Psychopathy and the Cinema: Fact or Fiction?

Hesper

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
Found a rather interesting article titled "Psychopathy and the Cinema: Fact or Fiction?" It's the history of psychopathy as it's been portrayed in movies, from 1915 to 2010. The authors reviewed 400 films overall.

The study combines an examination of the films along with some analysis of the times they were released into, and the influence both had on the public's awareness of psychopathy. For example, it touches upon the serial killers of the 60's and 70's and how those had an effect on the 'slasher' movies of that era. It doesn't reach ponerology-level analysis, but it does contain some good history of the public's awareness of psychopathy.

It breaks down the 'psychopath' into several subtypes, including the primary/secondary categories (which are similar to our understanding of a psychopath vs a sociopath, or a born vs a made psychopath) and other subtypes called the pseudopsychopath, macho, manipulative, and idiopathic psychopaths. The authors dive a little bit into how each type of psychopath differs from the rest. Very interesting work.

In regards to the evolution of the portrayal of psychopathy, if only there were a 'ponerology'-level film in the works. I'd love to see a biography of Łobaczewski.

Abstract

The authors investigated the relationship between cinema and psychopathy to describe and analyze the portrayal of fictional psychopathic characters in popular films and over cinematic history. From 400 films (1915–2010), 126 fictional psychopathic characters (21 female and 105 male) were selected based on the realism and clinical accuracy of their profiles. Movies were then analyzed by senior forensic psychiatrists and cinema critics. Secondary (71%) and manipulative (48%) subtypes were the most common in the female group, while secondary (51%) and prototypical (34%) were the most common in the male group. Corresponding to the increased understanding of clinical psychopathy by professional mental health providers over time, the clinical description of and epidemiological data on fictional psychopaths in popular films have become more realistic. Realistic fictional psychopaths remain in the minority but are very important for didactic purposes in Academic facilities, as “teaching Movies.”

_http://web.alfredstate.edu/benslewd/FRSC3001_4001/Daggs_5115.pdf
 
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