MovieChat Forums > The Shield (2002) Discussion > Is Vic Mackey a sociopath?

Is Vic Mackey a sociopath?


Your thoughts...

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I wouldn't say sociopath. Sociopaths have no real emotions. Vic, however clearly loved his family and cared greatly for his friends. Especially Lem. He also clearly does have a moral compass, even though it may not always point north.

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He definitely has sociopathic traits, but not quite enough to be considered a full-blown sociopath. He definitely showed a great deal of care in cleaning up the streets and protecting the innocent; There were even times when he did things off the books that he knew he wouldn't get credit for, but did then anyway. He also showed a fierce sense of loyalty towards his friends and teammates.

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100% he was a sociopath

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No...he's capable of love, empathy and remorse and the empathy and remorse traits are the most telling. He does have some sociopathic traits but he wouldn't be diagnosed as one and doesn't fit into any convenient box.
Most of the violent anti social things he does he is able to justify because of the horrible people he has to deal with. And sometimes so can we..But the act he did in the pilot episode is pretty indefensible and that's the one thing he can never live down or live with.

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PLEASE! He was a drug Kingpin...he lived by the drug dealer code of "I hurt you but not myself" ripping off the Armenians brought a firestorm of crime to the Barn in itself...110% sociopath!

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Technically, no...

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Technically yes..narcissism? Check....lack of empathy? Check...manipulative? Check...casual disregard for societal laws...BIG check

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Technically yes..narcissism? Check....lack of empathy? Check...manipulative? Check...casual disregard for societal laws...BIG check



You clearly don't have a clear understanding of his character.

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I'd say that's pretty accurate. Was that Vic 100% of the time? No. But he certainly displayed all those traits prominently throughout the show.

You are sin.

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He's a pretty awful human being and does have sociopathic traits, but he also cared greatly for the team and his family. Hell, he even cared about the gang member who was killed for trying to leave the gang in the season 6 episode "The New Guy".

So no, not a sociopath. Manipulative, sometimes selfish, hypocrticial, and narcisstic but he has enough empathy that I can't give him that label.

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There are brutal dictators that care deeply for their families but think nothing of committing genocide....the fact that Vic cared for those closest to him is natural...you don't have to be a Ted Bundy to be a sociopath...the untold amount of harm he caused as a drug kingpin and ripping off the Armenians could only be the work of a sociopath

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I see your point, but I still disagree. He even cared about people that he didn't know well. Like the kid killed for trying to leave a gang or Emolia before she betrayed him. He did cause a lot of harm, but he did try to direct it towards criminals he viewed as deserving. But I do see your perspective. Maybe it's time to rewatch the show again.

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I see your point too...his relationship with Emolia and her son....as well as Connie appeared to be genuinely caring without any sort of reward for him whatsoever..BUT as I maintain anyone who can flood the streets with drugs especially whilst wearing a badge (even under the guise of "controlling" the drug trade) is a sociopath....especially as his first appointed drug lord was making life hell for locals

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Overall he's a pretty awful person but if you think he's an actual sociopath then you probably don't know what a sociopath is

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I maintain that he is...and I've presented my reasons why I think he is one....what makes you think that he isn't one

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because he has empathy and remorse and he obviously cares about other people? Not all terrible people are automatically sociopaths. He does have some tendencies of a sociopath but he's missing the key traits, by your logic every dirty cop in history is a sociopath.

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by your logic every dirty cop in history is a sociopath.

Really depends what they've done

At the risk of sounding like a broken record Vic went waaay beyond dirty cop as far as I.m concerned




flooding a community with drugs under the guise of "controlling" it...it's not as if he is unfamiliar with the harm that causes..yet he didn't give a damn and slept well at night

The Armenian heist actually spiked the stats in Farmington putting it in the firing line for closure...granted he probably could never have predicted the arrival of Margos but what kind of man actually breaks the laws he is meant to be enforcing other than a sociopath

Also he marked a thoroughly unlikeable, but completely innocent hood for death by giving him some of the marked money. Like a said previously you don't necessarily have t be Ted Bundy to be a sociopath

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He was a gangbanger, putting away gangbangers.

Spoiler alert for them spoil sports out there! Y'all like spoiled milk, stop crying over it!

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I saw Vic in two ways. The family/friend man who would do anything to protect them. And then the criminal who didn't care who he hurt as long as it helped provide that rush he so needed.

I think bottom line was Vic was a rush junkie and needed that danger in his life to feel alive. Look at his first day at his desk job he was going crazy and we all feel that at the end he probably went out on the streets and did his thing anyway.

To me thought, bottom line if he "really" cared/loved his family/friends, he would have never put them in life-threatening situations. Look at how many times his actions put his family in danger.

You really think crossing the cartel in any way is a smart thing to do. I would guess once he made that big bust in the end, the cartel would know who was responsible and him, his family and all his friends(not that he had any left in the end) would all be dead.

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