It’s extraordinarily straightforward to jot down off most characters on “The White Lotus” as narcissists, however there’s one character in Season 3 who is de facto catching a medical psychologist’s consideration.
Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a New York Occasions bestselling writer and an knowledgeable on narcissistic relationships, took to her YouTube channel Tuesday to unpack Season 3, Episode 4 of the hit Max anthology collection.
In her video, Durvasula took a selected curiosity within the character of Rick (Walton Goggins), who comes off as a impolite curmudgeon with a delicate and oddly alluring facet.
Durvasula, nevertheless, sees Rick a bit in a different way than most individuals and describes him in her video as “the vulnerable narcissistic guy who has the young British girlfriend,” referring to Rick’s associate on the present, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wooden).
Durvasula identified that it’s very straightforward to get connected to an individual like Rick, and that even she has a tough time not succumbing to his charms. She even admitted that she’d be eager about treating him as a affected person.
“Even I find myself kind of strangely trauma-bonded to that man, because I’m like, ‘Oh, I can see if we did the work with you we could get you there.’ But then I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so mean,’” Durvasula mentioned.
A susceptible narcissist, generally known as a “covert narcissist,” is more durable to identify as a result of they don’t overtly present telltale indicators of narcissism just like the extra acquainted grandiose narcissist.
Consultants advised The Guardian in 2021 {that a} clear signal of this extra sneaky type of narcissism features a sense of victimhood. A covert narcissist, based on these specialists, can “come across as sweet and innocent” and even “shy,” however they make the most of “guilt-tripping, generosity as a means to control and feigning illness to gain sympathy.”
“In my experience, the covert is far more dangerous than a grandiose,” Lorna Slade, a psychotherapist who makes a speciality of therapeutic from narcissistic abuse, advised the Guardian. “Not only because they are harder to spot, but crucially, since they are more shame-based, they are more easily triggered into what’s known as ‘narcissistic rage,’ which drives them to take spectacular revenge.”
Durvasula mentioned in her YouTube video Tuesday that Rick appears to be pushed by narcissistic rage in his quest to find the proprietor of the White Lotus lodge in Thailand. In Season 3 of the “White Lotus,” Rick believes that this man (allegedly) murdered his father whereas his father was (allegedly) simply making an attempt to assist folks in Thailand.
Durvasula mentioned that “a classical part of vulnerable narcissism” in Rick’s character is that he’s “holding on to this grievance.” She provides that Rick appears to imagine that “all of the problems he’s had in his life” are due “to this loss of his father, that he could have been a better man had this not happened.”
She clarified that having a grievance alone is “not unusual and quite normal,” however added: “The way he’s holding on to it, like it’s become a single life sort of mission, and his entire narrative of his life is stuck in that — that’s a very common through line we see with people who are vulnerably narcissistic.”
She added that when she works with susceptible narcissists, an enormous a part of “the work is helping loosen them from that narrative.”
All in all, Durvasula applauded the present for its potential to realistically painting a susceptible narcissist.
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“That’s a really meaty narcissistic story,” Durvasula mentioned of Rick’s storyline. “Because they’re doing a fantastic job of depicting how vulnerable narcissism shows up. It’s actually a very nuanced storyline.”
To listen to Durvasula’s tackle how Rick’s narcissism performs into his dynamic with Chelsea on “The White Lotus,” take a look at her video in full.
