It’s no revelation that some of the most famous people have the some of most interesting sex-lives. We hear stories of relationships collapsing dramatically, sometimes even violently. But despite the fall from grace, I’m often somehow left with a sense that for a time, before this - before their luck turned - they lived a fantasy life. Should I wish to be in that life and just hope that I don’t make the same mistakes? There are lots of ways to get there now. As I’ve looked at the love-lives of some great icons though, I’ve found that narcissism, with its traumatic origins, has something to say about celebrity romance even at its best.
You make a very important point. Behind the glamour lies a reality. The divorce rate alone among celebrities points to enormous problems.
But the role of narcissism in this is not something I've seen explored. But it makes sense. If the narcissist is projecting a fake persona, a rehearsed performance, what happens when they are forced to deal with another human being on a more mature level?
The downfall of narcissists tends to be reality. And it doesn't get any more real than an intimate relationship.
Thanks Spaceman Spiff! Yes in narcissism the real self (raw emotions based in the body) gets divorced from a constructed persona/ facade. Authentic meeting of self with self is a challenge.
I think of it as a small immature child driving the body but buried deep inside, never developing. The fake projection matures into what works, leaving the real self underdeveloped. It is an act. So it makes sense the mannequin cannot form a bond with a real human.
You make a very important point. Behind the glamour lies a reality. The divorce rate alone among celebrities points to enormous problems.
But the role of narcissism in this is not something I've seen explored. But it makes sense. If the narcissist is projecting a fake persona, a rehearsed performance, what happens when they are forced to deal with another human being on a more mature level?
The downfall of narcissists tends to be reality. And it doesn't get any more real than an intimate relationship.
Thanks Spaceman Spiff! Yes in narcissism the real self (raw emotions based in the body) gets divorced from a constructed persona/ facade. Authentic meeting of self with self is a challenge.
I think of it as a small immature child driving the body but buried deep inside, never developing. The fake projection matures into what works, leaving the real self underdeveloped. It is an act. So it makes sense the mannequin cannot form a bond with a real human.
Mannequin is a good term. Lowen’s book goes into detail about some physical effects of narcissism on the outer ‘shell’ of the body.
That is the way I tend to think of them. An artificial construct to navigate the world to help protect the vulnerable child who never fully grows up.