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Advice on psychopathic character story (in development)

M

MistaDobalina

I want the audience to feel sympathy for the man.

So...are there any movie suggestions y'all have that are similar to this subject? First two that come to my mind which convey the feel I want are Taxi Driver (not really a psychopath but a victim of his environment) and Mr. Brooks (sympathetic for the disease of the character as he wants to quit but can't). Any others I should research?

Short films similar to this subject that jump into your memory?
 
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If you want people to sympathize you have to think of your target audience and try to evoke empathy. If they can relate to why the character has chosen his/her path, the more likely they are to sympathize.
 
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Read Richard Matheson's 'I am Legend'. The main character Robert Neville is not a psychopath, but being alone he gets very derranged. You start to see how a normal person can become completely changed and driven to violence. Matheson really give you an insight into how he thinks and you do start to feel real empathy for him.
(I know you asked for a movie, but the movie really doesn't express the emotion of the book)

Also this is not a movie either, but you should seriously watch the TV series Dexter. If there was ever a psychopath worth liking and empathising with, then it's Dexter. He gives a running narration of his thoughts, so you should pick up a good idea of how he thinks.
 
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The first thing I would think about is how literal you are going to go on the mental illness aspect associated with psychopath/sociopathy... I would do at least a little research into various mental illnesses or personality disorders, partly because the more clear you are on your character's state of mind, the more interesting the character and partly because what you find out when researching actual mental illness can be a lot more interesting then what is often portrayed on movie and t.v screens.

These aren't all psychopaths, but they are the characters who sprung into my mind w. your question: Darth Vader, Inspector Javert, Hannibal Lector, the Devil in any movie about the Devil, Stanley Kowalski, The Joker and Harvey Dent in The Dark Night, Hans Gruber, Cardinal Richelieu (in most movie version, not so much the book), Khan, Phyliss Dietrichson, Alex DeLarge .... A lot of these characters are over the top and cartoonish, but they also often win the audience over more than the heroes. I think what makes a lot of them so compelling is that a. we understand what is motivating them, b. They are dynamic and interesting characters, not mopey/self-absorbed in a boring way/emo, c. a lot of them have an edge of "fun", in that the audience gets to vicariously experience breaking the rules that society has defined for us. I think that what makes these villains likable would probably transfer to a character that was less over-the top, more serious ala Taxi Driver, just maybe heavier on the motives/dynamic end, understated on the fun....
 
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Comedy is a good device for making a psychopath likeable. If they're witty and have a sense of humour, the audience might be so amused that their actions seem less extreme. Of course you have to ballance it right or they might become sadistic.

The Joker in the Dark Knight was good, but he was too derranged and sadistic to be very likeable or easy to empathise with. I'd say that the Joker played by Mark Hamill in the Animated Batman series was more likeable, because he was extremely silly. He was more of a clown.
 
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And that's what I like about Heath ledgers Joker...that he was dark. It was perfect. I don't want my character to be likeable because he's silly...I just want the audience to understand his situation.

I Am Legend is a great example (the book) thanks for that. I had read it but never thought about it. He's so alone that his mind begins to change as he starts accepting the fateful harshness of his environment.

There's one thing I want to base my character on and that's "victim of his environment". I know it's hard for a lot of people to feel sympathy for someone like this living in our modern world saying "well why can't he just TRY HARDER?"...but it happens everyday where a man will become a very dark person because he hasn't had much luck in life or b/c of other factors, environmental etc.

Again, I don't want him to be silly...I just want him to be a normal guy with a dark inner self.

I'll start elaborating on my outline of him soon. Thanks for the advice guys.
 
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What I like about deranged psychopaths (and boy do I love writing for them) is the fact that you can make them as twisted as you want and that there's virtually no limits to their sadism.

With my screenplay, "Stranger", the main antagonist is very psychotic but what intrigued me about his character and what set him apart from the rest is how he thought. There's one scene in it where he, Wayne, justifies murder over rape and goes into great detail on why he thinks this.

Another thing you can try, which was done exceptionally well with TDK's Joker, is blend in some elements of dark humor in his dialogue and actions. Make it to where a sick joke is made, which causes the audience to be nervous on whether or not to laugh.

Do some reading up on psychology, especially anti-social conditions, and it will help with constructing your character. And not just the psycho's/schizos, but every character. Like Indy and his fear of snakes, or Monk and his OCD, or Leonard in "Memento" and his short term memory loss. Psychology is a great way to figure out how your character ticks.

Hope this helps.
 
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