VIDEO: THERE COULD BE A PSYCHOPATH NEAR YOU RIGHT NOW
Calling all Crime Channel fiends. If you are one of those people who just HAVE to find out why a five-year-old murdered her mother, or watching anything and everything about the mind of a psychopath, this is for you. The most famous fictional psychopath is probably Hannibal Lecter, who is both creepy and charming enough to haunt your dreams at night, but there are many other movies about psychopaths out there.
Some seem a bit too far-fetched though, so psychiatrists decided to get together to study 400 movies to find the most realistic psychopath.
A psychopath is, simply explained, a varying combination of cold-heartedness and violence. The most extreme psychopaths kill without remorse, mutilating victims with as much emotion as you or I might have brush our teeth. These are "classic" or "idiopathic" psychopaths, but sometimes the disorder is less obvious, like manipulative smooth talkers who aren't necessarily violent but feel nothing for manipulating people.
Anton Chigurh, from "No Country for Old Men" turned out to be the most realistic psychopath with psychiatrists saying: "He seems to be effectively invulnerable and resistant to any form of emotion or humanity." Hans Beckert, in the film, "M" came in second as a Texan who confessed to hundreds of murders, it was actually based on the life of an actual serial killer. The psychiatrists say that: "The character's inability to plan ahead, coupled with his turbulent personal life and poor family relationships, make him a textbook idiopathic psychopath."
So why not the traditional serial killers like Norman Bates of "Psycho"? While equally entertaining and probably even more terrifying, their character traits don't necessarily fit the mould of a psychopath. The group of psychiatrists said: " Specifically, Norman Bates seems more delusional – or psychotic – than psychopathic. He is at the mercy of a fantasy, not complicit in a real-world crime."
So a psychopath isn't necessarily someone who murders people in their basement but could be literally anyone around you (might wanna keep an eye on your roommate). Now that we have creeped you out a little, see if you can figure out the mystery of the Jamison Family.