When the mask is torn off
--- "American Psycho" psychoanalysis film review
Writing a movie review from a dynamic perspective as a psychoanalytic therapist is actually like the process of constantly collecting client data before doing therapy. So every time I write a film review, I almost read it four or five times, memorizing it while watching it, and thinking and researching the details repeatedly. Try to be sympathetic to the host and understand them in a good way. I think a psychoanalytic film review should have both emotional sorting and professional and rational analysis.
Let readers not only understand some words of psychoanalysis and the characteristics of mental illness from your article, but more importantly, understand the mental process of the characters, understand the pain of some people who have similar situations in real life, so as not to look at it differently look at them.
-----Write before the article
Narcissos (Narkissos) comes from the story of the beautiful boy Narcissus in ancient Greek mythology . The beautiful boy Narcissus one day found his own shadow in the water, but he did not know that it was himself. He loved himself and could not extricate himself. Finally one day, he went to the water for pleasure and drowned, and turned into a daffodil after his death. Later, psychologists called this disease of self-love into a disease (narcissism) or (daffodils) (Narcissis, daffodils, narcissists).
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is an often misunderstood complex personality disorder characterized by an exaggerated sense of self-worth and a lack of empathy for others. Paradoxically, under this arrogance, narcissists often experience a fragile low self-esteem for a long time, only because the narcissist's arrogance is always pervasive, making us more inclined to dismiss it as Humanized view. (Excerpted from Encyclopedia entry)
In the process of watching "American Psycho", I suddenly thought of "Painted Skin" in "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai" - once a terrifying ghost wears a mask made of human skin, it can instantly turn into a beautiful woman at the waist. All the men were fascinated, and then they were eaten one by one. Every night, she had to tear off the mask and take care of it carefully, because it was the most important prop she could keep alive in the world.
But if you think about it, there is a big difference between them. The ghosts in Liaozhai are painted to disguise to achieve the purpose of eating people; and the male protagonist in the movie is just to be recognized and sought after by everyone, constantly covering up his low self-esteem with an exaggerated self.
But there is one thing in common between them - the "self" they present is wearing a perfect mask, but the real "self" inside is just nothing and ugly.
At the beginning of the film, a confession of Patrick Bateman explains the characteristics of a narcissistic personality well in popular language-----Fatrick bateman is just an image, very abstract, not the real me. Just such an image, very vague. And, although I can hide my ruthlessness (I was in a state of isolation from the male protagonist after watching the whole film twice, I felt that the emotions he showed were fake, and even his heart was numb, just Like his kitchen is full of icy cold, no smell of fireworks. No panic, no fear when killing.) You can still shake my hand and feel that I am flesh and blood, and you even feel that our lifestyles are quite similar, But I am not really me.
If after watching the film, you want to know what is true and what is false, and even question the director's many logical mistakes, then I think this in itself shows the success of the film, because the male protagonist is an illusionist, Delusional, psychotic state in patients with narcissistic personality disorder without reality-testing abilities.
When I was writing a review for this film, I densely remembered in my notebook that the details were upside down, confusing, and illogical, and my countertransference came out the first time I watched it---nauseous, Wanting to tear off his face, there is a kind of anger wrapped in it, but also with weakness, frustration, pain, I think this is the feeling he wants to convey to the audience in his heart, no doubt the actor Christian Bale performed quite well.
I'm not very familiar with mental patients because as therapists with no medical background, we will never in our lifetimes practice in psychiatric hospitals or work with such patients. So, this review is also my way of learning more about them.
Let's follow the video together, follow the development of things, and approach the world of narcissistic personality disorder.
1. The quality of me in your eyes determines the level of my self-esteem .
In the film, Patrick bragged about which high-end restaurant he ate at, how he got a seat in a restaurant that was hard to find, and who had afternoon tea with a big man in a high-end club. Even the owner of the dry cleaners had to emphasize that he was in the afternoon. What kind of high-end place to do, suits, glasses, sheets wrapped in corpses, travel bags, etc. must be high-end brand goods. The music you listen to must be from an unpopular singer.
