The long awaited final Saw movie will be featured in 3D, Angela and I have our usual plans for our Saw Movie Date on the date it comes out. I can’t wait…

This was written about two years ago but thought it was a great fun read.

Diagnosing Anakin Skywalker

by Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD

A group of French researchers have proposed that Anakin Skywalker had Borderline Personality Disorder. This article looks at why, along with the evidence for and against such a diagnosis.

WHAT IS BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER?

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is essentially an inability to modulate (manage) emotion, which means all emotions come out far more intensely than the average person’s — especially the negative ones. Because most of them were raised in unhealthy, abusive situations, people with BPD don’t tend to have healthy coping mechanisms, and that means they experience a lot of difficult emotions. Rage and depression are two of their most common emotional states. The internal chaos is so overwhelming that many self-injure (cut, burn, or otherwise deliberately harm themselves) in an attempt to get the inside pain out into a physical form.
Splitting

If the first hallmark of BPD is self-injury, the second is “splitting.” When children are little, they go through a stage where the “good” Mommy (or “good” Daddy) they love and the “bad” Mommy (Daddy) they get angry with feel like two different people. Most people eventually integrate the two and come to understand that you can love and hate someone at the same time. People with BPD continue to split into adulthood, which means they categorize other people into those who belong on pedestals and those they hate. And they can shift people from one category to the other very quickly.

People with BPD are often frantic to have someone else there to deal with all that emotional overload for them, which can be exhausting for the other person. They will do anything to hold onto the person — scream, cry, beg, threaten to kill themselves (or make an attempt), or use other manipulative methods.
Controversy

BPD is a controversial diagnosis, though. Feminist therapists and institutions tend to feel very strongly about not diagnosing anyone with BPD. They believe the symptoms are actually indicative of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and that referring to someone as “borderline” is stigmatizing them rather than addressing the problem. (Especially because some therapists don’t want to work with BPD — it’s arguably the hardest thing to deal with because BPD clients need so much.)

ANAKIN’S SYMPTOMS

So what about the Anakin we meet in Star Wars episodes I, II, and III?

The diagnosis works, at least for those episodes, if you spin it right.

Anakin has particularly strong negative reactions to a variety of events, which could arguably be due to an inability to deal with the unpleasant feelings they cause. He certainly has trouble taking Obi-Wan’s criticism, and his ourburst in the Tuskan camp after watching his mother die is extreme: he goes berserk and kills everyone. Then when he sees Padme he breaks down, saying, “I killed them… I killed them all…even the women and the children…”

Padme tends to regulate emotion for him, and as a result he has her on a pedestal…until the end of episode III, when she confronts his movement toward the Dark Side. In an instant he goes from loving her to trying to choke her to death.
The Researchers’ Criteria

The researchers provide examples for the diagnostic criteria they feel fits Anakin’s behavior (starred).

Criterion 1: Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment

**His fear of losing his mother is the basis of all his actions. His efforts to save his wife at all costs, in absence of real threat, end with him turning to the dark side.**

Why is losing his mother the basis for everything?

And since Padme’s life is actually in danger at several points during the films, the authors seem to be pathologizing more or less normal behavior.

A better example would be Anakin’s repeated insistence that he wants to become so powerful he’ll be able to keep people from dying because he can’t tolerate losing them.

Criterion 2: a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation

**His relationships with his masters Jedis, in particular Obi-wan, swings from love to hatred.**

This makes sense; going from adoring Padme to being willing to kill her so quickly also fits this category.

Criterion 3: Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

**He experiences a major dissociative episode after his mother’s death and when his wife abandons him.**

There is no evidence of dissociation, which is a split in consciousness that leaves one feeling disconnected from oneself or one’s environment. In more extreme circumstances, people will have amnesia for their behaviors.

But Anakin knows exactly what he did in the Tuskan camp. He justifies his behavior with “I hate them…they’re animals, so I slaughtered them like animals.” At the end he says, “I’m a Jedi, I’m better than that,” which you could argue was the part of him that didn’t want to do it and was stuck watching the rest of him act, but that was added to the DVD release to try to soften what he did. It wasn’t in the version that showed in theaters.

Criterion 4: Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging

**Pod racing from an early age, he often takes unnecessary risks in battles by acting on impulse.**

Children have no real concept of danger or death at the age when Anakin goes pod racing. Anakin does do a lot of other impulsive things, though, long after he knows better.

A good example is jumping out of a “car,” which is hovering hundreds of stories above the ground, to catch Padme’s would-be assassin in another “car” below. He gets in trouble with Obi-Wan constantly because he does things without thinking (or thinks and just doesn’t like what he’s supposed to do instead). And he does go running into fights without much thought.

Criterion 5: Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger His mother’s death induces uncontrollable anger in him.

**His lack of self-control leads him to argue frequently with the members of the council.**

How much of this is just immaturity on Anakin’s part? Should it really be diagnosed?

