Nupur Nataraja
(This analysis may
contain spoilers for the movie.)
Gone Girl is David Flincher’s enticing adaptation of
Gillian Flynn’s bestselling marital mystery. Flynn creates a manipulative,
self-centered and vengeful persona – Amy Elliot Dunne. The plot of the movie
revolves around the unhappy marriage of Amy and Nick Dunne, one that is unhappy
in a unique, morbidly fascinating way. The aim of this
analysis is to explore the symptoms of Munchausen syndrome, narcissistic personality
disorder and antisocial personality disorder exhibited by the character – Amy
Dunne.
Amy has complex motives and a backstory that makes her actions
understandable, if not condonable. On several occasions, Amy is seen hurting
herself to make herself the victim. Her character can be said to show signs of
Munchausen syndrome. She alters her health in order to create symptoms of a
medical condition by lying about it or inflicting pain on herself. Also, she
has a history of making false accusations of abuse. She does this to gain
sympathy and draw attention of the audience watching and hearing her story. An
example of this is when she uses a wine bottle to make herself appear as a
sexual violence victim at her previous suitor Desi’s mansion. She re-kindles
her relationship with him when she is robbed of all her resources at her hiding
location. Further, she even murders Desi to make it seem like an escape to make
her story more credible. The causes of this condition can usually be tracked
back to an unhappy childhood.
Throughout her childhood,
Amy Dunne lived in the shadow of another Amy – “Amazing Amy”, the star of a
children’s book written by her parents. Her parents used her as inspiration for
this book; a series about a perfect girl who overcomes all obstacles. Amy had a
difficult childhood as she constantly tried living up to the high standards of
becoming “Amazing Amy”. Despite her Ivy-League education and socially chic
personality, being the real life version of a fictional character damages her
sense of adequacy. Even as an adult, Amy still desires to out-shine “Amazing
Amy”. She yearns to be perfect and manipulates her environment to turn herself
into “Amazing Amy”. She craves attention
and thrives on making other women jealous. This can be seen by her need to
maintain the public fiction of the perfect marriage while their private
relationship is in shambles. She wants to make others feel inadequate compared
to her, the same way she did to “Amazing Amy”.
Amy finds out about Nick’s affair with another woman. She is humiliated at her
inability to compete with her fictional character and live up to her parents’
expectations. However, Amy does not react impulsively to this. In fact, she is
so cautious that she does not let on that she is aware of her husband’s
infidelity. Instead, she devises a highly detailed plan for revenge. She carries
out extensive research and scheming. Her intelligence, caution and creativity
help her frame her husband for her own murder. This can be said to be a classic
case of Narcissism. Amy’s aggression and desire for revenge because of
infidelity issues in her relationship is a sign of the same. The extremeness of
the situation is defined by her willingness to kill herself to ensure Nick a
death sentence for her murder.
Furthermore, Amy has a strong desire to be the
centre of attention – clearly illustrated by the extent of her enjoyment of
watching news coverage about her disappearance. This shows signs of
narcissistic personality disorder. When she planned her disappearance, she also
wanted her parents to suffer and mourn her loss because she realised how
“Amazing Amy” affected her.
Furthermore, Amy shows
signs of an antisocial personality disorder. Her behaviour is extremely
disruptive, destructive and threatens societal norms. Her plan for revenge
harms Nick, her parents and a large population of her community, distressed
about her disappearance. Amy commits the most appalling acts of violence with pure
disregard of a moral sense of right or wrong. She never seems to feel guilty
for all the chaos and pain she imposes on others. These are symptoms of
antisocial personality disorder. An individual with this disorder largely
executes their actions for the cruelty or the aspect of hurting others.
Innumerous viewers
commented on Amy’s character and described her as a “psychopath.” However, in
the real world, psychopathy is rarely diagnosed in women. On the other hand,
borderline personality disorder is more frequently diagnosed for women. Amy
exhibits some signs of a borderline personality disorder. Though, it is unclear
as to which borderline personality disorder. Mainly, her character can be said
to have antisocial personality disorder. Moreover, DSM Cluster B places
borderline personality disorder right beside antisocial personality disorder.
Therefore, it is not necessary to narrow down between the two disorders,
aspects from both can be considered.
References
Amy has complex motives and a backstory that makes her actions understandable, if not condonable. On several occasions, Amy is seen hurting herself to make herself the victim. Her character can be said to show signs of Munchausen syndrome. She alters her health in order to create symptoms of a medical condition by lying about it or inflicting pain on herself. Also, she has a history of making false accusations of abuse. She does this to gain sympathy and draw attention of the audience watching and hearing her story. An example of this is when she uses a wine bottle to make herself appear as a sexual violence victim at her previous suitor Desi’s mansion. She re-kindles her relationship with him when she is robbed of all her resources at her hiding location. Further, she even murders Desi to make it seem like an escape to make her story more credible. The causes of this condition can usually be tracked back to an unhappy childhood.
Throughout her childhood, Amy Dunne lived in the shadow of another Amy – “Amazing Amy”, the star of a children’s book written by her parents. Her parents used her as inspiration for this book; a series about a perfect girl who overcomes all obstacles. Amy had a difficult childhood as she constantly tried living up to the high standards of becoming “Amazing Amy”. Despite her Ivy-League education and socially chic personality, being the real life version of a fictional character damages her sense of adequacy. Even as an adult, Amy still desires to out-shine “Amazing Amy”. She yearns to be perfect and manipulates her environment to turn herself into “Amazing Amy”. She craves attention and thrives on making other women jealous. This can be seen by her need to maintain the public fiction of the perfect marriage while their private relationship is in shambles. She wants to make others feel inadequate compared to her, the same way she did to “Amazing Amy”.
Amy finds out about Nick’s affair with another woman. She is humiliated at her inability to compete with her fictional character and live up to her parents’ expectations. However, Amy does not react impulsively to this. In fact, she is so cautious that she does not let on that she is aware of her husband’s infidelity. Instead, she devises a highly detailed plan for revenge. She carries out extensive research and scheming. Her intelligence, caution and creativity help her frame her husband for her own murder. This can be said to be a classic case of Narcissism. Amy’s aggression and desire for revenge because of infidelity issues in her relationship is a sign of the same. The extremeness of the situation is defined by her willingness to kill herself to ensure Nick a death sentence for her murder.
Furthermore, Amy has a strong desire to be the centre of attention – clearly illustrated by the extent of her enjoyment of watching news coverage about her disappearance. This shows signs of narcissistic personality disorder. When she planned her disappearance, she also wanted her parents to suffer and mourn her loss because she realised how “Amazing Amy” affected her.
Furthermore, Amy shows signs of an antisocial personality disorder. Her behaviour is extremely disruptive, destructive and threatens societal norms. Her plan for revenge harms Nick, her parents and a large population of her community, distressed about her disappearance. Amy commits the most appalling acts of violence with pure disregard of a moral sense of right or wrong. She never seems to feel guilty for all the chaos and pain she imposes on others. These are symptoms of antisocial personality disorder. An individual with this disorder largely executes their actions for the cruelty or the aspect of hurting others.
Innumerous viewers commented on Amy’s character and described her as a “psychopath.” However, in the real world, psychopathy is rarely diagnosed in women. On the other hand, borderline personality disorder is more frequently diagnosed for women. Amy exhibits some signs of a borderline personality disorder. Though, it is unclear as to which borderline personality disorder. Mainly, her character can be said to have antisocial personality disorder. Moreover, DSM Cluster B places borderline personality disorder right beside antisocial personality disorder. Therefore, it is not necessary to narrow down between the two disorders, aspects from both can be considered.
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