Leo D.M.J. Aurini - April 23, 2015


Movie Review： The Thief (1997) 3 of 3


Episode Stats

Length

13 minutes

Words per Minute

130.84535

Word Count

1,732

Sentence Count

1

Misogynist Sentences

4

Hate Speech Sentences

5


Summary

In this episode, I discuss the Dark Triad, Narcissism and Machiavellianism, and how they are related to psychopaths and narcissists, and why it s important to understand the difference between them.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Music
00:00:11.640 The Dark Triad and the Psychopath
00:00:32.600 Now the Dark Triad, as I've mentioned before, it's traditionally viewed as being composed of three traits
00:00:43.940 Psychopathy, Narcissism, and Machiavellianism
00:00:48.620 However, if you've watched any of my old psychology videos, you know that I have very strict definitions for what all of these things are
00:00:59.000 And I think it's worth revisiting these definitions and then asking what exactly the Dark Triad really is all about
00:01:09.560 So the Psychopath
00:01:12.840 The Psychopath is somebody that can't stop manipulating things
00:01:18.180 That views everything as a zero-sum game
00:01:21.640 That isn't able to place any emotional value on anything
00:01:26.980 This is a person who will cheat at cards when there's no stakes whatsoever
00:01:34.740 You know, they cheat and manipulate constantly
00:01:39.120 Because they don't know what they're doing
00:01:41.940 They have no direction, no purpose in their life
00:01:47.720 Aside from manipulating them
00:01:50.260 And Toljan in The Thief was the absolute perfect example of a psychopath
00:01:58.020 And he's even better than Hannibal Lecter
00:02:00.020 Because Hannibal Lecter is a little bit blown up
00:02:02.020 He's a little bit of a cartoon character because of all the murdering that he gets up to
00:02:05.780 Whereas the real psychopath will be perfectly willing to commit murder
00:02:11.780 And Toljan probably has killed a couple of people at some point in his history
00:02:15.780 But they don't feel a compulsion towards violence
00:02:19.780 It's just another tool
00:02:21.300 And they will use any tool at any time
00:02:24.160 They just have no direction where they're going with any of this
00:02:27.540 Now the narcissist
00:02:31.100 Is a very distinct thing
00:02:33.740 From the psychopath
00:02:34.900 They are just as destructive as the psychopath is
00:02:38.600 But they're distinct in very certain ways
00:02:42.140 See, whereas the psychopath has no affect
00:02:45.420 Where they have no emotions
00:02:47.640 The narcissist is nothing but emotions
00:02:52.340 Shame and rage
00:02:54.440 Just this black little ball
00:02:56.940 This singularity of hatred and evil
00:03:02.800 With an event horizon of a personality
00:03:07.600 Now again, we're living in a very narcissistic era
00:03:13.140 Narcissism is the mental disorder of the day
00:03:16.020 And I personally suspect that there's the true narcissists
00:03:22.040 And the affected narcissists
00:03:24.220 Many people behave like narcissists
00:03:27.640 Along with the rage that you can trigger
00:03:30.540 If you actually pierce their shell
00:03:32.420 But this is more of an environmental thing
00:03:36.820 They could, in theory, get better
00:03:38.820 Whereas the true narcissist
00:03:41.900 It's impossible to say
00:03:43.340 What's underneath that personality
00:03:45.640 If there is anything at the center of it
00:03:48.360 Because it really becomes an event horizon
00:03:50.700 It's like an infinite onion of shells
00:03:55.640 And any time one of the shells gets broken
00:04:01.420 They will lash out violently
00:04:03.440 Until they hit a reset button
00:04:05.280 So because the narcissist is so full of rage and shame
00:04:10.060 They demand constant attention
00:04:14.120 Constant approval
00:04:15.560 And so whereas the psychopath
00:04:17.540 Will constantly manipulate things
00:04:19.700 For no reason whatsoever
00:04:21.020 The narcissist will constantly lie
00:04:23.260 For no reason whatsoever
00:04:25.120 You know, if they got second place
00:04:28.000 In a chess tournament, say
00:04:29.540 That's something worth bragging about
00:04:31.640 They'll lie and say they got first place
00:04:34.180 They will make up stories
00:04:36.780 Even though you were there
00:04:38.640 And witnessed it happening differently
00:04:40.820 They are so desperate to construct the shell persona
00:04:44.520 To keep their attention diverted
00:04:47.560 From their inner self-loathing
00:04:49.880 That they constantly are reinventing
00:04:53.940 And making it up
00:04:55.260 So whereas the psychopath
