The Patriot and Narcissistic Rage Options

[Critter]

Every now and then, I see some rather sophisticated psychological reference in a movie . When I see these references, I usually end up wondering ( a ) just how many people will get the references; and ( b ) why exactly are these references in the movie in the first place. For example, what does Narcissistic Wounds have to do with a cop show (Law & Order). And, what does Narcissistic Rage have to do with a Civil War story (The Patriot).

The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson, was on TNT tonight.

Almost all of the early episodes of Law & Order Criminal Intent were studies in something the shrinks call flooding. The term "flooding" refers to the flood of emotions that result when a person is confronted with the truth about some childhood trauma in which the person was helpless to defend himself (this type of trauma is also referred to as a Narcissistic wound). The psychological definition for Narcissism is associated with a people having a distorted/false image of himself (usually as a result of some childhood abuse). This definition for Narcissism is different from the "literary" definition of someone being in love with their own true image.

Almost all of the early Law & Order Criminal Intent shows revolved around the investigator presenting the person who committed a crime with that person's secret hidden childhood trauma. And, in almost every episode there was a deliberate close-up of a tear flowing down the face of the criminal when he presented with the evidence of his crime and indirectly the circumstances of his childhood abuse.

A Narcissistic Rage is a violent inappropriate rage against someone because that person or a situation reminds the rage-er of a time when he was assaulted/abused and he was helpless to defend himself. For example, let's say that as a child someone was called stupid and beaten by an adult. Now, as a child, that person would have been unable to defend himself. However, if as an adult that person was to just be casually called stupid, that person could react in a violent completely inappropriate rage because he is reminded of the childhood event.

The character Mel Gibson plays in The Patriot is a study of a person who has acted out in a Narcissistic Rage (of sorts) and who is afraid of what he becomes and what he is capable of doing in a rage.

In the movie, The Patriot, Mel Gibson's character is "abused" (essentially) when he witnesses the death of his friends (fellow soldiers) by British Troops. Mel Gibson's character hunts down the British Troops, but, rather than simply killing the British Troops, he tortures and horribly mutilates them. Mel Gibson's character describes in the movie how he let a couple of British soldiers live so that those two soldiers could carry the heads and some internal organs of the mutilated soldiers back to the British commanders.

In one scene in the movie, Mel Gibson rescues his two sons from an attacking British soldier and, again, rather than simply protecting his sons and shooting the attacking soldiers, Mel Gibson's character hacks away at the British soldier with an ax to the point where even his own sons are horrified at the site of him. This is a very interesting scene, there is a rather extended camera shot of Gibson's sons (one of whom is Heath Ledger) looking at Mel Gibson's character in horror and shock as he continues to hack away at an already dead British Solider.

The Patriot was interesting because it seemed to be building up to this horribly brutal mutilation scene in which Mel Gibson's character would go all out nuts on the British soldier who was responsible for killing both of his sons. Of course, it is hard to imagine how such a scene could have actually been presented in a movie without the movie being rated X and without making everyone in the audience puke.

So, essentially, The Patriot fails because the whole movie leads up to a scene that never happens (a scene that would have been outrageously repulsive to the audience if it had happened). Mel Gibson's character gets his revenge against the British soldier who killed his two sons, but it is a rather conventional kill.

I guess the argument can be made that the way The Patriot ends shows that Mel Gibson's character evolved and that he learned to control his rage.

Law & Order Returns to The Narcissistic Wound Thing

I hadn't watched Law & Order Criminal Intent for some time. Criminal Intent followed the exact same routine every Sunday. Criminal Intent started with the commission of the crime, then the Cop/Shrink went about figuring out the hidden childhood trauma of the suspect. The Cop/Shrink then presented the suspect with his/her narcissistic wound, and then there was the required tear running down the face scene at the end. At some point, the Cop on Criminal Intent became far more repulsive to me than any of the suspects. So, I simply stopped watching the show.

Today, I caught Criminal Intent again and, while there is a new boy/girl team of cops, Criminal Intent is still stuck on the Narcissistic Wound thing. I think it should be clear that Dick Wolf is basically a one note wonder.

On this Sunday's Criminal Intent, the hidden childhood drama of the female doctor who committed the crime was that she was essentially never loved by her parents. The Female Doctor Criminal figured out that she was only born because her parents were attempting to re-create her older brother who died at age 10 (exactly nine months before the female doctor was born). The Female Doctor Criminal was never able to measure up to her dead brother in her Parents' eyes. Even when the Female Doctor was driven to committ a crime in an attempt to get her parentss approval, her parents were more concerned that the Doctor's actions had tarnished the image of their dead son than they were with the fate of their living daughter.

There is the required rage scene at the end when the Female Doctor lashes out at her parents for their abuse of her. The Doctors throws a glass full of wine at a large portrait of her dead brother. And, the parents are far more concerned about the wine staining the portrait of their dead son than they are with the fact that the police are taking their daughter away for murder.