I Identify with Psychopaths: What's up Doc?

Jorge Martínez Lucena

• The 3rd Golden Age of TV (MOOC: Massive Open Online Course)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq_9pK0LONQ

• Transmedia Storytelling –according to Wikipedia-(also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling, cross-media serialityetc.) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats including, but not limited to, games, books, events, cinema and television. The purpose being to not only reach a wider audience by expanding the target market pool, but to expand the narrative itself.

Why TV series?

Exposure Time

- Borderline characters and protagonists (madness, immorality, abnormality).

- Rebel/Victim (Hassan, 1995)

The Antihero in Post-Modern Fiction

- The Sopranos (1999-2007): Tony Soprano

- House (2004-2012): Gregory House

- Weeds (2005-2012) : Nancy Botwin

- Breaking Bad (2008-2013): Walter White

- 24 (2001-2013): Jack Bauer

- Sons of Anarchy (2008-): Jax Teller

- Homeland (2011-): Carrie Mathison

Antiheroes in Contemporary TV series

Homeland (2011-):

• Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes): Bipolar Disorder

• Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis): Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Madness and Antiheroes

Dexter (2006-2013): Dexter Morgan

The Antihero as a Good Psychopath

- House of Cards (2013-): Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and Claire Underwood (Robin Wright)

The Villain as Protagonist: AntiheroicPsychopathic Politician

- Hannibal (2013-): Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen)

The Villain as Protagonist: Antiheroic Serial Killer Psychiatrist

• Lack of empathy

• Shallow emotions

• Guilt externatization

• Lying discourse

• Superficial charm

• Self-Reliance

• Pathological egocentrism

• Low tolerance for frustration

• High impulsivity

• Tendency for agressive responses

Psychopathic Features

- Family justifies everything

How Do We Identify With TheseAntiheroes?

- There is always someone who is worse than our lovely villain

How Do We Identify With These Antiheroes?

- Victimization of the character

How Do We Identify With These Antiheroes?

- The spectator doesn’t judge them exclusively through ʽthe engagement of moral scrutiny but rather through moral disengagement-laden story schemaʼ which are learnt through repeated viewings of these sorts of antiheroic stories (Shafer and Raney, 2012)

How Do We Identify With These Antiheroes?

• Excellence according to our social values

• Machiavellian and calculating intelligence

• Professional success

• Elegance

• Delicacy

How Do We Identify With These Antiheroes?

- Charisma of the actor who interprets the role.

How Do We Identify With These Antiheroes?

Are these features of contemporary TV series enough to justify ouridentification with these psychopaths?

What’s Up Doc?

Paul Ricoeur’s classic, Time and Narrative, establishes that in order to spin a narrative it is necessary to be grounded in our ʽpreunderstanding of the word of actionʼ, which is formed by ʽits meaningful structures, its symbolic resources, and its temporal character.ʼ

So, we have to assume that we all share certain social imaginaries (success, excellence, etc.)

A Possible Reason

Psycopaths have great success in our political and economic world. Are ourvalues psycopathic as well?

A Psycopathic Social Imaginary

What are the real effects of these TV series?

Last Question