Skip to main content

Daredevil and BPD

Vidhika Gadia

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the portrayal of a character with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) in the web series Daredevil, and the accuracy of it. I will begin by introducing the character of Benjamin Poindexter, introducing BPD, elaborating on the character’s coping mechanisms and their implications, and will end by discussing what the character means for BPD awareness and reducing stigma. 
Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter is a character on the American show Daredevil, which aired on web streaming service Netflix, and is introduced in the third season He is played by Wilson Bethel, an American actor. Dex is an FBI agent who is diagnosed with BPD with psychopathic tendencies as a child, after he killed his baseball coach with a well-aimed ball to the head. He engages in numerous illegal behaviors throughout the course of the season, including shooting people in cold blood, blackmailing a fellow agent, etc. 
Borderline Personality Disorder is a personality disorder that according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-V, must have “impairments in personality (self and interpersonal) functioning and the presence of pathological personality traits. The symptoms include antagonism, impulsivity, emotional liability, separation insecurity, etc. 
Poindexter displayed classic signs of BPD, as he frequently lashed out at people, would often do things that were beyond his jurisdiction in an impulsive manner, including switching off cameras and going to talk to a convicted criminal. He did however, with the help of his therapist, develop ways in which he could practice empathy, control his psychopathic tendencies, and mostly keep his BPD under check. These methods included listening to tapes of his therapy sessions, maintaining a strict routine, and following the example of what he called his “North Star”, that is, a fundamentally good person, as his own “moral compass” was “not able to find north”. 
Poindexter did heavily rely on his “North Star”, a woman named Julie, as he did not understand correct ways to behave without her example. When she got angry at him and refused to contact him again, he experienced very intense anxiety and rage, due to his feeling of abandonment brought on by his BPD. He lashed out, acted violently, and felt as though he could not go on without her. All these are classic symptoms of BPD and the obsession with abandonment that comes with it. 
The portrayal of BPD was quite accurate as far as the obsession with abandonment went, as Poindexter was unable to move past his obsession, going so far as to kill people to prevent a person in his life from leaving him. However, the addition of psychopathic tends to his BPD seemed unnecessary, as it simply added to the negative stigma surraounding the disorder, and furthered the stereotype that individuals with BPD are extremely violent and have no moral values. 
However, I would argue that the character did further the cause of awareness about BPD, as it shown how Poindexter was not really in control of his actions, and behaved in the manner that he did simply because he was unable to function the way normal people would. The character also tried very hard to snap himself back to a functioning state, and had pretty much given up hope before he was manipulated into committing illegal acts. The show contains numerous instances of Poindexter doing everything in his power to stop himself from obsessing over abandonment, to practice empathy, to deal with his internal instability, and thus showed how people with BPD are not really responsible for some of their more outlandish behaviour.



References
Daredevil [Television series]. (2018, October 19). Netflix. Retrieved from https://www.netflix.com/watch/80129815?trackId=14170287&tctx=0,0,beb6a32b-40f1-4a7d-9840-2aa7acac4acc-1193841695,37e582d8-9ffd-4bae-b0c0-166777b588b1_40471141X3XX1551618864170,37e582d8-9ffd-4bae-b0c0-166777b588b1_ROOT
Widiger, T. A., & Gore, W. L. (2014). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Oxford Handbooks Online. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199797004.013.016

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scarlett O' Hara Diagnosed

By Ragini Chatterjee   (Overall Grade Remedial) A case study on Scarlett O' Hara from ‘Gone with The Wind’   Scarlett O' Hara has to be one of the most vivacious character, on print. With her southern Belle ‘ Fiddle de dees ’, bright green eyes and sharp tongue, she is hard to forget. After having seen the movie multiple times from age 13, I was fascinated by her personality. Her antics, at times cruel, bought the story to life. Her obsession with Ashley, her multiple marriages, her cunning mind and relentless spirt were always entertaining from the perspective of the viewer. However, years later as I look back, I can’t help but recognize patterns of behavior that may resonate with some personality disorder. From the beginning of the movie, Scarlett has to be the centre of attention . At the Wilkes Party, in her attempts to drive Ashley jealous, she flirts with every man in sight- Starting with Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy, the Tarleton twins, she promis...
Post a Comment
Read more

PTSD and its portrayal in Peaky Blinders

AARYAN SANWAL The award-winning TV series, Peaky Blinders is set in Birmingham, England at the end of the First World War and gives an account of the Peaky Blinders that is headed by the Shelby family. Thomas Shelby was a tunneller in World War I and for his actions, received two medals of honour after the war.   This blog post shall look at the representation of war trauma, its accuracy in depictions and its effects on the lives of the characters. The two main characters that this blog post will be focusing on are Thomas Shelby and Daniel Owen (a.k.a. Danny Whiz-Bang). The two of them were tunnellers in the War and were going through a routine tunnel expedition when the Germans broke through the end of their tunnel and attacked the men in the tunnel and brutally injured Thomas and Daniel. They were able to kill the enemies and leave the tunnels, alive but severely injured. During various instances throughout the show, Thomas Shelby has recurring nightmares of his time i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is Patrick Jane a psychopath?

Under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Psychopathy was never recognized, until the revised DSM-5 categorized it under Anti-Social Personality Disorder. “He will choose you, disarm you with his words, and control you with his presence” (Hare)  Psychopaths can replicate the behavior which the person they are interacting with thinks they want from them, without feeling a thing, which contributes greatly to their ability to manipulate. Psychopaths charm and lie their way seamlessly to the top, and while they lack empathy, they are well-liked because they know what to say and when to say it. Psychopaths occupy most of the positions of power in our society and corporations and thus often end up being glorified. This glorification of psychopaths is most evident in the portrayal of psychopathy in TV shows. Some of the most notable characters which the screen has ever seen, like Marlo Stanfield from ‘The Wire’, James Moriarty from ‘Sherlock’, Hanni...
Post a Comment
Read more