MovieChat Forums > Nymphomaniac: Vol. I (2014) Discussion > what is with the dead blank stare throug...

what is with the dead blank stare through the whole movie?


she seems less than human.

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I had a theory that she might have had some sort of sociopathy. She didn't really seemed to experience emotions in the way most people did (outside of seducing men), and pretty much all of her personal interactions were to get more sex. Although, that could also be attributed to her just being an addict.

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That's a good point and it makes me wonder if sociopathy (lack of human empathy) is a core component behind the psychopathology of addiction. Some theorists are now arguing that addiction is formed through a user's failed efforts to connect with a community. So she is an addict because of her sociopathy or conversely, her addiction causes her sociopathy, or maybe something in between.

If this is the case, then her acting is brilliant. And here I was thinking that she was a failed model-turned-actress.

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She had a poor relationship with her mother, and a traumatic experience with her father's death. She is unable to have a healthy, emotionally intimate relationship. We see that when she has a baby. The only time she seems able to care about someone is when she meets a young woman like herself. Sex is a way to connect with others, but she is essentially very lonely.

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