Criterion 6: identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

**Before turning into Darth Vader he is very unsure of who he was, and what he wanted.**

All teens go through normal identity confusion, figuring out who and what they want to be, but Anakin does know one thing: he wants to be extremely powerful and do whatever he wants.

IS THAT GOOD ENOUGH EVIDENCE?

To carry the diagnosis through episodes IV, V, and VI, you have to find an explanation for Vader’s calm control.

One might be that someone with BPD can often regulate emotions better if he has a strong outside system to keep him from exploding. For example, some people with the diagnosis do well in the military because there’s so much structure and no tolerance for emotional outbursts. The structure regulates them. Likewise, when someone starts behaving inappropriately in a therapist’s office, sometimes the best thing to do is take the tough love approach and tell them to cut it out, put their backside in the chair, and do therapy.

But there are still problems, most notably the fact that there is a better diagnosis, and that’s Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

Grandiosity, a focus on power, a desire to be admired and even worshipped, and a strong belief that he shouldn’t have to play by the rules are all characteristic of NPD, and they’re all characteristic of both Anakin and Darth Vader. He meets all of the criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and he meets them without any real need for explanation.

SO DID ANAKIN SKYWALKER HAVE BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER?

Probably not, but he sure nailed the Narcissistic Personality Disorder diagnosis.

Now, as for what’s wrong with George Lucas, compelled as he seems to be to keep mutilating the original Star Wars films… I don’t have a diagnosis for him, but I sure wish someone would make him stop.

What is it about Jason Statham that I LOVE so much? I rarely find men this attractive, and even more rare with hardly any hair on their head.

Is it the black suit and tie that he wears and or the totally tweaked out Audi he drives, in the series of films “Transporter”? I wonder how many cars Audi has sold just from those movies? Along with the fact that they hired him for their Superbowl commercial. (clip is below)

Is it the movie “Crank”, in which he appears to have rather large manhood?

Is it him playing the role of a loving father and thrown in prison racing his way out, in the movie “Death Race”?

Is it the awesome fighting skills he possesses in all his films.

Or is it just the over all manliness of his appearance? After all just look at those abs..

Jennifer (my Sis), in case your wondering yes this post is for your enjoyment too

I Just watched Transporter 3, which is what inspired this post. In case your wondering I liked 2 the best, then 3, then 1.

I am not sure why but Brandon loves zombie movies. I guess he gets it from me partially because of my love for twisted horror films. Today I asked him to write up a lil something for my blog about his favorite movies, so here it is.

I like zombie movies because it’s like a whole different world. They all ways start off with some type of experiment or disease. In 28 days later it’s an massive disease in Great Britain. In 28 weeks later the Americans cleanse the area, but it comes back and makes it’s way in to Paris. In the Resident Evil trilogy it’s all about the T-Virus which is a experimental drug to enhance the strength of the military troops that went bad and spread. Dawn of the dead it is a mysterious disease that spreads across the world. Quarantine was sick, it’s based on a advanced Rabies type disease. In the movie I am legend, its based on a so called cure for cancer, that goes bad.

My ratings on the following:

28 Days / Weeks Later: Awesome
Resident Evil Trilogy: Awesome
Dawn of the Dead: Cool
Quarantine: Scary
I am Legend: Okay

Here are a few of his favorites, now while some of them are not considered zombies they are commonly considered to be or zombieish. I’m looking for suggestions on others, and who else loves a good zombie movie?

Can’t wait for next months release of Saw V coming Friday October 24th unfortunately my Babylove isn’t a fan at all of horror films so I will have to see if Angela will go with me again. Ohh how I love it!

His message is righteous.
His love is everlasting.
His gift is life.

NAME:Lela M.
WEBSITE: RedSexyLips.com
BORN & RAISED: Southern California
HEIGHT: 5’5
EYE COLOR: Brown
HAIR COLOR:Brown
WEIGHT: Plus-size and Sexy
ETHNICITY: Black/ African American
ZODIAC SIGN: Leo
STATUS: In a relationship
ORIENTATION: Bi
LOVE STYLE: Passionate
PERSONALITY: Easy-going and layed back
SMOKE / DRINK: No / Very Little
EDUCATION: Some College
MUSIC: R&B, Jazz, Reggae, Gospel, Soca, little Rap, Oldies
MOVIES: Romance, Comedy, Action, Si-Fi
BEST FRIENDS: Mandi, Capri, Heather
SIBLINGS: 2 Sisters,1 Brother
HEROES: GOD ,Mom, Dad, and Grandmother
FOR FUN: Draw, Sing, Write, Movies, hang out with friends, spend time with my kids
ADDICTED TO: Chocolate, Coca-cola, Star Trek
NICKNAMES: Sexy Lee, Lee, Lela Lee, Baby Love, Reallyredlips..lol

I just recently acquired this 8 Movie set and can’t wait to watch them all. So far the only movie I have seen is Lake Dead. If any of them really grab my attention I will make sure to let you know.

