My Thoughts on the Film Doubt

I recently saw the movie Doubt with my parents. One of my favorite lines (and there were plenty) was, "Doubt can be a bond as powerful as certainty." It captures the essence of the message I took away from the film --- basically how the most powerful tool in an narcissist's arsenal is the doubt successfully planted into the minds of others.

My therapist recently suggested I read a book on Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). She thought I would benefit from learning more about NPD not because she believes I have the disorder, but because of things she knows about my past. I took her advice and ordered, from Amazon, "The Wizard of Oz and Other Narcissists." Though I still have a couple of chapters before I complete the book, most of what I've read hit close to home and proved to be both simultaneously cathartic and sad. Sad because the source of NPD is connected to "a deep unconscious experience of self as inadequate or flawed." Most narcissists aren't what we'd term anti-social personalities, but instead, have themselves suffered from trauma and deep wounds that are usually out of the reach of their own consciousness.


As Doubt unfolded my initial thoughts focused more on the personality of Father Flynn, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, than any other aspect of the film. Meryl Streep's role as Sister Aloysius, the stereotypical stern, unemotional, nun made the movie more complex. In a sense, you were set up to dislike Streep and to dismiss her as out-of-touch and somewhat vengeful. For some viewers, the "real" wrongdoer may have been hard to discern, but what I saw consistently was how Father Flynn's actions aligned perfectly with what the author of "The Wizard of Oz and Other Narcissists," Eleanor D. Payson, would deem an overt narcissist.

According to Payson, there are overt and covert narcissists. Overt narcissists "allow the more open expression of narcissistic needs such as admiration, power, control, etc." The overt narcissist uses his "persona to directly take the spotlight and openly demand an endless supply of public attention." In contrast, the covert narcissist "gains admiration, status, and control through more subtle an indirect means. His demeanor is typically more reserved and self-contained, at times aloof." Attention and status, for the covert narcissist, is gained "through what he is doing and what he is connected to, rather than attempt to command a truly solo role in the spotlight."

Father Flynn was undoubtedly an overt narcissist. He loved the spotlight and used many of his sermons to directly manipulate his congregants and the two characters in the movie who sought his demise, Sister James and Sister Aloysius. He employed several of the common defense mechanisms of someone battling NPD including: martyr/guilt (which caused Sister James to question her reality and belief of what had occurred when Father Flynn behaved in ways that made him appear as a helpless target), projection (of Flynn's negative qualities onto Sister Aloysius), and attempted intimidation of both Sisters.

Throughout the film Sister Aloysius appeared to have mastered the art of dealing with a narcissist. Every time Father Flynn attempted to obfuscate her demands for answers, she held firm. Yet, the true power of a narcissist is evident by the movie's ending. I, of course, will refrain from recounting the last scene for my readers who wish to see the movie themselves.

Ironically, as I looked through the books on my Facebook's visual bookshelf this morning, I read for the first time the following review of the book on NPD I mentioned above. I only copied the relevant part: "Every day headlines are filled with examples of narcissistic individuals in positions of power who are nothing more than impostors plundering and wrecking havoc on the lives of others. From the corporate moguls of Enron and WorldCom to the clergy leaders of the Catholic Church, we daily encounter narcissists and the self-serving systems that enable them." [italics added]

The portions I've read of Payson's book have yet to directly mention the clergy of the Catholic Church. But the manner in which she conveyed NPD through other examples enabled me to immediately spot the narcissistic traits in Father Flynn. It makes the book, in my opinion, a success. Thus, I highly recommend it and the movie.