Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="WMD" data-source="post: 626353" data-attributes="member: 5366">So watched today. It's my second time watching and though I'm in a clear minority I really like this film. A big part of that is that I really like the way the main character is presented. His innocent narcissism is such a fascinating character trait to explore. He thinks hes unstoppable, at one point states hes brilliant for not being conceited!, repeatedly thinks his way out of any set back or obstacle, is always pushing forward but in the end has to face the fact he cant save the lady and has to let her go. My only real criticism of the film is that they don't let him cry (men are allowed to show emotions!)I read a fascinating paper a few years back about narcissism. The key question of the paper was Why are narcissists more successful than, and generally highly respected by their peers? The upshot being that despite the possible toxic elements of narcissism (manipulation, coercion, anger) there are other aspects to it. The big one being an inability to blame yourself if you can't do something: basically if a narcissist has a task to do and fails the first time they will still believe they can do it (they think they're awesome) so will try and try again until they succeed. A non narcissistic person is more likely to wallow in that initial defeat and take longer between attempts. This is why narcissists are, on average, more successful during their careers. Their personalities naturally tend towards perseverance and determination; two character traits that are generally viewed as being positive traits to have.Anyway I liked that this movie had a bit of all that in it. The reason why this kid is so smart is that he thinks he is incredible and so doesnt stop working hard to prove he can understand it all. And so it becomes soemthing of a self fulfilling prophecy. Even at the end after the lady has left he is still determined to solve the problem and find her one day.</blockquote>

Verification