Looking for Eric is a 2009 Ken Loach film set in Manchester UK. Now, we all know that psychopaths figure very, very prominently in thousands of movies, TV shows, novels, and real life, etc., but never seem to be identified for what they are. We don't learn what psychopaths actually are. That's why I was so surprised that this film did actually go there for a bit. It's not really the focus of the story, so I wasn't expecting it all. It actually did reveal a bit of truth about psychopaths.
At first, it seemed like a depressing story of a tortured, middle-aged, working-class, twice-divorced man called Eric living with two unruly, undisciplined teen-aged sons who don't respect him a whit. He's on the edge of a breakdown, and his only outlet is football fandom. His only saving grace are his co-worker and football-fan pub buddies who genuinely seem to care about him, though he takes them for granted.
As a lark, the men try out a visualization exercise in which they're supposed to connect with a personal hero. Eric's is famously philosophical football legend Eric Cantona. Thereafter, the specter of Cantona mysteriously appears in Eric's room while he's at a low point and begins to advise him about how to improve his life. This fantastical aspect persists throughout the rest of the film.
SEMI-SPOILER ALERT - can't be avoided if I'm to explain how this has to do with an awakening about psychopaths.
Anyway, the point: one of Eric's ne'er-do-well sons falls into the outer orbit of a local psychopath, recently out of jail and enriching himself via his tried-and-true gangster antics. Long story short, he coerces the kid (with violence and threats to harm family) into harboring a handgun so that he can use it when he wants but won't be caught with it -- quite a big deal in the UK. He then proceeds to use it to shoot people. Eric finds the gun in his son's room and finally gets the nerve to confront the kid. Eric is shocked and tells the kid to get out of this situation with the psycho, but the kid insists that you cannot reason with the guy, that "he's not like you or your friends. He just doesn't care." He feels trapped.
Not quite getting it, Eric decides to confront the psycho, who promptly uses frightening intimidation tactics to get Eric to tow the line and keep hiding the gun in his house, and video-records the whole, humiliating, intimidation sequence for YouTube. Eric is cowed and continues to harbor this destructive secret, despite the potential consequences for his family. He feels trapped. Going to the police would mean a minimum 5-year sentence for his son. After a shooting, the police get wind that the psycho may've been the shooter but can't get proof. Interestingly, their method of investigating the man's acquaintances was shown. It was a tremendously scary SWAT raid on Eric's house during which his entire family was arrested. They didn't find the gun, though, which was still in the house.
Eric's hero, Cantona, materializes to consult, tells Eric that there are always alternatives and reminds him that he has a network, his friends, his "teammates." Eric can't summon the guts -- he's too ashamed -- "What am I supposed to tell them? Hey, oh by the way, my lad's minding a gun for the local psychopath who shoots people for laughing at the color of his shoes?!" Cantona says Eric must trust his friends. So, with nowhere else to turn, he finally does tell them. Sure enough, they want to help. One of the guys promptly rushes in with a book about psychopaths and summarizes his research for the others, "Psychos," he says, slamming down the book, "they don't give a flying [bleep]! You can't negotiate with them. You can't reason with them. The only thing you can do is to [bleep] them up, scare the {bleep] out of them. You've gotta make them believe that this is not [bleeping] worth it."
I won't spoil the very end, but, basically, the group stands together and acts together to deal with the situation without doing anything to physically harm the psycho. The solution they choose is not one I'd recommend, certainly not ideal, and probably serves mainly to make an exciting and emotional ending to the story. Now, this ending could certainly be considered to be a disinformational twist about psychopaths. I'm not sure you simply have to scare them -- but it could have been analagous to something like "exposing them," which they do seem to fear.
At first, it seemed like a depressing story of a tortured, middle-aged, working-class, twice-divorced man called Eric living with two unruly, undisciplined teen-aged sons who don't respect him a whit. He's on the edge of a breakdown, and his only outlet is football fandom. His only saving grace are his co-worker and football-fan pub buddies who genuinely seem to care about him, though he takes them for granted.
As a lark, the men try out a visualization exercise in which they're supposed to connect with a personal hero. Eric's is famously philosophical football legend Eric Cantona. Thereafter, the specter of Cantona mysteriously appears in Eric's room while he's at a low point and begins to advise him about how to improve his life. This fantastical aspect persists throughout the rest of the film.
SEMI-SPOILER ALERT - can't be avoided if I'm to explain how this has to do with an awakening about psychopaths.
Anyway, the point: one of Eric's ne'er-do-well sons falls into the outer orbit of a local psychopath, recently out of jail and enriching himself via his tried-and-true gangster antics. Long story short, he coerces the kid (with violence and threats to harm family) into harboring a handgun so that he can use it when he wants but won't be caught with it -- quite a big deal in the UK. He then proceeds to use it to shoot people. Eric finds the gun in his son's room and finally gets the nerve to confront the kid. Eric is shocked and tells the kid to get out of this situation with the psycho, but the kid insists that you cannot reason with the guy, that "he's not like you or your friends. He just doesn't care." He feels trapped.
Not quite getting it, Eric decides to confront the psycho, who promptly uses frightening intimidation tactics to get Eric to tow the line and keep hiding the gun in his house, and video-records the whole, humiliating, intimidation sequence for YouTube. Eric is cowed and continues to harbor this destructive secret, despite the potential consequences for his family. He feels trapped. Going to the police would mean a minimum 5-year sentence for his son. After a shooting, the police get wind that the psycho may've been the shooter but can't get proof. Interestingly, their method of investigating the man's acquaintances was shown. It was a tremendously scary SWAT raid on Eric's house during which his entire family was arrested. They didn't find the gun, though, which was still in the house.
Eric's hero, Cantona, materializes to consult, tells Eric that there are always alternatives and reminds him that he has a network, his friends, his "teammates." Eric can't summon the guts -- he's too ashamed -- "What am I supposed to tell them? Hey, oh by the way, my lad's minding a gun for the local psychopath who shoots people for laughing at the color of his shoes?!" Cantona says Eric must trust his friends. So, with nowhere else to turn, he finally does tell them. Sure enough, they want to help. One of the guys promptly rushes in with a book about psychopaths and summarizes his research for the others, "Psychos," he says, slamming down the book, "they don't give a flying [bleep]! You can't negotiate with them. You can't reason with them. The only thing you can do is to [bleep] them up, scare the {bleep] out of them. You've gotta make them believe that this is not [bleeping] worth it."
I won't spoil the very end, but, basically, the group stands together and acts together to deal with the situation without doing anything to physically harm the psycho. The solution they choose is not one I'd recommend, certainly not ideal, and probably serves mainly to make an exciting and emotional ending to the story. Now, this ending could certainly be considered to be a disinformational twist about psychopaths. I'm not sure you simply have to scare them -- but it could have been analagous to something like "exposing them," which they do seem to fear.
