Psychopathy in the Movie Industry - Comments

I love this article! I myself agree wholly on your view on this subject. Another example that many might know of is the character Oliver Trask off of The O.C. The media was actually discussing how unrealistic Oliver's character was and that his symptoms of psychopathy were too severe and borderline unrealistic because for his case of illness he displayed five out of the seven symptoms, something that is extremely rare and unheard of (something about how his behavior was too exuberant to be that of a person who was actually sick, like he was consistently displaying symptoms and usually people with said illness don't show them due to the antisocial behavior that's common in people with the same thing, plus he was always hurting himself instead of others). I was just thinking about this the other day and was very pleased to read this article. I do believe Hollywood plays up illness to fit what they need in a character, something that's quite sad to see since psychopathy amongst other mental states are already enough to see realistically, much less to change for the sake of a script.

This article was really, really well-written! It flowed together very smoothly and I enjoyed reading it.

I personally have an unhealthy obsession with psychopaths/sociopaths and people with mental disorders. Something about the way they think is just so fascinating.

I think people like psychopaths in movies/TV shows/etc because to some degree we can kind of relate to them. That's what makes it a thriller; it's a mental thing. Are we going to go out and kill somebody? No. But usually we do find some sort of justification until we realize that we're agreeing with a psychopath. That's the scary part.

U really like this article . If I'm correct psycho is a mental illness and/or a disorder it can also be that person had a very traumatic life and turn out to be a Physocho.

@Billie Holiday

That's why I said "Mass Media", not independent media.

The term is not frowned upon. The term is still in use alongside with the PCL developed by Robert Hare. Research on a new form of therapy is still being searched for because there hasn't been a breakthrough on a therapy that actually works. So far the most used is cognitive behavioral therapy.

I believe you are confusing antisocial personality disorder with psychopathy upon the "it's not the term most recognized". In academic articles, it is the term most used. Psychopathy might not be included in the DSM, but it is used by experts on the field alongside as court-settings.

Oh my god the picture.

So you need to start watching Japanese/Korean films, or American Indie films. You only touched on big films and I think its pretty obvious by now that big budget films were made purely to sellout at box office, rather than tell a story. People like violence, so they give them violence. I think it would be more interesting if you delved into why human beings are so fascinated by death and destruction, that would be a topic that I could really sink my teeth into.

Other than that, it was interesting enough, though I do think you missed some key points.
Such as, over time the standard for Psychopathy has changed and that now it's a term that is generally frowned upon. But whatever, it's a term that is most recognized so why not use it?

I loved this! I, personally, have an unhealthy obssession with psychopaths, and I think we need to put more articles like this into the world so people can understand. Your writing is lovely; it's clear and concise, but not lacking in details, and it's ordered very neatly and fluidly. Well done!

I've seen some teenage movies where the main character is suddenly a psychopath killer but no one explains why. TV shows like Criminal Minds portray this kind of mental illnesses really well as they go deep into the minds of these people, explaining why and how they became they are. Nobody is born a psycho, circumstances make you that way. Also, people with this disorder are people who went through very traumatic experiences. Before pointing shameless fingers, maybe we should try to understand them.

I think I'm thoroughly biased by the fact that I only read this because I have a very very very big obsession with Christian Bale, but do you blame me? Look at Patrick Bateman, he's beautiful! Anyways, I actually enjoyed your article very much. You made a valid point, and I never thought about how movies can alter your perceptive about actual psychopaths.

I loved the article well structured and neat, it reminded my a discussion that we had about girls falling in love with psychopaths and saying that they will change them and everything will be different with her and stuff like that . But you see movies like A Clockwork Orange, The Silence of the Lambs, American Psycho and The Shinning, those are really well developed characters that get your attention and you know that they can´t change because those characters are beautiful the way they are and because they are not gonna change for someone.

I love it, keep writing the way you just know.

I absolutely loved this article! When I was reading it, it was just so smooth. I never had to go back and read a paragraph again because it confused me, or it didn't make sense, but I admit I did read the article a few times because I just loved it! You defined everything so perfectly, and the information was very organized. You didn't jump back to a sentence and correct yourself, or refer to a last paragraph and add some facts on. The information was very neat, and interesting.

I think it's really an amazing coincidence that just an hour or two ago, my friends and I were talking about American Psycho, along with A Clockwork Orange, and then I log onto Mibba, and lo-and-behold, there is an article about what we were talking about! Don't ya just love Mibba?

Excellent article! I enjoyed reading it, it was very informative. I happen to love American Psycho so when I saw the picture, I knew I had to read this!