Ripley is a psychopath.

What if they're bigger than you?

Yes. Obviously.

This is the story of a sociopath going through a difficult process of self-discovery, and finally settling on a career path that suits his talents.

Of course he was a psychopath. He was a serial killer.

Tom Ripley reminds me a bit of Andrew Cunanan. When Cunanan couldn't get the life he thought he deserved, he went on a murder spree - killing those who had what he coveted. Ripley wasn't as extreme as Cunanan, but had some of the same psychopathic traits.

The way the scene is shot, the director intended for Ripley to just lash out at Dickie with whatever object was close at hand. If it had been a newspaper or cup of coffee, Ripley would have thrown that, but it just so happened the oar was the only thing nearby.

In reality, Dickie’s wound would be a fairly superficial one. The forehead tends to bleed a lot due to the higher concentration of blood in that area, so it looked worse than it was.

The beautiful intrigue of this film is that you’re never quite sure. His killing certainly seems to be opportunistic and without real malice, but he kills both out of anger (Dickie) and to cover his tracks (Freddie and Peter) which raises the question why is it so easy for him to resort to murder first. Is it something he secretly enjoys? Which would make him both a sociopath and psychopath. Peter’s murder is especially questionable since Tom obviously felt genuine affection for him and could have conceivably found another way to escape capture than murder the one person who actually showed love for him.

Either way, this is such a brilliant film and I think the question of Tom’s true motivations only makes it more compelling.

Above all Ripley is a narcissist, which I believe is a key trait of sociopaths. He doesn’t enjoy killing, he just does it for self preservation, and his narcissism means that he has little room for remorse or guilt.

The film is a good portrait of the inner workings of a serial killer. When I first saw it I had no idea it was a kind of horror film.

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