Antihero.

September 23, 2024

*Adapted from a psychology assignment for Personality I had a few weeks ago. I promise new content us coming soon y’all*

I am a huge movie buff. I love all genres of movies, from coming-of-age to slasher horror. But, for me, the genre that dominates all others would have to be the Neo Noir genre. Directors like Stanley Kubrick and Darren Aronofsky have carved the genre into the twisted and insightful content it is today. I think the best way to describe a Neo Noir movie to someone would be calling it a combination of a drama and a horror film. The drama comes from the storyline and cinematography, where the horror comes from the overarching themes. The film website Backstage names the some of the defining features of the genre as follows: Vivid cinematography, plenty of twists and turns, feelings of unease and paranoia, and most importantly, an empathetic antihero. Some of my personal favorite movies in the genre include American Psycho (also an amazing book, I might add), Donnie Darko, American Beauty, Gone Girl, Seven, and Bad Times at the El Royal.

I think what makes the Neo Noir genre so gripping is the use of the antihero. I honestly hate watching a movie about a really good person. It’s boring. The antihero is just so much more interesting. Because, if we are being honest, everyone is an antihero in some way. We all do questionable things sometimes and think unkind thoughts sometimes and be “bad people” sometimes. The antihero allows for pieces of media and art to commiserate with its audience while providing a vessel of human imperfection. What separates an antihero from just a general villain is their relatability in ways we don’t want to admit. Would I personally frame my stupid husband for my own disappearance and murder if I saw him wipe sugar off another woman’s lips just like he did for me when we first met? No. But Gone Girl’s Amy Dunne’s notorious “Cool Girl” monologue speaks to many women on a very personal level. (Kaya and I probably bring it up once a month and I can quote the whole thing.)

I think people want a main character that exhibits the same flaws as them but in a more intensive yet empathetic way. It really says a lot about the human condition and the ways we crave understanding for the not-so-beautiful pieces of ourselves. Or, more likely, we crave validation that our bad acts do not define our perception. Neo Noir offers an opportunity for this dichotomy. Looking at Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive: The driver spends his free time as a getaway driver for criminals and kills multiple people throughout the movie. But, to audiences, he is not a hated figure. He’s shy. He’s handsome. He is warm and caring towards his neighbor and her son. He falls in love and is protective. Although the average person is not a getaway driver and does not kill multiple people, I think we can all find peace in admiring and enjoying a flawed character who does.

I think this is rather telling about the nature of personality. No one has a perfect personality. Everyone has bad qualities and does morally grey things, no matter how hard they try. I personally think that a basic aspect of personality is the search for understanding and connection, not regardless of, but including the bad. Films with antiheros are a mass way of communicating that understanding and connection without it being overly specified for an individual. The underlying message reaches people and allows them to ascribe it to their own lives. It’s why you might think Tom Cruise is a little crazy for going to a secret elite sex cult after his wife told him she sometimes fantasizes about other men in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, but you don’t hate him for it. I am sure we have all spiraled a little too much when receiving unsettling news from your significant other (not that I blame Nicole Kidman because, hey, at least she was honest).

The American Psychological Association defines personality as “The enduring characteristics and behaviors that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life, including major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns.” What draws me to this definition is the phrase “adjustment to life.” Our actions, our intentions behind those actions, and the reasonings for those actions are all aspects of what make up our external and internal perception, an element of what molds our personality. But personality is not just a single set of actions or intentions; it is a conglomerate of actions and “adjustments” throughout our life. Relating back to the Neo Noir genre, people are pulled to not only consuming but creating in this genre to show that our imperfections are not definitive in a negative sense. While characters like Amy Dunne and the Driver use extremes to illustrate this, they are indicative of a more universal and mellow human imperfection.

The key to the Neo Noir antihero is that they are redeeming. In Shutter Island, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is redeemed by his love and guilt for his wife (whom he killed) and his children (whom his wife killed). In Eyes Without a Face, the murderous Dr. Génessier is slightly redeemed by the motivations of his killings: To try and fix his daughter’s disfigured face from the car accident he caused. I am not trying to say that the antihero’s actions are excusable, but they come with some intention that offers a glimmer of redeemability to audiences. To me, this is the reason that people love these films so much. They see a figure like them but inflated, yet still understand the humanity behind their eyes. It is validating that errors in one’s personality and “adjustments to life” are not a one-dimensional view of said person. I think it shows we are multi-facetted.

To me, personality is this angsty, mysterious unknown of a phenomenon. Yes, psychologists have research and theories that we will go over in class. But I think there is something so mysterious about the development of are what tie us to one another. But I don’t mean this in a bad way. I mean this in a very human and innate way. They connect us possibly more than our triumphs.