Page 1 of 3 [ 38 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

Philosoraptor
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jan 2013
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 180
Location: Massachusetts, United States

17 Feb 2013, 10:03 am

I find it interesting that most of the characters from film and tv that really seem to captivate me also happen to be the people in real life I make sure to avoid like the plague: sociopaths. I am not sure why I am intrigued by it so much as I absolutely loathe their actions and overall personalities, but the characters always seem to steal the screen for me when they are on. Does anyone else relate to this?

Examples I can think of are the following:

Walter White (Bryan Cranston) - Breaking Bad (later seasons)
Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey) - House of Cards

Alex DeLarge (Malcom McDowell) - A Clockwork Orange
Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) - Inglorious Basterds
Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) - No Country for Old Men
Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) - Silence of the Lambs
John Doe (Kevin Spacey) - Se7en



justkillingtime
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Aug 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,892
Location: Washington, D.C.

17 Feb 2013, 2:02 pm

My favorite character, by far, on the old series "Dallas" was J. R. but I would not like him in real life. I would know to steer clear of him. I used to be interested in serial killers - documentaries, books. I think the interest is to understand them. If you know how they think, what motivates them then you have a better chance of avoiding or surviving them.


_________________
Impermanence.


IdahoRose
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 19,801
Location: The Gem State

17 Feb 2013, 6:38 pm

I really like Sweeney Todd from the movie of the same name and Light Yagami from Death Note, even though they are both serial killers. I guess I have something in common with Mrs. Lovett and Misa then :lol:



Marc420
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 15 Feb 2013
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 110
Location: South Africa

18 Feb 2013, 1:07 am

Same here. I am really fascinated by these kind of people, maybe because I identify with them a lot? A clockwork orange and Silence of the lambs are two of my favorite movies!



Kraichgauer
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Apr 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 47,739
Location: Spokane area, Washington state.

18 Feb 2013, 2:43 am

Bad guys are just so much more interesting. And as TV shows and movies are fiction, you don't have to seriously be horrified by the celluloid psychos' actions. That's why my favorite Star Wars character is Darth Vader, and I can sympathize with Roy Batty in Blade Runner. But show me a Serbian war criminal, a cracker racist, or a serial killer in real life, and I'll think of them as the scum of the earth.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer



MDShinobi
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 17 Feb 2013
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 40
Location: Vancouver, Canada

18 Feb 2013, 8:19 am

Can't forget Dexter Morgan! XD Both a protagonist and a serial killer! XD


_________________
I don't like people, but I do like individuals.
"I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret."


mysassyself
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jul 2009
Age: 46
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,222
Location: my house, usually

23 Feb 2013, 5:40 am

^ ^ Yep!

I love them too. Although, I am also fascinated in real life.

They are a mystery.


I like puzzles.


_________________
.. one day
in murky water mild,
where Wednesday lay
A Thursday child ..


ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 87
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

23 Feb 2013, 11:06 am

MDShinobi wrote:
Can't forget Dexter Morgan! XD Both a protagonist and a serial killer! XD


but dexter is or has been just and righteous. He is putting his blood lust to work on a worthy goal.



Jory
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 2 Jun 2011
Gender: Male
Posts: 17,520
Location: Tornado Alley

23 Feb 2013, 4:18 pm

The BBC version of Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as a self-described sociopath, though as Jim Moriarty points out to him in one episode, "We both know that's not quite true." Moriarty himself is much more of a true sociopath.

Patricia Highsmith's five-novel Tom Ripley series is excellent, but you seem to be looking for films and TV shows instead of literature. In that case, I would recommend to first two film adaptations, Purple Noon (1960) and The American Friend (1977). Both are pretty terrific. Ripley's Game (2002) is also decent, but The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) is pretty mediocre.

There's also Parker, the criminal antihero created by Richard Stark, aka Donald Westlake. His excellent novel The Hunter was turned into two very good films, Point Blank (1967) and Payback (1999). Payback is the better film, but make sure you get the version titled Payback, Straight Up: The Director's Cut.



Ichinin
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Apr 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,653
Location: A cold place with lots of blondes.

23 Feb 2013, 5:08 pm

ruveyn wrote:
but dexter is or has been just and righteous. He is putting his blood lust to work on a worthy goal.


He isnt any of that. He only follows "the code" so he wont get caught, he dont give a s**t abot justice and righteousness. Dexter is an intriguing series, but IRL he would have been been discovered and executed years ago.

I am however interested in one character: House MD. He was this normal guy who had a life, then became a sociopath when his life was shattered (the leg/chronic pain/drug thing). But he solves puzzles and does whatever it takes to do it. Like Dexter, he do not give a crap about his patients - all is about solving puzzles.

Sure, House is funny, i love the sarcastic humor he got, but in real life, being an antisocial prick that push people away and treating people like he do - wont work, no matter how brilliant you are.


_________________
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring" (Carl Sagan)


persian85033
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Jul 2009
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,869
Location: Phoenix

25 Feb 2013, 9:06 am

I find them intriguing, too. They're much more interesting. Usually, it's the villains who I like most. Oddly, I sometimes identify a bit with them. I wonder what that says about me. Maybe that they can be obsessive? I find it impressive how a lot of them can manipulate people so well. That's something I'd never be able to do. The only exception is Captain Planet. I never had a favorite eco villain. I just hated them all and their polluting ways.


