I never saw this film (Narcissism: The Psychology of Demons) before. While I dislike the all-too-common merging together of the characteristics of psychopathy/sociopathy/ASPD with those of NPD (non-malignant narcissists are not without feelings, even if they are very self-centered), this is still a very interesting, scary and disturbing video describing the emotional vampires in our lives and that dominate our society.
Several people are interviewed about narcissism in the video. Zain Arcane (the smarmy Slash-looking dude in the hat and sunglasses), a vocal coach who makes videos about narcissism, gives me VERY stong narc vibes. I have read elsewhere he does in fact have NPD and is probably a psychopath. During the few minutes he takes off his sunglasses, his eyes look unfocused and lifeless and he doesn’t seem mentally all there. Maybe he’s on drugs, but there’s every reason to believe he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing and thinks of himself as a god, based on what I read.
The creepiest part of this film is the interview with the little 5 year old girl from “Toddlers and Tiaras” and her mother (this starts at 33:32). The mother is obviously a narcissist, and has turned her daughter into her little mini-me by forcing her into beauty pageants. The little girl is already showing the odd emotional disconnection, complete self-absorption and the dead, flat eyes of the malignant narcissist/sociopath–and her self absorption is so great she doesn’t even seem to hear the interviewer and her mother talk. If this girl doesn’t get intervention very soon (and she probably will not), she is going to become an extremely dangerous, Jezebel-like woman when she gets older and utterly destroyed when her looks begin to decline. It may already be too late for her, because something about her already seems thoroughly corrupted, even evil. It’s hard for me to look at her face without wanting to recoil and get away fast.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/life-as-a-nonviolent-psychopath/282271/
This is interesting.
Yeah, Zane always looks like he’s posing for a date. Speaking from a script. Cunning, but pretty transparent.
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He’s very smarmy. I pegged him as a narc before I even read anything about him. I didn’t believe for a second he was any kind of “victim.” He is very transparent (or some of us are very intuitive). But I think anyone could see through him because he’s so smarmy and dishonest looking. When he started talking about using mind-expanding drugs to achieve connection with a Higher Power I was like, okay, you’re a narcissistic cult-leader wannabe. Next!
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Shrooms?………he has an email? Lol joking!
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Yesterday that article reminded me of Zane. If you listen to how easily and mechanically that psychopath scientist decided to cloak himself with appropriate behavior for his family and friends, even though it was an automated , fake thing, you can see how the disordered can hide . Now Zane seems to have about half the I.q. of this scientist, but trying to do the same technique. Probably with some success.
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which article, Alex?
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http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/life-as-a-nonviolent-psychopath/282271/
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Oh, thanks! I will have to read this.
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LOL!
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Note re Fallon: in his book (don’t recall the title) he mentions something like an astonishing capacity to *lead* people…
That’s not what got under my hide, though. What *did* get under my hide was his self-analysis about his personality – about how “he just didn’t care.”
Empathy is about getting inside others’ heads – to know their thoughts (for good, or for ill) and to sense their feelings (for commiseration, or schadenfreude).
Fallon speaks of possessing (in greatest abundance) the capacity for mind-reading.
He simply ***chooses*** (in the name of semi-enlightened self interest) to use his capacity for prosocial ends.
It is a truly rare ‘pred’ who lacks the capacity for successful predation; and, while the capacity for predation (namely, the dread ’empathy’ / ‘theory of mind’) does not compell a predatory lifesyle – the converse, of a necessity, ***precludes*** it.
The difference betwwen the lesser variety of pred, and individuals like Fallon amounts to a wired-basis specialization; and, or so the book seemed to (strongly) imply, that being strongly predatory has a biological aspect that must not be ignored.
My stepather and *his* child – my half-brother – were both that way; and I thought I deserved their ill-treatment untill reading Hare’s ‘without conscience’.
Fallon seems a good deal nicer – though I’m not inclined to go near him much at all.
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I read the interview and felt the same way. I felt he sounded A LOT like a cult leader, and I think most cult leaders are at the very least malignant narcissists if not psychopathic.
I don’t think this man is “good” in any sense but I guess he thinks he is. Idk.
I’m not going to read his book, but it’s still interesting.
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Hmmm. Reading. This. Reminds. Me. Oh. High school…bullying. grow. Up. People.
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Hey , check it out. Zane takes time out his 1986 , rockabilly, I-hate-my-parents, sleep till noon day to post retorts on blogs! Kool! Can I have your autograph ?
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Oh, I can’t stand watching it after I read it.
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The article about Insane Zain? They shouldn’t have spent half the video time on him. I could tell something was really off about that guy just looking at him. I’d never even heard of him before. In fact I never saw any of those people before except Sam Vaknin (EVERYONE knows who he is!)
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Ha ha I have no idea who Sam V. Is at all!
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He’s not well known outside the narcissistic abuse community. He wrote a book about NPD and was one of the first people on the web to popularize the the subject of narcissistic abuse. Ironically he has NPD–he is self confessed and diagnosed with it. But his book “Malignant Self Love” is really good, though very long, dark and depressing. It’s been helpful to me anyway.
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Reblogged this on HelpingOthersHelpThemselves.
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Thanks!
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Oh wow and I thought I had it bad. What an education!
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You thought you had what bad? Yes, it was very educational even if half the video was spent interviewing Insane Zain.
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I would love to share both your article and the video on my forum. You could send me a link? When I share from here it shares to my personal FB page. ~Bree
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The link for this page?
Just click on “watch on Youtube” at the bottom of the video to get the link for that.
Hopefully that will be okay!
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Reblogged and shared your insight and this interesting documentary on my blog and forum. TY!
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Thanks! 🙂
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Reblogged this on RelationshiPedia.
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Wow. Very informative. Thanks.
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Thank you for sharing the vid and info – zactly what was looking for.
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You’re welcome!
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