Aligning with Sociopaths: Character Engagement Strategies in Highsmith’s and Minghella’s Talented Mr. Ripleys

Lech Zdunkiewicz

doi:10.18778/2083-2931.11.09

Authors

Lech Zdunkiewicz University of Wrocław https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6735-2989

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-2931.11.09

Keywords:

empathy elicitation, antisocial personality disorder, emphatic concern, antihero, enjoyment, character engagement, identification

Abstract

Patricia Highsmith’s stated reason for writing The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) was to see if she could elicit empathetic engagement for her immoral protagonist Tom Ripley. Amongst other factors, she achieves her goal by allowing readers to align affectively with the protagonist’s road to self-discovery. Her experiment culminates with Tom’s fruition into an aggressive consumer, thus resolving his and the readers’ apprehensions. On the other hand, Anthony Minghella’s Ripley leaves more room for interpretation. In his interviews, the filmmaker states that he does not aim for his protagonist to remain the sociopath from Highsmith’s novel. Instead, his story explores the absence of a father figure and how it affects his main characters. Consequently, he frames Tom as an underprivileged youth whose emotional instability brings about his demise. To this end, he employs victimization scenes, as well as moral disengagement cues. I argue that, amongst other factors, such an application of an industry-tested design of emphatic concern elicitation obscures the filmmaker’s initial intent. As a result, Minghella’s Tom can be seen as a manipulative sociopath, as well as a victimized tragic hero.

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Author Biography

Lech Zdunkiewicz, University of Wrocław

Lech Zdunkiewicz is currently enrolled in the PhD program at the University of Wrocław. His primary interests include narrative techniques in modern American literature and film. His MA thesis for the University of Wrocław was a finalist of the MA Thesis Award of the Polish Association of American Studies for 2017. His current research concerns character engagement strategies in literature and film. Since 2008 he has worked in independent and studio film productions.

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