Facing the bottom-level street prostitutes, he also wants them to know that he lives in the most luxurious part of New York, USA, and is a young talent on Wall Street. Even if others are not interested in knowing, he has to forcefully introduce himself. The object of prostitutes has to be changed to Elizabeth, Christina and other famous names, and it has to be said to be relatives from Paris, etc. All these are generalized, and the ubiquitous vanity makes people not envious but The feeling of disgust was what he was living in this world for.
As bright on the surface, so dark on the inside. It's like how they see themselves and the world - either great or bad.
People with narcissistic personality, they are not differentiated at the stage of 0-3 years old, in their world, you are me, I am still me, they can't bet libido to the outside world but point to themselves, All external objects are self, and the perfection of self and the perfection of objects is an idealized expectation. So nothing in their world is good enough, there is no middle ground. Moreover, in the murder comics he drew, there were all pieces of dismembered corpses, and there was basically no complete human body, which meant that he had no ability to integrate.
There may be several characteristics in their important caregivers in their early years: they are inherently narcissistic, and infants exist and develop later to satisfy their unmet narcissistic needs.
The second is that the parent pays too much attention to the child. Extreme praise and extreme criticism may lead to the formation of the child's false self. "False" as the name suggests is unreal, because the child knows that once the truth is exposed to the parent, it will attract self-inflicted criticism. Disappointment, so over time they learn to hide their true thoughts and only create a glamorous false self. Later, they can no longer distinguish who is themselves and suppress their true self.
The effect of such low self-esteem is extreme jealousy and sensitivity, slandering each other.
Jealousy also makes narcissistic individuals good at being critical of others, Nancy writes in Diagnosis of Personality. When one's own shortcomings meet the other's perfection, the best way is to condemn, despise or ridicule, until the other party's possessions are destroyed.
So, we see him always commenting on the dress of his female secretary. When he saw that Paul's business card was higher than his, he killed him without hesitation, (the moment before killing Paul, he showed a smile of victory.) Even if Paul had been killed by him, he still slandered Paul- ---The Yale University where the other party goes is a gathering place for gays and drug addicts. When he saw that Paul's room was more luxurious than his, the envy and anger were palpable. When prostitutes mock him for not knowing anything about music, commenting that Paul's house is better than his. was killed by him.
Once the real self shatters the mask of the fake self, both are annihilated.
People with narcissistic personality must always cherish their hard false mask like a bird cherishes its feathers, and keep it perfect at all times. Once the mask of the false self is torn, a rotting corpse with shame, cowardice, and inferiority will be revealed - the true self, and it will smell putrid.
In fact, when we get to the end, it becomes clear to everything the lawyer said to him that the real Bateman is timid, boring, spineless, and has no muscles. In the film, there are always three men who go to and from high-end restaurants with him during the day, talking about politics and life, and lingering in dirty and dim bars at night, visiting prostitutes and taking drugs. In fact, these three men are also himself. One of the important details is the best proof, that is, the comparison of business cards. Except for the name, address, phone number, and position on the business card that each of them took out.
The one who most resembles the other is Luis among them - dumb, gay, cowardly. Remember when he was having dinner with Paul, Paul said Patrick was a wimp, just like he started introducing luis as the wimpiest man in their business.
2. I spend my whole life just looking for perfection.
No matter how busy he is, Patrick Bateman never dares to neglect skin care, an incredibly tedious procedure that has arrived. The splendid skin care products on the dressing table are even more particular than women. He is crazy about fitness, weight control, and keeping in shape. Don't forget to admire yourself in the mirror when you're having sex with a prostitute. Before killing people, put on a raincoat so as not to stain expensive suits, and put newspapers on the floor so as not to soil the high-end sofas and floors. These seemingly compulsive behaviors are actually an extreme pursuit of perfection. The more perfectly wrapped up in the subconscious mind of the narcissistic personality, the more airtight those filthier selves are.
The narcissist will pass on the narcissistic feeling to others, see the lover, mentor, or hero as perfect, and then experience the feeling of self-inflation by identifying with this person. Not only does he demand perfection from himself, but the people who can be with him also need to be perfect—others are me too.
In the film, at first I couldn't understand why Patrick Bateman had to find a sex partner with pure blond hair, then when he killed a blond girl after sex and kept her head in the refrigerator, the second The moment I was content with playing with a strand of hair cut from a dead man's head - it was looking for a unique feeling. Only such things could be worthy of what he considered himself to be perfect. Including his imaginary fiancée (later in the conversation with the lawyer, it became clear that the noble and beautiful fiancée that has always existed in the film is actually someone else.) and the "father" of the financial tycoon.
