Was Kevin born Psychopathic, or was it a result of a mother who never loved him?
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN depicts how a Psychopathic child battles to control his environment. Kevin's desire to control is so strong that it turns into a psychological war with his mother. In a fit of anger she throws him and breaks his arm - but Kevin just sees that as an opportunity…….. an opportunity to blackmail her. As the movie develops we see Kevin exemplifying the typical childhood Psychopathic traits:
Burning need to control his environment
Lack of emotions especially empathy
Vandalism as a tool of revenge
High pain threshold
Sees the weaknesses in adults and sees them as objects to be used and manipulated
Deploys divide and conquer tactics
Understands and uses blackmail
Has an attraction to weapons even when there is no threat
No interest in friends
Sees the pointlessness in playing human games and in social hierarchies
Kills/ disappears pets
Knows about chemicals, poisons & drugs
In another scene Kevin deliberately ruins the prized maps on his mothers wall because he despises and decries her emotional connection to them. They are just dumb objects too him, of no significance or emotional value. Far from seeing her as an equal he has seen her as inferior and has given her the run around since he was a small child. Psychopaths are goal orientated in this case his goal was the utter psychological and emotional destruction of his mother. He is prepared to sacrifice everything to achieve that end.
Starring Tilda Swinton
#we_need_to_talk _about_kevin