Screenplay Systems : Reel
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ackstory.html


Backstory


In developing the Narcissistic Personality it is important to consider
the parental history. A highly critical family environment dominated by
extremely demanding parents generally marks the childhood of the
Narcissistic character. In such a family the child's primary function is
to enhance the mother's or father's self-esteem: the child as accessory
(Mommie Dearest, Gypsy); the child as proof of the excellence of the
parent for producing it. When the child in such a family fails to live
up to such stringent parental expectations (which are inevitable), the
child will be the target of criticism, either direct or indirect, and
suffer rejection. The damage occurs during the child's formative years,
a time when nurturing and the discovery and fostering of a functional
personality are crucial. King Henry II (Becket) demeans, criticizes, and
physically abuses his children in much the same way as he was by his
father. The Narcissist begets the Narcissist. Sometimes you see a
variation on this. Baby Jane's childhood is a textbook scenario. She is
well aware of her role as the breadwinner in the family, and she never
hesitates to remind everyone of this. The role reversal of parent and
child is evident when she chastises her parents for not immediately
succumbing to her whim for ice cream. She is a father's stage dream
incarnate. She sings to him, about him, and with him. He, starry eyed,
is more than happy to use her as an extension of his own ambitions, and
he jumps at the chance to join her on stage as her dancing partner. Baby
Jane's mother, in turn, is taciturn, withdrawn, a woman who does not
speak, smile, or venture a hand in her child's upbringing. Baby Jane is
denied nothing and, thus, she develops without forming any of the
barriers that entail restraint.

The Narcissist's mother often is emotionally cold and exploitative and
tends to disregard her child's need for individuality. Instead of
providing the child a healthy role model, she instead wants to use the
child as a mirror. She molds the child to meet her own needs instead of
guiding the child through its own growth. The emotional relationship is
in effect reversed, the child providing the nurturing for the needy
parent. Unfortunately, this is confusing to identity and to the
formation of the child's nascent psyche. The child grows up frustrated
and unable to develop in a positive direction. They are likely to strive
in vain for perfection in himself, seeking to be an adequate mirror for
a rejecting mother/father in order to gain her/his approval-approval
that was withheld during the most crucial period of his early life.
Emily Ann Faulkner (The Goddess) is motivated throughout her life-from
scholastic achievement as a young schoolgirl to Hollywood stardom-by
sole end of winning her mother's approval and love, something that was
lost to Emily at a very early age. Such children typically grow up with
identity confusion as well as with ingrained feelings of shame,
emptiness, and inferiority. As a defense against these unpleasant
emotions, the child often will exhibit their opposites. They may act
contemptuously of others, self-righteous, proud, vain, and superior.

Freud suggested that the parents' selfless adoration of their child
creates distortions in the child's self-perception. As children they
grow doing as they are told, believing that they are wonderful and
brilliant. As these parental distortions continue over the years, the
child internalizes them and will develop an exaggerated sense of
self-worth. Such children will become grandiose and insufferable. In
many cases, the parents are merely trying to resolve their own
disappointments in life by centering all of their attention and
adulation on their children. They want their child to have it all and
not to be subjected to the harsh realities of the same cold, hard life
that made them so miserable. The pampered "Baby Princess" (Baby Jane)
grows up to be the despotic "Her Majesty" (geriatric Baby Jane). Such a
Narcissistic adult is little more than a child-one who is totally
astonished when he does not receive the adoration and entitlement he
feels is his due. Never forget Norma Desmond's immortal words,
insisting, when the subject of her fallen star is broached: "I'm still
big! It's pictures that have gotten small!"