Psychological Thriller Documentary 

Research a film history subject

In this research I will be looking into fictional characters from media who suffer from some sort of psychological problem. These characters are from a sub-genre "psychological thrillers". I will be researching the minds of Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) Arthur Flex (Joker) Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) and Tyler Durden (Fight Club) and i will come to a conclusion of what these characters are suffering and i will clearly show the impacts they have on these characters

Travis Bickle

Travis Bickle is the main character in Taxi Driver and we see the story unfold entirely from his perspective. Travis is suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) because of his service as a marine in the Vietnam War. In addition, he suffers from insomnia. Insomnia is a symptom of depression. The most accurate diagnosis of Travis Bickle would be that he suffers from schizotypal personality disorder. At times they appear to have a lack of emotions. At other times they may act overly emotional at an inappropriate time. In addition, they may dress, speak, act and believe in things that seem odd to others. Those with schizotypal personality disorder tend to feel uncomfortable and have a difficult time in social circumstances, although they may still be friendly towards others. Overall, Travis has to deal with loneliness, self-hatred, obsession and the need to belong.

Arthur Fleck

Arthur Fleck is the main character of Joker (2019) and this film is very similar to Taxi Driver (even having Robert De Niro as one of the characters he kills) in which we see a man who suffers from mental problems and cannot fit into society. We learn that when Arthur was a child he was physically abused and suffered severe head trauma (and gained PTSD) which had a heavy impact on his mental health as that lead to him suffering from a condition called Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) which causes him to laugh involuntarily which further contributes to the characters status as a misunderstood ostracised social outsider. The uncontrollable laughing causes him pain as he struggles to breath. He also suffers from chronic depression which causes him to only have negative thoughts, as he admits. He also manifests symptoms of psychosis, like hallucinating that one girl who he likes to like him back but in reality she doesn't. He also shows signs of delusions such as randall giving him the gun out of protection and the revolver that Carry 6 bullets shooting 7 bullets (during his first kills) He is also not influenced in a good way by his medication, as he feels bad all the time, despite taking seven different pills. While they are not mentioned by name, educated guess would be that he is taking antipsychotics, which increase depression, but suppress psychotic symptoms and probably some antidepressant, which fails to counter the negative side effects of the antipsychotic. When he stops taking drugs, delusion and psychosis take control over him. Overall, Arthur has to deal with incurable mental illnesses and a society that doesn't accept him.

Patrick Bateman 

Patrick Bateman is the protagonist of American Psycho (2000) and he suffers from 3 personality disorders, Antisocial personality disorder, Narcissistic personality disorder and Borderline personality disorder. We know this because he has an unstable sense of identity (in the opening sequence where he is grooming himself, "there is an idea of a patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me") repeated law breaking, lying to others repeatedly, irritable and aggressive, remorseless, no regard of safety for others, comes off as charming, has a sense of superiority, needs constant admiration, exaggerated sense of self importance, sense of entitlement, envious, arrogant, appears as unemotional, easily jealous, pattern of unstable relationships, impulsive, wide mood swings, chronic feelings of emptiness (at the end of the movie Patrick says to himself "but even after admitting this, there is no catharsis, my punishment continues to elude me, and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself". Overall the character of Patrick Bateman symbolises the embodiment of greed and disgust.

Tyler Durden

Tyler Durden is a protagonist of the movie fight club (1999) to be more specific I'm not looking into Tyler Durden but instead I'm looking into the narrator. This is confusing because the narrator doesn't have a name but him and Tyler Durden are the same person. The narrator has Dissociated identity disorder which is when someone has atleast two distinct and relatively enduring personality states, this disorder is accompanied by memory gaps. This description fits the narrator. He is clinically depressed (insomnia, existential crisis, issues with parents, impotence) which is how it started. He hadn't slept correctly for weeks at a time but only when he was able to cry. Then he wasnt able to cry because of the arrival of Marla Singer. He then went off the deep end and developed a split personality, this is Tyler Durden. Tyler represents everything the narrator wants to be and Tyler's entire purpose is to turn the narrator into Tyler. This is done though the topic of masculinity, Tyler is the redemption of masculinity repackaged as the promise of violence in the interests of social and political anarchy. The relationship between the narrator and Tyler Durden can be summed up with this one quote "Its only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything". In the end Tyler got what he wanted and the narrator became Tyler Durden.

Reflection