MovieChat Forums > Apt Pupil (1998) Discussion > Would Todd have gone nuts if he hadn't m...

Would Todd have gone nuts if he hadn't met Kurt Dussander?

posted 13 years ago by Frisky_Kitty2025
6 replies | jump to latest

I think one of the main themes of the movie is Human Evil. However, a really good question is "Whom influenced whom?"

Nevertheless, the combination of the two made for a powder keg of human evil. Kurt's inhumanity laid largely dormant until he met Todd, then it began to rise again. As for Todd I think the situation was similar with him.

However, people don't just BECOME sociopaths out of nowhere. It's usually due to some childhood abuse and other factors. But Todd had a good home life and had his every need catered too. Still, I think that he would have ended up the way he did had he not met Kurt. But it would have been a long while before he started acting evil.

But that's just my opinion and I could be totally wrong.

What do you guys think?

Meow.

[–] MissCherylA 13 years ago

I think Todd influenced Kurt because until they met it was dormant in him. Feeding Todd woke whatever made him and fed what was surely dormant in Todd. I think some people are born with the inclination for evil but it's just never ignited.In that way I think Todd was always at least manipulative as most spoiled people are. But that's just my opinion.

"I don’t mind being in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it"~Marilyn Monroe

[–] goodpatron123 8 years ago

Yes.

[–] goodpatron123 8 years ago

Sorry, I meant to say I agree with you. :)

[–] CasseroleWorshipper 11 years ago

Todd was born evil. Dussander was made evil. And they both required each other for that evil to truly surface (again in Dussander's case).
I don't mean to impose, but I am the Ocean.

[–] romanticinsomniac 8 years ago

He would have eventually latched to some other evil person, like a serial killer or something.He sought out evil, because birds of a feather flock together.

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[–] Ushers_Passing 8 years ago

I think that Todd would still have become evil, just in a different way. Dussander definitely triggered and influenced Todd's madness, but it would have happened eventually anyway. I think he would have started with sexual abuse and intimidation in college, then on to torture and murder by his late 20's. I'm thinking something similar to American Psycho, he'd get away with it indefinitely due to his all American good looks and charm.