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Our Uncanny Fascination with Psychopaths

Shubhangi Banerjee

Over the past few years, there has been an increased depiction of psychopaths and serial killers in media and popular culture, some of the famous ones including Ted Bundy, ‘Dr. Death’, Alphabet Murders, Jeffrey Dahmer and many more. These individuals have become ‘more of a parable than human through reiterating their life stories ’. Films, tv shows and books based on them, attract a large number of viewers who are now intrigued to learn more about psychopaths and their twisted minds. One can see how the line between reality and imagination is often blurred in a psychopath’s life. Which is also why there is a simultaneous existence of a certain push-pull of inquisitiveness to know more about their complex behaviours and stories, as well as feelings of revulsion when one hears about the heinous, cold blooded acts committed by such individuals. This paper aims to delve into the reasons behind our perceptions of and our fascination with the lives and experiences of psychopaths.
In trying to assign meanings to the thoughts and actions of psychopaths, we are often fraught with difficulty. However, we are enthralled by some of the mind-blowing behavioural patterns they tend to exhibit. In fact, there seem to be certain reasons which explain our immense interest in films and stories based on their lives. Scott Bonn, a criminologist, argues that ‘highly stylised and pervasive media coverage of real-life serial killers/ psychopaths and their horrible deeds transform them into “celebrity monsters”, and in doing so, provide a conduit for the public’s most primal feelings such as fear, lust and anger.’
We tend to sympathise with them since we know that their disability/ mental state is not something that they can consciously control. Bonn says that this makes psychopaths “more predictable, more real and less incomprehensible”. In doing so, we ‘humanise’ the monster in the serial killer/ psychopath and subconsciously reduce our own fear of the unknown. He also discusses how we try to ‘humanise ruthless and brutal individuals like Jeffrey Dahmer to make him less scary, but we also dehumanise him in order to create a moral boundary between good and evil.’
Adverse situations and failures at critical points in one’s life can lead to a lot of frustration. Psychopaths aren’t restricted by conscience and fulfil their desires or goals by hook or by crook. Such free will and goal directed behaviour, in some ways reinforces our own confidence and self-esteem, within the correct moral boundaries. We often admire the ease with which they mask their dark thoughts and true intentions, and thereby confidently pull off a charismatic personality. Also, people are often envious of the fact that psychopaths are pathologically numb, because in situations where we have been badly hurt in relationships or been humiliated, we wish to switch off and feel numb, but that doesn’t happen. 
We also admire the fact that they do not care about societal norms and judgements, which often restrict one’s actions and thoughts in life, in different ways. Maibom (2019) argues in her article that, ‘psychopaths force us to confront a paradox at the heart of ethics: the fact that I care about what happens to you is based on the fact that I care about what happens to me’. Matt Nix, creator and producer, points out that “the thing about psychopathy, at least as we usually represent it in fiction, is that a character without a conscience is both an effective monster and a form of wish fulfilment. That we all have a sense for what would be possible if we were freed from the constraints of guilt, fear and shame. I think that that explains the fact that its not just the villains in popular entertainment that are psychopaths- the heroes are often what I’d term pro-social psychopaths”. (Silbermann, 2015)
Stuart (2018) comments that in certain ways, media has enabled the audience to ‘mythologise the monsters’ within psychopaths and serial killers, which provides one with the possibility of experiencing one’s deepest fears from a safe distance, and also learn how to tackle with them. 






References:
  1. Pemment, J. (2017, Oct 3). Why do we Like Psychopaths: The misplaced conceptual allure. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/blame-the-amygdala/201710/why-do-we-psychopaths
  2. Bonn, A.S. (2019, Apr 5). Why are we drawn to criminals and monsters?. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201904/why-are-we-drawn-criminals-and-monsters
  3. Silbermann, J. (2015, Mar 25). Opinion: Why do we Love to watch Psychopaths?. Retrieved from: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-robert-durst-jinx-psychopaths-on-tv-20150325-story.html
  4. Maibom, H. (2019, Aug 6) Spot the Psychopath. Retrieved from: https://aeon.co/essays/you-have-more-in-common-with-a-psychopath-than-you-realise
  5. Stuart, C. (2018, Dec 27) Why are we so obsessed with psychopaths?. Retrieved from: https://www.fashionfixdaily.com/why-are-we-so-obsessed-with-psychopaths/


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