PRIMAL FEAR(1996)

ABIGAIL BROWN

***WARNING THIS DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS. WATCHING THE MOVIE FIRST IS

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED***

PSYCHOLOGY BASIS

•Dissociative Identity Disorder: Two or more largely complete personalities in one body•Anxiety disorder: Constant anxious feeling for no

reason•Dissociative amnesia: Sudden selective memory

loss after stressful events

PSYCHOLOGY BASIS

•Mental disorders: Disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior (Ex. depression, anxiety disorders, or schizophrenia)•Mood disorders: Persistent disruptions in mood•Self-fulfilling prophecy: A belief that causes itself to

become true

MEDIA• Roy is a very aggressive and

dangerous person who we know throughout the movie• Martin Vail is an attorney

defending Aaron in the case• An archbishop was brutally

murdered and Aaron was seen fleeing the scene covered in blood

• Aaron is a polite, kind, young boy with a severe stutter who is accused of murdering the archbishop

MEDIA

• Mr. Vail decides to defend Aaron for free because he truly believes he is innocent• Mr. Vail is also competing

with an ex who is the prosecutor

CONNECTION• Aaron is constantly anxious for an

unknown reason and tells Mr. Vail about his frequent blackouts• He is quickly diagnosed with mental

and mood disorders which help cause the anxiety, stuttering, and blackouts• After a few video recorded therapy

sessions Aaron gets extremely stressed out and is then diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder

CONNECTION• We are then introduced to Roy who is

Aarons other personality• He becomes extremely aggressive,

violent, and his stutter is gone• Because of his diagnosis, Mr. Vail is

able to convince the jury that Aaron had no control over what happened and that he is mentally sick• Roy is even seen in court where he acts

out violently and chokes the prosecutor

**********SPOILERS**********• Aaron is proved not guilty of

murder but has to go to a mental facility until they think he can be released• Immediately after Aaron is

found not guilty, he reveals the truth to Mr. Vail and thanks him for all he’s done• Roy made Aaron up and acted

like him the entire time so he could get away with the murder of the archbishop

Mr. Vail: “There never was a Roy?”Roy: “Jesus Christ, Marty. If that's what you think, I'm disappointed in you. There never was an Aaron, counsellor.”

• Self-fulfilling prophecy: A belief that causes itself to become true

• Roy believed he was Aaron so he became Aaron and managed to make everyone around him believe that he was a victim of himself• He convinced so many people that he got away with murder

including a lawyer, counselor, jury, and judge,

REFERENCES

• http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/34566.html• http://www.remorselessfiction.com/movie-primal-fear.html