MetaFilter posts tagged with narcissism

The Victims of Pornography

psmealey — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:14:59 -0800

"Porn films are not about sex. Sex is airbrushed and digitally washed out of the films There is no acting because none of the women are permitted to have what amounts to a personality.The one emotion they are allowed to display is an unquenchable desire to satisfy men, especially if that desire involves the women’s physical and emotional degradation." In his most recent book, Chris Hedges navigates our culture of narcissim, from porn (in the linked segment), to the WWE, to Ivy League graduation ceremonies and reality tv — exposing, according to his publisher "an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion". Hedges is a former foreign correspondent for the New York times, has previously gone to war with Christian Fundamentalists, The New Atheists, War itself and his own employer, resigning from his job rather than submit to the Times's reprimand over his outspoken opposition to the Iraq War and the press "cheerleading" that preceded it.

Elizabeth Wurtzel loses her looks

Joe Beese — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:04:26 -0800

Elizabeth Wurtzel writes: Because I need to make a point, I’m just going to be immodestly candid: I was a remarkably adorable child, the kind with such rosily expressive cheeks that grown-ups couldn’t resist pinching them. So when I became a teenager and then an adult, I was what you would call a hot number or something like that—at any rate, they put me half-dressed on the covers of my books to sell them, so draw what you will from that. Now that I’m in my forties, people say, I think kindly, She still looks good. This is to be followed by a phase of …for her age, which is hot on the trail of handsome, and then—then who knows? I think it deteriorates from there, enough so that the vain among us start to look forward to death, or at least stop resisting its horrific pull. (via)

Wouldn't You Be, Couldn't You Be, WON'T You Be The Narcissistic Society I Give Birth To?

WCityMike — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:00:50 -0800

A little old, but chock full of enough wackadoodle quotes to be your morning cup of head-go-boom-iness. FOX News on Mr. Rogers and his effect on "the narcissistic society he gave birth to": "This evil, evil man has now ruined a generation of kids." "Do you think that Mr. Rogers [...] ruined a crop of our newest, youngest generation?" "Instead of telling them 'you're special, you're great', why didn't he say, 'there's a lot of room for improvement, keep working on yourself'?" FOX & Friends viewers agreed, with one respondent attributing the blame to a trifecta of Mr. Rogers telling kids they were special, Sesame Street telling children "you need to be entertained to learn", and Dr. Spock's advocation of "lax discipline, no spanking." The "study" that the Fox & Friends morning hosts refer to is an interview by Jeffrey Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal of Louisiana State University finance professor Don Chance, who, reflecting upon the entitlement he felt his students seeking A's displayed, realized, "It just hit me. We can blame Mr. Rogers." Not, by the way, a study. Chance believes that the reason that those of his students who were Asian-born did not "hit [him] up for an A" was because of Mr. Rogers, among others, as "representative of a culture of excessive doting." He targets "you're special", "they're just children", "call me [first name]", and "tell me about your day" as further indications.

The Last Psychiatrist reviews Kerouac’s “On The Road”

jason's_planet — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:46:25 -0800

Kerouac's On The Road: The 50th Anniversary Of A Book I Had Not Read I can't be the only one whose impression of the book, from hearing about it but not actually reading it, was that it was about young, potent men, lost in a growing commercial society, two coiled springs ready to pop, looking for adventure-- America style. And this Road Trip that launched a thousand, other boring, useless road trips, was about young men looking to experience the world, really see, really live, really feel, free of the constraints of an artificial post war soulless society . . . That impression is wrong. You know what the book is really about? It's a primer on how to be a narcissist.

Narcissism 2.0

bobbyelliott — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:06:29 -0800

How MySpace creates born-again Christians. The link between MySpace, nacissism and religious fundamentalism.

The New Alternative to Being Discovered at the Soda Fountain

stagewhisper — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:55:08 -0800

"Spotlight Live ... puts guests in the limelight in a way that will surpass their wildest dreams. Guests can walk in the door for dinner and walk out the door a star" In the age of American Idol, why go to see a show on Broadway, when it's your birthright to be a show on Broadway, complete with your own professional back-up singers and dancers?

Kids today

psmealey — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:20:28 -0800

Vanity on the rise among young people today. Findings from a recent San Diego State University workshop shows that a couple decades worth of self-esteem parenting, may have engendered an entire generation of narcissists.

the truth will set you free

nickyskye — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 22:41:13 -0800

Stripping The Gurus. Sex, violence, abuse and enlightenment. Chogyam Trungpa, the Dalai Lama, Zen masters, exposing the reality behind the facade of various spiritual teachers. Geoff Falk also writes about the spiritual beliefs of rock stars.

Dave Winer: "Real" or "Virtual" Tyrant?

ed — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 20:15:27 -0800

Winer goes after Cadenhead in litigious fashion. Never mind that the $10,000 Cadenhead earned transformed into $2.3 million for Winer. Meanwhile, Winer, on the verge of retirement (or so he claims), provides "real Dave" and "virtual Dave" explanation.

Narcissist, narcissism

nickyskye — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 14:44:12 -0800

How to Recognize a Narcissist. We all have to deal with difficult people. Some days we can be pretty difficult ourselves. Recognizing the difference between normal difficulties and personality disorders can be crucial to decisions about entering new relationships and continuing existing relationships. People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) invariably leave a wake of damage behind them in social arenas of all kinds.

Ego

johnny7 — Sat, 05 Jul 2003 04:13:38 -0800

That's enough about you.How about me? More from the New Int article (can't find a link) "comic books,films,mobile phones that take pictures all value the look of things much more than the meaning of things" Can't we all just love .... ourselves ? (don't mention blogging)

owillis — Fri, 15 Sep 2000 01:30:25 -0800

Narcissism at it's worst? People post their pictures and are rated by everyone else. Kind of sick, but I still look at it.