SYNOPSIS OF EACH FILM

Crazy Eights: Circumstance brings six childhood friends together to face their past, and a secret they share.

Lake Dead: Beneath the calmest surface lies the deepest nightmare.

Mulberry Street (review): A deadly infection breaks out in Manhattan, causing humans to devolve into blood-thirsty rat creatures. Six recently evicted tenants must survive the night and protect their downtown apartment building as the city quickly spirals out of control.

The Deaths of Ian Stone: “Deaths” tells the story of an all-American guy who is murdered each day by horrifying pursuers, only to wake up in slightly different lives to experience the terror of being murdered again.

Nightmare Man (review): After receiving a mysterious demonic African mask in the mail, ELLEN MORRIS is attacked by a “being” she refers to as THE NIGHTMARE MAN. Her doctors and husband, William believe Ellen is a paranoid schizophrenic and needs to spend some quality time at a mental facility for further examination.

Borderland (review): In BORDERLAND, three Texas University seniors, on the eve of their graduation, road-trip to a Mexican Border town for a final weekend of drinking and debauchery. Their vacation becomes a living nightmare as the trio runs afoul of an ancient blood cult looking for human sacrifice. Based on true events, Borderland blends the raw fear of Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the gritty true crime realism of In Cold Blood, evoking a world of paranoia, death and terror.

Tooth and Nail: A group of young people, called Foragers, fight to survive against a band of vicious cannibals, known as Rovers, in a post-apocalyptic world which has been depleted of fossil fuels.

Unearthed (review): After a sinister crash on the highway in a small New Mexican town, people start disappearing and animals and nature begin dying. The Sheriff (Vaugier) investigates, only to actually witness a killer creature and realizes that the creature is the reason for the disappearances and deaths. After surviving an attack, The Sheriff and others try to survive the creature and being killed.

Tonight was one of many movie nights here at my place had both Rochelle and Tammy over for two horror films and drinks and snacks. So here is what I have to say about a Japanese Horror film called “Saigo no bansan” English translation “The Last Supper”.
Summary as taken from IMDB

Yuji Kotorida has become plastic surgeon to the rich and famous – almost over night transforming himself from nebbish to charismatic icon. His secret? He eats women. In a flashback, we watch the flowering of his proclivity – from an initial taste, and a search that takes him to Hong Kong, to murder. After the flashback, he promises a colleague he will prepare meat for her wedding banquet. At about the same time, the police express suspicion. Can Dr. Kotorida carve out an escape?

Now I will tell you right up front that the acting in this movie is just horrible as well as the effects. But it will have you cringe while he is cooking up liposuctioned fat, speaking how eating it and tasting it was better then having sex. As well as the sound as he is cutting up his victims bodies into pieces to store in his fridge, keeping their heads as trophies. He is the Jeffrey Dahmer of Japan and bringing sexy back with cannibalism.

Here is the trailer for it but this is the Japanese version (we watched the english speaking version) but you can get the idea. FYI what he whispers to the woman in the beginning that makes her smirk is “I want to eat you” to bad it’s not the way she is thinking.

After the Auto Show we were all very hungry and wanted to grab a bite to eat. Being how neither one of us have been there Angela picked Kansas City BBQ where the infamous Top Gun piano bar scene was filmed. We went and ate but I wasn’t impressed at all. In my opinion this is not the best BBQ in San Diego by far, If you want great BBQ you need to check out Phil’s BBQ.

Walking down to Kansas City BBQ Armando was being his silly self and was pretending to run in to poles. Unfortunately this wasn’t his best performance.

Outside

Angela giving some love to the pig who greeted us

You know it’s a true bar when you find this in the bathroom

Not much to blog about, so I’m going to blog another movie post. This time about my favorite Fantasy movie. I am not a big fan of these types of movies, so narrowing it down to one isn’t too hard.. Just to let you know I am definitely not a Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings fan at all.

My favorite Fantasy movie is “Labyrinth” 1986 Directed by Jim Henson.

Young Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is left home alone by her parents and she has to babysit her little brother Toby. But the baby keeps crying and Sarah, while telling him a story to make him sleep, inadvertently conjures from a fantasy world the Goblin King (David Bowie) who steals the child and brings him to his castle in the middle of a labyrinth. Sarah has to rescue him before midnight, or the baby will became a goblin… (Outline from IBDB)

It has been forever since I have seen this but when I saw it at Blockbuster I had to rent it to see it again. I have forgotten just how much I love this movie. And I remembered how I used to have a crush on David Bowie in this film. Some of favorite scenes are shown below in the screen shots.

When the Goblins are anticipating Sarah to say the magic words of asking the Goblin King to take the baby away. I just love when the big guy on the right says, “did she say it?”

I love the song he is singing here and watching them all dance… “Dance Magic Dance”

I loved the way they were both dressed in this scene. I would love to actually go to a masquerade dance.

And how can anyone not love this scene obviously inspired from the famous M.C. Escher drawing