I really need to do some multi-tasking because yesterday my Picture of Dorian Gray audiobook sent me to sleep for four hours, and I didn’t get all the work done I need to if I’m going to pass looming exams. So we’re going to revise together!

Subject #1: Psychology

Question: How many links from the syllabus can Francesca make to the film We Need to Talk About Kevin? (There are a few spoilers coming up.)

 

Answer: at least three.

•  Kevin and his mother did not appear to bond very well. When a babby is very little, it is generally considered that there is a sensitive period of attachment between the babby and their primary care giver. A bloke named Bowlby came up with this idea. Essentially an infant needs to form a nice secure bond with at least one person in order to form nice secure bonds with other people later in life (this is called the continuity hypothesis). There are a few different types of attachment, however, and Kevin’s does not appear to be secure, but insecure-aviodant or insecure-resistant. Or possibly insecure-disorganised. This can result in aggressive behaviour in later life (mass murder). Incidentally, mothers of insecurely-attached babbies are less responsive to crying (walking through building work to drown out Kevin’s screaming).
• Kevin did not seem have a biological abnormality prompting him to resort to mass murder, but Freud’s psychodynamic approach could be on to something – perhaps his id was all “I want mummy’s attention” when his ego and superego were developing, and he projected these feelings toward Eva as a teenager by committing mass murder. Or maybe he learnt mass murder by playing video games with his dad and listening to Eva bitch about fat people.
• Kevin did not conform to social norms because he killed lots of people. In fact, he deviated rather strongly. He was pretty highly-functioning, however, like Harold Shipman.

I should add that as I’m not a trained psychologist, and Kevin is fictional, I can’t actually decide what turned him to genocide. I can speculate though… This is fun, we should do it more often. Maybe Jesus Christ Superstar for RS.