_________________
"Of all God's creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain


knowbody15
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 6 Aug 2012
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 469
Location: California

25 Feb 2013, 3:14 pm

Ichinin wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
but dexter is or has been just and righteous. He is putting his blood lust to work on a worthy goal.


He isnt any of that. He only follows "the code" so he wont get caught, he dont give a sh** abot justice and righteousness. Dexter is an intriguing series, but IRL he would have been been discovered and executed years ago.

I am however interested in one character: House MD. He was this normal guy who had a life, then became a sociopath when his life was shattered (the leg/chronic pain/drug thing). But he solves puzzles and does whatever it takes to do it. Like Dexter, he do not give a crap about his patients - all is about solving puzzles.

Sure, House is funny, i love the sarcastic humor he got, but in real life, being an antisocial prick that push people away and treating people like he do - wont work, no matter how brilliant you are.


In terms of Dexter, I think what you're saying reveals a bit of an inconsistency in the show....still a great show though. But Dexter definitely reacts to what he and everyone else would consider injustice. I always thought of Dexter as a superhero who has the ability to "serial kill" if that makes sense. He's kinda like Ghost Rider, a somewhat obscure Marvel super hero. He is judge, jury, and executioner, punishes evil, and he reveals a persons crimes and then kills them.


_________________
?Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.?


Ichinin
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Apr 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,653
Location: A cold place with lots of blondes.

25 Feb 2013, 5:26 pm

knowbody15 wrote:
In terms of Dexter, I think what you're saying reveals a bit of an inconsistency in the show....still a great show though. But Dexter definitely reacts to what he and everyone else would consider injustice. I always thought of Dexter as a superhero who has the ability to "serial kill" if that makes sense. He's kinda like Ghost Rider, a somewhat obscure Marvel super hero. He is judge, jury, and executioner, punishes evil, and he reveals a persons crimes and then kills them.


Well, if you take a closer look at him and the conversation he has with the image of his dad in his mind, the show makes this pretty clear. Especially the first season, like "Dont be a bully, people remember bullies". When given a psychiatric test, his dad says "Tell the opposite of what you are thinking". His dad indoctrinates this further by taking him to an execution and shows him what awaits him if he does not follow the code.

Dexter is not your average psychopath though, Michael C Hall said that he studied up on the litterature of antisocial behaviour because he thought that the Dexter character would have done so too - to learn to not stick out and make it harder to be profile.

He fooled almost everyone - except one guy: Doakes.

(I have met a few people with obvious antisocial symptoms. They find people with Aspergers troublesome because many of us do not follow - or care about social protocols...)


_________________
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring" (Carl Sagan)


knowbody15
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 6 Aug 2012
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 469
Location: California

25 Feb 2013, 8:38 pm

Ichinin wrote:
knowbody15 wrote:
In terms of Dexter, I think what you're saying reveals a bit of an inconsistency in the show....still a great show though. But Dexter definitely reacts to what he and everyone else would consider injustice. I always thought of Dexter as a superhero who has the ability to "serial kill" if that makes sense. He's kinda like Ghost Rider, a somewhat obscure Marvel super hero. He is judge, jury, and executioner, punishes evil, and he reveals a persons crimes and then kills them.


Well, if you take a closer look at him and the conversation he has with the image of his dad in his mind, the show makes this pretty clear. Especially the first season, like "Dont be a bully, people remember bullies". When given a psychiatric test, his dad says "Tell the opposite of what you are thinking". His dad indoctrinates this further by taking him to an execution and shows him what awaits him if he does not follow the code.

Dexter is not your average psychopath though, Michael C Hall said that he studied up on the litterature of antisocial behaviour because he thought that the Dexter character would have done so too - to learn to not stick out and make it harder to be profile.

He fooled almost everyone - except one guy: Doakes.

(I have met a few people with obvious antisocial symptoms. They find people with Aspergers troublesome because many of us do not follow - or care about social protocols...)


I think we're both right. Sometimes it's the code, which is purely pragmatic, that keeps Dexter in line, guides him. But then he'll also show some sense of morality, and some weird enjoyment with showing bad people their sins....I dunno, he's a really interesting character regardless lol.


_________________
?Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.?


GGPViper
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Sep 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,880

26 Feb 2013, 3:31 am

Personally, I see Dexter as something of an amalgamation between psychopathy and Aspergers. The creators seem to have combined several of the callous-unemotional (Type I) traits from psychopathy with several of the social difficulties of the Autism Spectrum. They have - however - more or less left out all the impulsive (Type II) traits which are central to psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder, especially when it comes to Dexter's meticulous planning of his kills.

My favourite has always been Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. He plays it straight, but that's also the entire point of the film.



conundrum
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 May 2010
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,922
Location: third rock from one of many suns

04 Mar 2013, 1:04 am

For all you STAR TREK: VOYAGER fans out there, two words: Lon Suder. :) I realize his character was necessarily self-limiting, so they redeemed him briefly before death, but I REALLY would have liked to see more done with him.


_________________
The existence of the leader who is wise
is barely known to those he leads.
He acts without unnecessary speech,
so that the people say,
'It happened of its own accord.' -Tao Te Ching, Verse 17