Review of The Squid and the Whale (2005) by Deirdreb. — 19 Jun 2006

I have watched all the commentaries on this movie, many of the reviews, even listened to the director/writer talking about the movie--and his love of psychology.[***SPOILERS***] Does anybody else GET that this movie is about the effects of pathological narcissism on a family? People who have narcisstic parents go through this nightmare of splitting, improper boundaries, and nighmarish selfishness ALL THE TIME--whether the parents stay together or not.

The movie portays the anguish of the experience of the disorder in a parent--the overvaluation/devaluation funhouse--the dad would be diagnosed as Narcisstic Personality Proper, probably with overt borderline functioning.

The son APPEARS to be narcisstically injured from an early age...to attempt to rescue the healthy, dependant parts of a person from the rigid, maladaptive narcissitic defense mechanisms is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, as you can kind of see from the narcissism of the dad.

When I say the film, I thought the director had purposely and knowledgeably made an objects-relation film about pathological narcissism in a family....so many people have narcissistic parents, that this movie just makes you cry for all of us who do.

..the people who DON'T get it are those who probably have healthy parents with good self-esteem--and though they are clueless, THEY are the lucky ones. Great film--those of us who GET it probably lived it.

Pathological narcissism feeds down through families--this is an excellent rendition of the damaged lives it leaves to carry on this painful personality disorder.