As a self-proclaimed true crime expert, I know a thing or two about psychopathy (And also being a psych major but like, we all know watching Investigation ID on the discovery channel when you’re like 8 is where the REAL experts come from). The basic lack of human emotions tied to those of others is something many can’t even fathom. I cry at pictures of puppies so the idea of not having any regard for feelings towards others or anything is mind-boggling to me. Yet in our videos this week we see psychopaths at work, at least kind of, it’s a weird gray zone, let’s get into it.
Guilt is intertwined with empathy, without one the other is not present, by nature. If a psychopath goes on a murderous rampage, they feel no remorse or guilt because they lack empathy. They have a problem with their prefrontal cortex that causes them to feel no empathy, almost as if somewhere along the lines, whatever thing in the universe creates us, accidentally turned their empathy switch off. And yet things are a bit more complicated for our friend Tas over here. Her problems are so far-reaching that I don’t even think my therapist could fix her issues, and trust me he’s good, he fixed a lot of mine lol. Killing for a living must always weigh heavy on the mind of those who feel some semblance of empathy, but to not only murder but also kill the host body of an innocent person to cut all ties and make the murder untraceable to you, well that damn near inanity provoking. And we see with Tas that she does feel empathy. She felt guilt for the butterfly she pinned to the board when she was a child. She believes her murder and we see it causes her to feel physical pain and anguish from remembering. It’s easy to see why she fights so hard to push these emotions down, to smother them underneath a blanket of apathy. Yet that’s not who she is until she became one. She would be a perfect candidate for the nurture side of nature vs. nurture let me tell ya.
After losing all that she loves and murdering her husband and child in cold blood, plus some casual brain damage from being inside Tates body too long, we see this shift at the end. She no longer feels guilty for killing the butterfly and shows no emotions of regret or remorse for ruining the lives of so many people. And the premise actually brings into question, well how does this relate to embodied cognition? In Tas’s case, she is actually physically “living through” the body of another, yet she is not sensing their emotions. She is actively blocking out the emotions of Tate, trying to keep him in line. She is actively pushing down her emotions the whole film, and at the end, whether through actual brian damage or forced suppressed emotions, Tas has become a bonafide psychopath, free to wander around killing as she pleases with no ties and no pesky emotions bringing guilt upon her conscious. Pretty depressing I know. How about we lighten the mood with a cute photo of me as a kid, Enjoy!
Now that the depressing part is over, why don’t we venture onto Futurama, a favorite of mine, thanks professor for having immaculate taste in media. Now Bender, being a robot, is already fairly close to humans who have psychopathy. He has no remorse for his negative actions of hurting Leila or Nibbler. He acts based on his own needs and wants, and when Nibbler got in his way, he didn’t feel any hesitation to dispose of him. Pretty dang psychotic if you ask me. Yet the interesting part is when he is in tune with Leila’s emotional frequency he is hooked directly up to her emotions, essentially giving him empathy. This empathy is borrowed, but he still feels the effects. He no longer only cares for his needs, he now is driven and pushed along by the emotions of another and their sadness for the loss of Nibbler. Only after removing the emotion chip do we see him revert back to his old self, as apathetic and self-centered as before. He’s kind of a prick, but a funny one at that.
It’s actually a really interesting take on psychopaths. If psychopaths had the ability to have a chip placed on them and feel the emotions of another, they still wouldn’t be able to learn a “lesson.” Once the chip is off their brain, the hardwiring is still wrong. They can not just spend a day in someone else’s body and suddenly have their pre-frontal cortex fixed. That’s why Bender goes back to his old ways, his old hilarious ways.
Now let me be very, very clear, being a psychopath does not make a person bad, there are still moral compasses in the vast majority of psychopaths, they just don’t feel empathy towards others. But if true crime has taught me anything (besides always lock your doors and never get into a white van, EVER) it’s that it’s easier for psychopaths to push aside their taught morals if it helps them in any way. And that’s why I’m glad I am an empath who cries at the drop of a hat.