On the one hand, he frequently had sex with the lowest prostitutes, having sex with other people's girlfriends. But his real-life relationships are terrible. He doesn't allow others to touch him, and he seems to want to be part of the social circle, but he always wears headphones. Except for the occasional advocacy of their great and unrealistic ideals with a few elites of the upper class who can be equal in status, there is little communication with other people, in their world, perhaps they do not build relationships for the sake of relationships, but for the sake of Satisfy the grandiose self to build relationships.
In this narcissistic film, they are the directors themselves, the protagonists themselves, and the supporting characters must exist entirely for his existence.
3. When the mask is broken is when Pandora's box is opened
There is actually no suspense in the whole movie. If you pay attention to the background of psychoanalysis, you can clearly see that this is the mental journey of a patient with narcissistic personality disorder close to psychotic symptoms. In the interpretation of his hallucinations, delusions.
Why is it basically his hallucination? Because from the very beginning he stated in a confessional way that his spiritual world was about to collapse----
I have all the characteristics of human beings, flesh and blood.
but not a single recognizable expression
Except for greed and disgust
A terrible change has taken place deep inside me
but i don't know why
I belong to the night The bloodthirsty viciousness spreads to the day
I feel the breath of death
on the brink of rage
I think my sanity mask is about to fall
He called to order a fancy restaurant and what he heard was not the operator's response but the maniacal laughter
There are three scenes in the film where he withdraws money from an ATM. The last time, instead of taking out the money, he said - give me a stray cat, so he tried to shove a kitten into the card slot. It was his hallucination. (This is also a metaphor - money represents wealth, all his wealth is his mask, when wealth disappears, his mask disappears, and from this point on, the world he was armed with completely collapsed)
Another point: When he was preparing to kill Paul into the room, the camera showed a close-up of a bottle on the table - the English on the bottle should roughly mean that this is the antipsychotic drug he was taking, but we did not see him from beginning to end. After taking it, he later took drugs in nightclubs, which aggravated the hallucinations of mental patients.
So from start to finish, the film presents us with Patrick who is a complete psychopath.
I read related posts on the Internet, and many people were discussing whether he actually killed people. In fact, I personally think that with the exception of Paul Allen, all he killed were the dark self that was split in his heart.
We look at the types of his murders - prostitutes, beggars, old people, cleaners, weak animals, they symbolize filth, incompetence, weakness, low self-esteem. These are his true self. The true self, who cannot be seen by outsiders, keeps breaking through the mask and emerges, and he must "kill" them one by one.
So as his symptoms continued to worsen, his frequency of killing became higher and higher, so much so that in the end, he could not hide his urge to kill in the hallucinatory world - confronting the police on the road, shooting security guards in the building, cleaning staff and so on. When all this was done, the moment he entered the elevator, his face was distorted in pain, and his rational defense line completely collapsed when he made a phone call...
There is a metaphor in psychology - the house symbolizes a person's inner world. Patrick's first home - black and white cool tones. This symbolizes intellectualization. He later moved into Paul's house - an uncontrollable mess started, with the clutter room filled with corpses. The most relaxing thing is that he mistakenly thought that Paul's carrion was placed in the strange home. The room was bright and white, just like the view of the world when a person was born - pure, warm and beautiful. That mistress should subconsciously be a symbol of his mother. When she exposed Patrick's lies, she scolded him severely and kicked him out, asking him not to come back. It's very much like a narcissistic mother who can't tolerate her child's lying and abandons him. We finally seem to see the cause of a person's narcissistic pathology. Can not help but sigh.
No matter what kind of drama, it will eventually come to an end. No matter what kind of director, eventually the inspiration will dry up, just like the end of the film. The satisfaction of patients with narcissistic personality disorder cannot be maintained at a high level forever. Once the vulnerability is exposed, the self will fall apart, and everything in the past will be meaningless. Like Patrick said - I can't get to know myself any more, there's nothing new in what I've said, and this confession doesn't make any sense.
View more about American Psycho reviews
