependence, suicidal tendencies and other problem behaviors, as well as the indifferent attitude and outbursts of emotional impulses in the film all imply that Sam is also a suspected borderline personality disorder patient. She finally understands her father's behavior and regards suicide as a real relief. . It's interesting that Mike, the other protagonist in the film, is completely different from Riggan, who is lost in the character, and Mike experiences reality in the character and in. Mike is even sexually aroused on stage, always choosing Truth in the Truth or Dare game. In this way, he and Sam have developed a close relationship. Will their relationship be stable? Can you save Sam? Perhaps Sam can experience the unchanging truth from Mike's ever-changing character image and the adventures of life and emotions, so that the unstable self can gradually gain a sense of stability and integration due to the stable reference coordinates, thus only promoting the development of personality and truly getting rid of danger. territory. Hopefully Sam's last smile is a "good" revelation.
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