Copyright (C) 2002 by Lidija Rangelovska.
Moral Deliberations in Modern Cinema
1sst EDITION
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.
Editing and Design:
Lidija Rangelovska
Lidija Rangelovska
A Narcissus Publications Imprint, Skopje 2003
Not for Sale! Non-commercial edition.
© 2002 Copyright Lidija Rangelovska.
All rights reserved. This book, or any part thereof, may not be usedor reproduced in any manner without written permission from:
Lidija Rangelovska - write to:
palma@unet.com.mk or to
vaknin@link.com.mk
Visit the Author Archive of Dr. Sam Vaknin in "Central Europe Review":
http://www.ce-review.org/authorarchives/vaknin_archive/vaknin_main.htm
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Visit Sam Vaknin's United Press International (UPI) Article Archive
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Philosophical Musings and Essays
http://samvak.tripod.com/culture.html
Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited
http://samvak.tripod.com/
Created by: LIDIJA RANGELOVSKA
I. The Talented Mr. Ripley
II. The Truman Show
III. The Matrix
IV. Shattered
V. Titanic
VI. Being John Malkovich
VII. Dreamcatcher - The Myth of Destructibility
VIII. The Author
IX. About "After the Rain"
The Talented Mr. Ripley
By: Sam Vaknin
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is an Hitchcockian and blood-curdling studyof the psychopath and his victims. At the centre of this masterpiece,set in the exquisitely decadent scapes of Italy, is a titanicencounter between Ripley, the aforementioned psychopath protagonistand young Greenleaf, a consummate narcissist.
Ripley is a cartoonishly poor young adult whose overriding desire isto belong to a higher - or at least, richer - social class. While hewaits upon the subjects of his not so hidden desires, he receives anoffer he cannot refuse: to travel to Italy to retrieve the spoiled andhedonistic son of a shipbuilding magnate, Greenleaf Senior. He embarksupon a study of Junior's biography, personality, likes and hobbies. Ina chillingly detailed process, he actually assumes Greenleaf'sidentity. Disembarking from a luxurious Cunard liner in hisdestination, Italy, he "confesses" to a gullible textile-heiress thathe is the young Greenleaf, travelling incognito.
Thus, we are subtly introduced to the two over-riding themes of theantisocial personality disorder (still labelled by many professionalauthorities "psychopathy" and "sociopathy"): an overwhelming dysphoriaand an even more overweening drive to assuage this angst by belonging.The psychopath is an unhappy person. He is besieged by recurrentdepression bouts, hyp