4 thoughts on “Analysis #2: To Empathy Or Not To Empathy, That is The Question (And Also Bad English)”
Hi Stephanie,
I really enjoyed your analysis on Tas from Possessor, and how there was a switch inside of her from the beginning of the film to the end. I appreciated your background knowledge on the prefrontal cortex and how that plays a part in a person feeling empathy. I’m not familiar with the different areas of psychology so it was really helpful! It just goes to show you how there are many things at play when it comes to cognitive science. I also took a closer look at the scenes were Tas is examining her old belongings, and how in the end she seems to lose any feeling(guilt) or attachment she once held for the butterfly. The suppression of emotions that she experienced boiled over as you mentioned and in turn her whole family ended up dead. You discussed an empathy switch and how it was like it was turned off, and it made me think of The Vampire Diaries (I’m a big fan of that show). We see several times when characters decided to “flip” their switch on their humanities because their emotions end up being too much for them.
Sarah Murphy
Hi Stephanie! I won’t lie, I had to LOL at the therapy comment. 100% agreed- Vos has some serious issues. I like the observation of Vos’ gestures and expressions in the first butterfly scene vs. the second. I paid more attention to what she said rather than her facial expressions, and I feel like I missed out. I personally think that Vos didn’t really have empathy the entire time. I think she posed as someone with more empathy than she actually had. For example, a scene I spoke about was the first kill in the movie: Elio Mazza. Rather than just shooting him with the pistol she was provided with, she stabbed him to be “in character.” I think someone with true empathy would want the kill to be quick, not slow and painful for the sake of putting on a show. But who knows! This movie has many interpretations. Negative stuff aside, that is a very cute photo!
Yes, that is a very good point about the chip. Empathy is something that comes naturally from the heart. An empathy chip can’t fix a broken moral compass. It’s like slapping a bandaid on a broken bone, it doesn’t work that way.
Sara Giarnieri
Hi Steph,
I love that you connect Possessor to your knowledge of (and fascination with) true crime—and your experience studying psychology. I love your analysis of the ending of the film—especially the attention that you pay to Andrea Riseborough’s face acting in the two scenes where she is looking at and remembering the butterfly. Interesting to think about the role that our bodies play as we “sense-in” and “live through” her performance in order to understand the juxtaposition of emotions that you discuss. Embodied cognition argues that we can’t do that kind of analysis without a body.
As you note, Vos is also living through the bodies of her victims, and she is experiencing at least some empathy—which is why she is unable to kill them. Her husband and son seem to be linked to her experience of empathy, which is why at the beginning of the film Girder encourages her to cut ties. There is also a way to read Girder as orchestrating the death of Vos’s husband and son to sever that last tie to her empathy and humanity.
Great discussion of Bender in terms of “rewiring” (an interesting metaphor to use o think about the brain!) the brain. I love that you connect your discussion to real-world psychopathy. I also like that you included the caveat at the end of your post that psychopathy does not necessarily equate to being a bad person. That is important given the stigma surrounding the condition.
And yes, you were a very cute kid!
Also, from one crier to another, get your tissues ready for next week’s film. I watched it again last night and sobbed. Yay empathy!
Jessica Hautsch
Hello!
I’m glad you brought psychopathy into this discussion. Some people are just born without the ability to empathize. And yet, despite that, people who do have the capacity to empathize, do so in varying degrees.
In any case, the two pictures side by side of the beginning and the end of the movie made your point stand out more. Great use of media.
I agree that simply forcing emotions on someone won’t make them understand them. Some people are wired to not care about how other people feel. And I think this also applies to people who do have the ability to empathize. I doubt I care equally about all the things in my life. I prioritize my guitar and bass and books over the bad news that go on in the world. Does that make me a bad person? That’s debatable (spoiler: maybe yes, possibly, most likely)
Anyway, I enjoyed the humor throughout the post. Keep it up.
gkhidasheli