00:04:58.320 Is going to be constantly manipulating
00:05:00.980 Everybody around them
00:05:02.160 They're going to be a puppet master
00:05:04.200 With absolutely no plan where any of it's going
00:05:06.420 The narcissist is going to be more of the cult leader
00:05:09.960 Demanding that you agree with them all the time
00:05:13.000 That your memory must be faulty
00:05:15.520 That you need to follow them
00:05:17.020 And do everything that they say
00:05:19.220 Both very destructive
00:05:24.200 Both are very charming
00:05:27.360 In a certain way
00:05:28.920 Because the narcissist
00:05:31.000 Has control of everything
00:05:33.340 Sorry, the psychopath
00:05:35.220 Has control of everything
00:05:36.780 He doesn't really
00:05:38.160 But all of us would like somebody to be in charge
00:05:41.760 We want somebody to take responsibility for things
00:05:45.720 You know, even at the most basic level
00:05:48.700 Traffic lights, for example
00:05:50.720 You know, I want to know
00:05:51.740 There's somebody down in City Hall
00:05:53.380 Some civic engineer
00:05:54.680 That's making sure the traffic is flowing
00:05:56.280 As efficiently as it possibly can
00:05:57.940 You know, I don't want to get blindsided by a car
00:06:00.920 Because they forgot to put a stop sign there
00:06:02.740 And we don't even think about that
00:06:04.340 We want somebody else in control of certain things
00:06:08.280 And so the psychopath gives us that sort of comfort
00:06:11.580 The narcissist, meanwhile
00:06:14.080 Gives us meaning
00:06:15.420 This is another thing that people crave in their lives
00:06:18.380 Is meaning
00:06:19.240 Because there's so little of it
00:06:21.240 If you don't create your own meaning
00:06:24.240 Somebody else is going to give it to you
00:06:27.480 But you know, even then
00:06:29.420 No man is an island
00:06:31.020 You can't create all of your meaning
00:06:34.080 Understanding who your parents were
00:06:36.580 What your country stands for
00:06:38.260 What history you came from
00:06:40.100 What sort of ethics and values you follow
00:06:43.260 You know, we can derive these to a certain extent ourselves
00:06:47.600 But we also need to get them from somewhere else
00:06:50.880 So somebody that's lonely and isolated
00:06:53.440 Is going to tend to go for a narcissist
00:06:56.780 Somebody that will tell them the meaning of everything
00:06:59.320 That will even rewrite events
00:07:01.200 Oh no, you didn't remember it correctly
00:07:03.480 I remembered it correctly
00:07:04.940 This is the meaning
00:07:06.100 And even though the meaning shifts
00:07:08.480 If you're that hungry for meaning
00:07:10.100 Any pours in the storm
00:07:12.480 And finally, Machiavellianism
00:07:18.360 Now the thing is that both
00:07:21.680 The narcissist and the psychopath
00:07:24.960 Can be described as Machiavellian
00:07:26.980 Because they're very manipulative
00:07:29.680 The psychopath is manipulative
00:07:32.180 In a legalistic sense
00:07:35.020 In an organizational sense
00:07:36.580 He tells everyone what they're going to be doing
00:07:38.600 Whereas the narcissist is very manipulative
00:07:41.640 In the emotional sense
00:07:42.980 He figures out what your emotional need is
00:07:44.980 And then manipulates you accordingly
00:07:47.860 And yet, Machiavellianism
00:07:52.660 Is actually a rather value-neutral term
00:07:56.960 You see, the Machiavellianism
00:08:00.520 Practicality is something that every soldier has to learn
00:08:04.920 And in fact, by the end of the film
00:08:07.340 We see that that's the one thing that Sonja has learned
00:08:10.860 He's learned to be Machiavellian
00:08:13.080 To be in control of circumstances
00:08:16.960 To know what his desires are
00:08:19.420 And to go out in the world
00:08:21.520 And affect things in such a way
00:08:23.380 That he gets the results he wants
00:08:25.860 This is actually a huge part of masculinity
00:08:29.420 And this is probably what it is
00:08:32.080 About the psychopath and the narcissist
00:08:34.520 That makes them so attractive
00:08:36.860 Because the narcissist is completely
00:08:39.420 He doesn't actually have any value
00:08:41.960 Does not have any purpose to him
00:08:44.600 But he feels like he does
00:08:47.300 Because he's Machiavellian
00:08:48.400 And the same thing for the psychopath
00:08:49.740 He has no plan whatsoever
00:08:51.680 You know, Toljan in the movie
00:08:55.600 Is just going from town to town
00:08:57.960 He has no plans to stay with Katya and Sonja
00:09:01.400 He just keeps them around
00:09:02.820 As long as they're convenient
