Skip to main content

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/


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