Narcissism in Film and on TV

I am surprised that Esquire didn't mention House of Cards, lol. Granted he was not just a Narcissist but was probably more on the malignant side, but it is honestly one of the best shows on Netflix I have ever seen.

Hope this is not a spoiler, but in one scene Frank is trying to raise donations, is constantly rejected and appears to be having a micro-psychotic episode. I wonder if it was from the constant rejection.

"Kes" (1969)

http://youtu.be/HRYvUpsrqmg

The character of a Billy Casper. A proto Fragile N. He doesn't need a careers advisor to tell him what his future will be like. It'll be mainly failure for the for the first half of his life; with minor run-ins with the police, loneliness, failed relationships, alcoholism and mood swings. Some minor success in mid life, but followed by depression and possible suicide in late middle age.

http://youtu.be/TsF6HNDG0Uc

This young goddess likes Audrey Hepburn. She's the standard film idol for female narcissistic perfectionists.

http://youtu.be/LsjKTm17XXQ

Tony Montana, Scar Face.
Also sociopathic, but extremelly narcissistic.

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Tony Stark the Iron Man.

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House MD

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Tom Cruiser Character on Rain Man.
Also a bit sociopathic.

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Patrick Bateman on American Psycho
Really looks much more like NPD than ASPD.

Cliff Clavin, the postman on Cheers. Another parody of narcissism like Barney Fife.

Truth too late wrote:I think Deputy Barney Fife (Andy Griffith Show) was a perfect parody of a narcissist. He's meek and timid by nature, always overcompensates, prone to narcissistic injury. In this scene he brags about knowing history:



More examples:

• Setting an Example (citizen's arrest)
• Reciting the Preamble to the Constitution
• Barney's Gun
• Peter Piper, Nose-pinching Sobriety test
• Self-defense Lesson
• The Ballad of Barnie Fife
• Believing in Alladin's Lamp
• Interrogating Otis
• Scared Straight Lecture

LOL, only on forums like these does one draw conclusions that Barney Fife has NPD.

I smiled at Barney's Dx by TTL. Barn?

But then I remembered that weird feeling I always had watching those scenes, and other scenes with Don Knotts. Like I had to force myself. It wasn't just that the character was annoying and "over-the-top" silly. I squirmed with that hair-raising danger premonition I get when I meet some people IRL. Could it be that the actor, Don Knotts, was N and it comes through his characters?

I also like the perspectives on this forum.

clearskies84 wrote:

Truth too late wrote:I think Deputy Barney Fife (Andy Griffith Show) was a perfect parody of a narcissist.

LOL, only on forums like these does one draw conclusions that Barney Fife has NPD.

I was thinking of narcissism, not NPD. Just a parody of narcissistic behavior. Like, the "reciting" clip where he pasted his name over the author's name of his history book.

I couldn't find a clip of it, but there's a general theme throughout the series that Barney's allowed to carry a gun -- but allowed to keep the bullets only in his shirt pocket. Only 2 bullets. It's funny. His identity seems to depend upon the job he has.

But, not just the job. It's the uniform (so others will take his job seriously).

But, nobody would take the uniform seriously without the gun. So, Sheriff Taylor let's him carry a gun. But, Barney suffers narcissistic injury knowing it's unloaded. So, the Sheriff let's him carry two bullets in his shirt pocket (as a placebo).

Notice the dramatic contrast between well-adjusted Sheriff Taylor (refuses to wear a gun; persuades compliance through confidence) and Deputy Fife (derives his identity from how others see him).

I see a strong correlation between the proverbial "little-man's syndrome" and covert NPD. I think Barney's a parody of that syndrome.

NimplyDinply wrote:I am surprised that Esquire didn't mention House of Cards, lol. Granted he was not just a Narcissist but was probably more on the malignant side, but it is honestly one of the best shows on Netflix I have ever seen.

Hope this is not a spoiler, but in one scene Frank is trying to raise donations, is constantly rejected and appears to be having a micro-psychotic episode. I wonder if it was from the constant rejection.

Frank Underwood is probably a Malignant Narcissist, and actually a pretty good representation of one. He is calm, highly calculating, strategic, paranoid, and a megalomaniac. I would differentiate his type of NPD from the Narcissism of Leo DiCaprio's character in Wolf of Wall Street, who was a good example of someone on the NPD/AsPD crossover portion of the spectrum. Note how DiCaprio's character is very high-energy, likes to take risks, needs a lot of stimulation, etc. Those characters are both Narcissistic and sociopathic, yet they seem to be on completely different parts of the spectrum.

What about the movie Sunset Boulevard? Norma Desmond seems narcissistic (in the disordered sense). She's a has-been movie star. In this scene her pet chimpanzee dies. An out-of-work scriptwriter drops in for help with his broken down car and recognizes her, saying "you used to be in movies. You were big." She glares at him, "I am big. It was the pictures that got small!"



I used to think she was an example of histrionic. But, as delusional as she is (that the studios are going to call her back any day after decades), I'm thinking narcissism?

Sunset Boulevard - definitely think thats a strong example.

I was watching Iron Man the other day - would Tony Stark fit into the NPD spectrum? That got me thinking about the other billionaire crime fighter - Batman, I almost feel like he's a covert NPD.

Do superheros come under NPD category? Huge martyr syndrome et all?