Copycat Movie Psychology

Focusing on the individuals in the movie Copycat there were two people that stuck out to me. The first being Dr. Hudson and the second being the “copycat killer”. The abnormalities of these two people really were portrayed well in the movie.
Dr. Hudson was a psychologist and book writer for around 20 years. She knew many details about serial killers. During her lecture about serial killers she noticed a man in the stands and automatically knew he was coming after her soon. She got attacked in the bathroom by Daryll Lee Cullum after her speech and she was left in an abnormal stage. She was acting very abnormal by staying in her house for many years without going outside, she has panic attacks, and says a list of presidents to calm herself down. She has been diagnosed with agoraphobia because of her traumatic experience.

I felt the movie did a great job portraying her agoraphobia by keeping her inside her apartment on her computer all the time to avoid different places and people, also by showing her anxiety and panic attacks throughout the movie.

Another example of her agoraphobia is when she wakes up randomly sweating like crazy, and goes to get her antidepressants, which didn’t work for her, and then led to alcoholism and depression. Other people in the movie responded to Dr. Hudson as a crazy lady, or made fun of her because of how she acted until they figured out she really knew what she was talking about and doing. The police and investigators gained respect from her knowledge about the copycat killer which helped the police out a lot. I feel Dr. Hudson really improved her agoraphobia through the movie by going out of her comfort zone many times to help others, and to catch the

copycat.
Now the copycat (Peter Foley) on the other hand was highly abnormal. He seemed to have multiple personalities because of how often he changed. One week he was one person and the next he was another total opposite.
His abnormality was with imitating others, how his brain was working, and why he was killing other people. I believe he messed with Dr. Hudson because he wanted to be known to the world and she would have written a book about him. He was very smart about everything he did yet didn’t seem to know what he was doing was very wrong. I feel his thoughts were very sneaky and gruesome. His dedication to become a known, famous serial killer was his drive to do what he did.
Foley planned every little move just like the past killer he was imitating did. His admiration of his past murders made him hungry for more and more. His abnormalities were very high considering what all he has done, also he must have a brain abnormality which isn’t letting his brain function properly. There is no answer on why he became a serial killer besides the fact he is mentally unstable, and wanted to be greatly known.
This movie was very devious to me because the original serial killer, Cullum that attacked Dr. Hudson at her lecture was writing letters the whole time to another serial killer, Foley that hasn’t been caught on how to kill her. The abnormalities that can occur after a traumatic experience are very surprising and sad. The movie Copycat was a great movie that portrayed many psychological problems and abnormalities.