Psychopathy has been brought to the cinema on many occasions. This type of psychological horror based on a psychopathic protagonist has been developed to the point of being considered almost a sub-genre in its own right within the great catch-all that is cinematic terror. Reinventing this leading figure (who drinks so much from literature) is very difficult when there are backgrounds like Norman Bates and his sombre smile in ‘Psycho’; Alex DeLarge and his fanaticism for Beethoven and ultraviolence in “A Clockwork Orange”; that of Hannibal Lecter and the legendary hiss of him in “The Silence of the Lambs” or that of the Joker himself, so well embodied by Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger or Joaquin Phoenix. All of these cinema icons share a psychological dysfunction that is repudiated in some cases, fictionalized in others and simply misunderstood in others. And for this, With the premiere of “Black Phone” on Friday, June 24, Universal Pictures wanted to shed some light on the behavior of these individuals and why they behave that way.
Scott Derrickson’s new film represents a return to terror at the hands of Blumhouse (producer of films like ‘Let Me Out’ or ‘The Invisible Man’) after traumatizing an entire generation with ‘Sinister’ and venturing into the odyssey marveled with “Doctor Strange (Doctor Strange)”. In the skin of the psychopath on duty is Ethan Hawke (“Boyhood (Moments of a life)”, “Before sunrise”, “The Reverend”) who has already collaborated with the director and producer on “Sinister” and who signs a the scariest performances so far this year. His character was brought to the fore for analysis by Juan Enrique Soto, Doctor of Psychology and creator of the Behavioral Analysis Section of the National Police, which he has headed since 2010. The actor, who recently also joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe playing the ‘Moon Knight’ villain, he will be accompanied by James Ransone (who also appeared in ‘Sinister’ and its sequel) and a very young Mason Thames in what will be his first big screen role.
“Trying to define what psychopathy is is getting into a pretty complicated mess”. This is how Soto began his presentation in which he made it clear that this is a much more popular concept than a scientific one. “Films, television series, documentaries on fundamentally American murderers create an image of the psychopath that we have deeply rooted”. Undoubtedly, it is a term that explores a dysfunctionality in the personality but which has been labeled by ordinary people for “breathe easily”According to the doctor. “We automatically relax, as if saying someone is a psychopath already explains everything”. Soto explained that psychopathy as such is not considered within the scientific sphere, but rather it is a combined concept between different studies and currents of thought which, together with the mysticism that public opinion grants it, has established itself in the collective thinking as a mental health disorder. Nothing is further from reality. Of course, there is no consensus within the scientific community, making this term almost impossible to limit within truly manageable parameters.
Are we potentially psychopaths by nature?
To try to explain the origin of Ethan Hawke’s character psychopathy, Soto went back almost to the beginning of time. At least since the time when the human being began to stand on two legs. “Aggression, not violence, is something innate that we humans carry in our genes. We are animals, but we have no claws or fangs, we are clumsy. We had to develop strategies”. The doctor thus delved into the crux of the matter by alluding to a person’s response to punishment. “From an early age we are taught to inhibit aggression. When a child does something wrong, he is punished. As we learn to socialize, we assume those rules which, if we do not respect them, we will be punished. That happens in each of us. which we call conscience “. Once we have a developed consciousness, we usually practice two habitual behaviors. On the one hand, we avoid doing anything that is prohibited. On the other hand, if we do, we will suffer the consequences: remorse.
This is where the figure of the psychopath comes into play, in that gap that is created when one understands the cause and effect that the action and punishment of evil entail. Those fears that would come out to anyone in the face of possible punishment would not flourish in the psychopath as often as they should.. “The fact that there is this difference in levels is a mix between a biological thing and a personality thing. It looks good with twins born together but raised separately. It is the ideal experiment because you have two exactly the same subjects raised in two. different environments. Coincidences can be observed in tastes, personalities, etc.. Therefore, we find a number of people who are not so inclined to abide by the rules. With more than 16 criteria used by psychopath tests, Soto was tasked with defining the two most general types of psychopaths.
Calculative vs impulsive
Before defining the two types of psychopaths, Soto wanted to explain on a more biological level what is the main difference between an ordinary person and a psychopath. While a normal person has a large amygdala, a sign that they can easily feel fear, a psychopath would have a much smaller one, a sign that they are not afraid like the rest of people. “Problems of feeling fear at the time of punishment”, According to the doctor. With enormous difficulty in expressing some sort of awareness in the face of the danger represented by punishment, psychopaths would be divided into two fairly distinguishable types. “We talk about a primary psychopath when, not being afraid easily, he does not learn from experiences. This conditions them, prevents them from gaining consciousness and avoids remorse.. For a non-psychopath, the suffering of another individual produces compassion, for a psychopath it would produce pleasure “.
On the other hand, secondary psychopaths are somewhat more impulsive, less methodical. Aggression in their case quickly turns to violence, which could make it easier for them to make a mistake or leave a clue. The first group becomes much more dangerous as they have a cold and calculating character, which will allow them to have a longer and much more difficult criminal career to follow. Another trait that would define secondary psychopaths is their low tolerance for boredom. “If you have a low tolerance for boredom, what will you do? Look for intense situations. If punishment does not matter, we find impulsive and violent beings, they would risk having a quick reward. This generates such concern that it can only be resolved by taking action “. Soto’s indication is that psychopaths of the second group tend to predominate in prison because they are more erratic and easier to catch.
How to catch Ethan Hawke
When asked how to apply criminological knowledge in the film “Black Phone” and thus be able to capture the character of Ethan Hawke, Soto mentioned the SEE method. It is an acronym that refers to Victim-scene-reconstruction-author and who tries to collect data, deduce situations and state hypotheses that allow us to undertake the search for this killer. “It would help to collect all those clues from a geographical point of view, because what matters is to stop it, not to study why it does it. The essential thing is because he chooses those places, if he chooses them it is because he knows them, and if he knows them it is because he has been. This leads you to draw useful and practical lines of investigation”. These lines of investigation to which he refers are easily constructed with summaries in which the collected data are poured, which will later join with the aim of being able to narrow a search to capture the psychopath.
Finally, when asked how loyal psychopathy and the individuals who suffer from it are in film adaptations, Soto somehow considered it. “fantasy”. “The dramatic license of psychopathy has spawned a particular genre within cinema. Perhaps I would orient myself towards one that is still a true classic: ‘American Psycho’. It has some elements within his shoot that are not normally considered, such as the fact that he feels emotions. He (Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman) is sad, pissed off, jealous and that’s unusual. The image we are given of a psychopath is that he has no feeling whatsoever, that he has no empathy. I remember when the character was terribly jealous when he saw the quality of a business card from one of his colleagues “.
‘Black Phone’ hits theaters next June 24th.
Source: E Cartelera