00:09:03.860 As long as he has a use for them
00:09:05.500 And as long as they're there
00:09:06.640 You know, because
00:09:07.460 If he had a strategy
00:09:09.820 If he had a long-term goal
00:09:11.620 He might throw them away after a couple of towns
00:09:13.960 Because he said
00:09:14.500 Well, this scam's getting old
00:09:15.720 I'm going to get caught by the MPs eventually
00:09:17.380 I need to switch it up
00:09:18.680 You know, if he were actually
00:09:20.560 Just pure Machiavellian
00:09:22.100 He might do something like that
00:09:24.060 But no, he keeps them around
00:09:27.140 And keeps using them
00:09:28.180 Because they won't leave
00:09:29.480 He has to use every tool he has
00:09:34.020 Even when it doesn't make sense
00:09:35.400 And so Machiavellianism
00:09:40.120 I think you can really equate that
00:09:42.180 With the masculinity
00:09:43.380 That Sonja discovers
00:09:45.800 That Machiavellianism
00:09:48.980 Is being mature and rational
00:09:51.240 In fact, properly employed
00:09:54.260 You're not going to be a thief
00:09:57.060 Because a thief is going to get you sent to Siberia
00:09:59.940 It's going to catch up with you eventually
00:10:02.840 I mean, how many crimes would not be committed
00:10:05.480 If people were just a little bit smarter
00:10:07.400 And if they thought a little bit further down the road
00:10:10.960 You know, crime is just something that pays in the short term
00:10:13.920 And costs in the long term
00:10:15.460 Whereas Machiavellianism is about
00:10:17.560 It's, yes, tactics
00:10:19.600 Manipulation
00:10:21.200 But also strategy
00:10:23.820 Where am I going long term?
00:10:27.140 You know, do I need to use this tool now?
00:10:29.380 Or is this tool going to hurt me
00:10:31.040 In the long term?
00:10:33.900 So, equating the dark triad
00:10:36.740 To all three of these things
00:10:38.620 I feel it's really missing the point
00:10:42.320 First of all
00:10:44.220 Because psychopathy and narcissism
00:10:47.080 Are two utterly different things
00:10:49.220 They're as unlike as you can be
00:10:51.460 But they are both very destructive
00:10:53.540 And very manipulative
00:10:54.760 But the reason
00:10:58.980 That the dark triad
00:11:00.860 The reason that gets you all the women now
00:11:03.180 Is again, that low trust society
00:11:05.880 See, all of these rooms
00:11:08.200 That Tolshin kept renting
00:11:09.880 Let's say
00:11:13.280 Rather than a noble soldier
00:11:15.760 Let's say that an honest carpenter
00:11:19.100 Showed up
00:11:20.160 And said, you know what?
00:11:22.140 Listen, I don't have a lot of money
00:11:24.240 But I'll try my best to have
00:11:25.920 Rent on time each month
00:11:27.640 I'm really dedicated to it
00:11:30.500 I'm sorry, I have a kid
00:11:32.340 But he's not too noisy
00:11:33.300 I'll make sure
00:11:33.880 That guy's not going to get
00:11:36.080 A room rented to
00:11:36.880 That guy's going to be like
00:11:38.700 Oh, get out of here
00:11:39.720 You deadbeat
00:11:40.340 You don't have money
00:11:41.140 Even though he would
00:11:42.900 At least try
00:11:44.680 As hard as he could
00:11:45.780 To pay during these dark times
00:11:48.000 Tolshin?
00:11:49.980 Oh, yes, absolutely
00:11:51.240 You know how the army is
00:11:52.680 They're just a little bit behind
00:11:53.620 On their paperwork right now
00:11:54.840 But I'll be getting
00:11:55.280 The housing allowance soon
00:11:56.500 Again, in the low-trust society
00:12:01.240 Because people think
00:12:03.980 They're getting scammed constantly
00:12:05.560 The other side of that coin
00:12:07.120 Is that they want somebody
00:12:08.520 That's perfectly honest
00:12:10.000 They want that person
00:12:12.340 That promises
00:12:13.760 That, oh, I'll never scam you
00:12:15.620 I'll love you forever, baby
00:12:16.980 You know, I'll
00:12:18.120 Don't worry, I'm a millionaire
00:12:19.460 That's why I'm renting a room
00:12:21.320 Because I'm a millionaire
00:12:22.440 And so that's the person
00:12:26.020 That winds up
00:12:26.780 Getting rented to
00:12:28.820 As opposed to the person
00:12:29.880 That would make
00:12:30.380 Honest, genuine efforts
00:12:32.960 To be a decent person
00:12:35.000 Same in the job market
00:12:37.220 Same in the dating market
00:12:38.760 Welcome to this
00:12:40.160 Foul year of our lord
00:12:41.420 2015
00:12:42.680 Greeny out, folks
00:12:56.020 Glad to be a kid
00:13:04.880 Him
00:13:04.920 Thank you
00:13:06.960 Even for the opportunity
00:13:07.640 A little bit
00:13:08.920 of a possible
00:13:09.140 Obviously
00:13:10.080 Like
00:13:11.140 Don't
00:13:12.740 Love
00:13:13.240 Come