Loveable Sociopaths

This week was the premier of 2 Broke Girls/Happy Ending hybrid with a title too racy to spell out, Don’t Trust the B— in Apt 23. Starring the fresh-faced Dreama Walker (Dreama? Really?) and the gorgeous, talented and luminous Krysten Ritter.  Whereas I think this was supposed to be a dark comedy, let’s face it, it is on ABC for god’s sakes, so you need to please the masses where comedy equals someone falling down or getting punched. It is supposed to be dark in which Chloe, Ritter’s character, is a “socialite” in New York City who scams potential roommates by taking a huge deposit and then acting so horrible she drives them away. Furthermore, there’s a crazy woman who has an obsession with Ritter (ooooo, lesbian crushes are so edgy, am I right?) and the pervert who looks through the window at Chloe while she happily strolls around naked, who also gives introspective commentary (think of the neighbor behind the fence from Home Improvement plus incessant masturbating.)

There are a lot of reasons why this show doesn’t work, which I won’t get into, but one of the main reasons is Chloe’s character. We’re supposed to like her DESPITE her selfish, manipulating ways. Even though I’ve only seen two episodes, it’s going to be a hard sell for me. Despite showing some affection towards her new, naive midwestern girlfriend, it seems like the brunt of the show will be her antics and the way she manipulates her roommate. Eventually, she will need to change in order for us to like someone that is also, if were a real person, would be a manipulative, despicable human being.

Sociopaths, like Chloe, although often broken, emotionally damaged characters,  are a hell of a lot more interesting than the do-good, fresh-faced hero. It takes skilled writing, superb acting and character development to make us care for an anti-hero. How have we come to love the following sociopaths?

[Calm down psych majors. I know the term sociopath is a clinical term and I’m not trying to play medical doctor here. For the purposes of this list, I am referring to sociopath as someone who “lacks moral sense, little regard for the feeling and welfare of others, emotional immaturity, and no behavior change after punishment.” Happy now, Dr. Seaver? That was a reference to Growing Pains; Alan Thicks played a psychiatrist and patriarch of the Seaver family. Nevermind. Moving on.]

Dexter Morgan, Dexter

Um, obvs. He is the epitome of the modern anti-hero. For those of you that have been living in a pop-culture cave for the past six years, Dexter is a serial killer who channels his drive to kill into killing those that fit his “code”- those who have done harm to others. Knowing his inability to feel human emotions, he tries his best to care for those who care for him.
Why do we like him?  Aside from the insane charisma of Michael C. Hall, Dexter knows the difference between right and wrong and much of the appeal of the character is his struggle to hide the wrong from society, and the rare times he is “able” to be himself around those who know the real him (although these relationships rarely have happy endings). Over time, the character has developed and grown. His son was born in the fourth season, and his actions are done in genuine love for his son. Seeing Dexter struggle to be a good father has also made us root for him even more.

Dexter is such a great character that often times the viewer will start to blur what is right from wrong; I am often hoping him to kill some people and get really upset at the idea of him getting caught.

Sawyer, Lost

Sure, by the end, we were sobbing when he finally got back together with Juliet and was reunited with his friends, but if you remember, Sawyer started out as a first-class piece of shit. He was a con-man who seduced women and convinced them to give him all of their money, not to mention stealing all the medicine and booze from the plane and making the other survivors pay him for it.
So why do we like him so much? Well, those dimples don’t hurt. Of course, good-looking people get a big pass in life. Sawyer was also deeply affected by the death of his parents, so he also had a Bruce Wayne revenge thing going on. When people act like total POS, we try to find a way, a justification and I think a lot of women (okay, me) went weak in the knees when we found out that he was just a hurt soul looking for someone to really care about. In the end, Sawyer did change by looking out for the other survivors; however, since he started out so horrible his character change made him seem like a hero. Meanwhile, there were several characters that were well-meaning the entire time that didn’t get much credit.

It’s obvious that a lot of sociopaths are also smart (a necessity for manipulating those around them) so they are also some of the wittiest. Exhibit A:

Karen, Will and Grace

The self-centered, privileged and incredibly alcoholic Karen is one of the best sitcom characters ever. EVER. I’m prepared to defend that. In fact, who actually cared about Will and Grace? She and Jack were the clear stars of the show. (Sean Hayes: Why The Three Stooges? Why WHY?) Her one-liners, insults and alcohol-induced insights were what made the show have a darker tone.

So why did we like her? Her snarky comments weren’t just for snark’s sake: it served as commentary on the show itself. She called out the absurdity and faults of the characters for the audience. It’s like the old saying “laugh at yourself before they laugh at you”- some old smart person. Ultimately, she told people the truth as a way to help them, and used her evil magic to get the best for her friends. Funniest example: the ridiculous Barney’s Christmas S&M-themed window display. (Wow, remember when that was the Thursday night must-see?)

Jeff Winger, Community

I’ve already ripped this character apart: I’m not a fan of the character, but many seem to like him, despite his extreme vanity, condescension, materialism and judgement.

So why do we like him? He completes the group. The “study group” is designed to be a United Nations of quirky personalities: the jock, the nerd, the prude, the feminist, the old racist guy…you know. So perhaps alone, Jeff would be a sad, despicable character. As part of the group, he often plays the “straight man” to everyone else’s ridiculous antics. As a guy with funny-one liners, sure he’s great. As a romantic lead with the innocent, emotional Annie? I’m still not convinced.

Patrick Bateman, American Psycho 

If it were a longer list, I’d actually include every single Bret Easton Ellis character, but we’ll start with everyone’s second favorite serial killer. If you’ve only seen the film version of American Psycho, that only lightly touches the surface of the Patrick Bateman’s extra-curricular interests of maiming and torturing women. Bateman is obsessed with appearances and cataloging all the high-end clothing items he and his associates possesses.

Why do we like him? I’d be careful of anyone who likes him as a specific persona or wants to mimic his lifestyle (yikes! If you do, back away slowly from that person). Bateman, as a larger concept, represents a darkly clever representation of all the materialism, shallowness and obsession of the Wall Street type. It’s something many of us loathe and envy at the same time.

And Christian Bale was born for the part: