Must See TV . . . and Movies!

[Jacintae]

Hi

Great thread. I hope you will all forgive me for a bit of lighthearted interruption.

On House. I have to admit that I love him. And going off topic here. House is played by Hugh Laurie. When he finished in college in Oxford ( he is a pretty clever guy) he started off here in the UK as part of a comedy duo called 'Fry and Laurie'. They used to be on TV here and were silly and daft. Laurie lived not far from where I live in London and his son went to the same school as the son of one of my friends. She met him often at Parent's Day. He is a shy, quiet, polite very unassuming guy. The comedy duo he was in split up and he kinda fell into obsecurity.

I think maybe that's why I never thought of House as an N ( although this thread has me really thinking) because I think Hugh Laurie is such a nice guy in real life.

Here is a clip of him before he was House. It's very silly - Laurie is the guy at the blackboard. No matter how cool he is as House - this is how he started his career. 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2un9rO2ZF4g[/youtube]


Love
Jac xxxx

[LettingGo]

Jac, thanks for the clip. I think you explained why the Character House is so appealing, because the person playing the character at his core is a good guy and that spills out into the Character he is playing. Also the writing gives the character the opportunity for redemption. In real life we all know how Ns due not have a redeeming quality because everything they do, good or bad is self motivated due to their lack of empathy. For example, this weeks episode, what was the real reason House did not reveal the truth about the author's son? Was it because he really  wanted to do what is right or wants to be the person his girlfriend thinks he is? Is he really a good guy or just pretending to be one so that he can be Cutty's knight in shining armor? If he was not in a relationship, or perhaps going through something very difficult in his life, like being D&D, would he still be able to be kind to others although certain people in his life were being cruel to him? Just because a person does a good thing does that make them good? Isn't honorable doing the right thing when no one else is looking, when there is no pay off for self?

[Litha]

The Pirates of Silicon Valley is a movie about the rise of Apple and Microsoft, how Apple stole the graphic interface from someone else and then Microsoft stole it from them and called it Windows. Steve Jobs is depicted as a classic narcissist, while Bill Gates is depicted as more of a covert narcissist. Excellent movie!

[Litha]

The movie "Fargo" was broadcast on television tonight, so of course I watched it again but with a new perspective on narcissism.

This movie portrays just about every possible manifestation of narcissism:
garden variety n (Wade Gustafson and his accountant)
pathetically dysfunctional N (Mike Yanagita)
Covert pathological N (Jerry Lundegaard)
Pathological N (Carl Showalter)
Dangerious sociopathic N (Gaear Grimsrud)

[Litha]

Dinner for Schmucks

This was a surprise for me, I was expecting a silly comedy (which it is) but I was not expecting a tender-hearted attack on narcissism. I highly recommend this movie, it will make you laugh and you will cheer at the end.

[LettingGo]

Litha, I was wondering about the Schmucks movie. From the previews I figured out who the Schmucks were, so I was wondering if it would end well, now that I know I might check it out. It just really bothers me how our society deems devaluing and teasing people who are different an okay and acceptable practice. I don't like how on American Idol they do the Set-Up with obviously mentally chanllenged individuals who think they can sing just to be Set-Up to be shot down by the Judges. I fast-forward through the Set-Ups, because it is painful on so many levels.

[Litha]

I know what you mean, and I used to feel the same way about American Idol but I've changed my mind. Now when I watch the auditions and I see some mediocre-to-bad singer who is convinced that they can be a star I think NARCISSIST!!!!!

• Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
• Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
• Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
• Requires excessive admiration
• Has a very strong sense of entitlement, e.g., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations

These five symptoms alone are enough to prove them narcissists, but if they flip out and start raging at the judges that is the icing on the cake.

I think that is is GOOD to mock them and tear down that false ego self they create out of their illness. I find it somewhat gratifying. It is one of the few venues where narcissists get exactly what they deserve.

[SusyP14]

Dinner for Schmucks

This was a surprise for me, I was expecting a silly comedy (which it is) but I was not expecting a tender-hearted attack on narcissism. I highly recommend this movie, it will make you laugh and you will cheer at the end.

I have not seen the American version but I loved the French version (Le D๎ner de Cons ("The Dinner of Cretins"), marketed as The Dinner Game in the USA which I saw about 10 years ago.  That was before getting run over my a Narc train so I was not evaluating it in that manner.