(TW: This blog deals with content related to suicide and sexual assault)
Gone Girl (2014) is about the disappearance of Amy Dunne, the film's antagonist on her fifth wedding anniversary with her husband, Nick Dunne. The film starts with Amy narrating her diary entries, in which she describes her relationship with her parents and her childhood. She speaks of her upbringing as a bleak experience where her life was steered by the whims of her perfectionist mother.
Her mother, whose parenting style is helicoptering her child into the person she desires her to be, is also the author of a children’s book, titled ‘Amazing Amy.’ Her mother capitalises on her childhood by caricaturing her childhood experiences, except, Amazing Amy achieves all that Amy Dunne fails to. She exudes all the brilliance that Amy seemingly lacks. This acts as a vehicle for the progression of Amy’s abnormal tendencies of overly-critical perfectionism and the assertion of control over herself and over her romantic partners.
From my analysis of Amy’s character, I presume she uses her romantic partners as an outlet for this need for control and for her to play out the idealistic fantasy she dreams of. She presents herself, initially, as a woman who is cool, calm and composed–a woman that she moulds herself into according to what she considers her partner’s ideal woman would be. It is through her narration that we realise that she is driven by a deep sense of self-importance and power, her ultimate desire is that of dominance and to be the puppet master of everyone she deems worthy. A pattern visible throughout the film is that those who fail to comply with her intricately carved-out plans for them are briefly eliminated, whether that be their demise or incarceration.
Amy takes a painstakingly long amount of time and effort into masterminding her plan of framing her husband for being an abusive, cheating and financially reckless murderer. As revenge for his infidelity, she stages a near-perfect crime scene at their home for the police to find and investigate. She organises a ‘treasure hunt’ with clues designed to degrade and mock Nick Dunne every step of the way. The viewer can acknowledge the degree of intelligence it requires to orchestrate a crime so meticulously that it makes national news–enough for the media to dissect her husband’s moral character.
Amy is so deeply consumed by vindication that she plans to take the ultimate step in her plan to frame her husband–commit suicide. This hits the nail on the head for her ‘murder’ and sends her husband, in finality, to death row. She believes this is the perfect punishment for Nick’s crime–infidelity and for failing to meet the mark of the husband she initially ‘forged’ him to be.
The brief overview of Amy’s character provided here cements sufficient evidence for the existence of a personality disorder. The American Psychological Association (2000) describes a personality disorder as “a group of disorders characterised by pervasive patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and the self that interfere with the individual's long-term functioning and are not limited to isolated episodes.” Another article from the American Psychological Association, (2010) describes the cause of personality disorders to be a product of genetics, childhood trauma, high reactivity, verbal abuse and the relationship one shares with their peers. Amy inherited her tendency of perfectionism from her mother and experiencing the control she had over her life coupled with her inability to live up to the standards of Amazing Amy most likely exacerbated her disorder.
Amy seemingly falls under an umbrella of personality disorders, more specifically, that of Cluster B. (Kim, 2014) Amy meets all seven of the diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder: violation of the law, deceitfulness, impulsiveness, irritability, aggressiveness, disregard for the safety of self and others, consistent irresponsibility, and lack of remorse. We can note that Amy has a history of accusing others of abuse–she functions with a sense of vendetta, whether that be because an ex-boyfriend, Tommy, wouldn’t wear the tie she gifted to him–for which she punishes him by framing him for sexually assaulting her. Or, because of the infidelity displayed by her husband, or purely because a partner was too “lazy.” She considers herself judge, jury and executioner.
Amy also meets the criteria for borderline personality disorder. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2022) BPD is characterised by an individual’s inability to regulate their emotions, a loss of core identity, feelings of anger and dissociation, extreme bouts of anger and short-lived interpersonal relationships as well as parasuicidal behaviour. Amy does not have any real friends, the only friend we see throughout the duration of the film is a piece of the ploy she creates as part of her manipulation—the rest are only her romantic partners, with whom she forms a bond intensely and quickly and almost utilises them as a project. She discards them just as quickly, as she tires of them and realises they aren’t at par with her apotheosised view of herself.
As Amy flees the crime scene she had staged, she changes her appearance and finds temporary housing to reside in as she checks off the days until she commits suicide so the police are able to find her body. At her accommodation, she is the object of suspicion by her neighbour and is robbed of whatever funds she had on her person. With no other choice, she contacts another old boyfriend–Desi. Desi is similar to her in ways, he too comes from power and wealth and attempts to assert control over Amy.
At this juncture of the film, we witness yet again, an extreme change in mood and heart from Amy as she becomes transfixed by an interview Nick does on national television and pleads for her to come back. We see this as a pivotal and horrifying look into her psyche. She views people as playthings that she is able to manipulate and mould into whatever she desires–serving as further evidence of her personality disorder.
Once again, Amy frames Desi for sexual assault and kidnapping, murders him and returns home to her husband–who is now fully aware of the truth. She announces to the world that she is pregnant with Nick’s child, trapping him in a lifetime of cycles of manipulation and control.
References:
American Psychological Association. APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://dictionary.apa.org/personality-disorder
American Psychological Association. What causes personality disorders? American Psychological Association. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/topics/personality-disorders/causes
Duca, L. (2014, October 3). A psychiatrist weighs in on 'Gone Girl’. HuffPost. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/amy-gone-girl-psychiatrist_n_5922842
Kim, J. (2014, October 6). Reality of the depiction of mental illness in the character Amy from "Gone girl". Health. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.health.com/condition/antisocial-personality-disorder/is-that-gone-girl-character-a-psychopath
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Borderline Personality Disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/borderline-personality-disorder
Comments
Post a Comment