Tango Of Two Deadly Sins: Video Analysis

Can you imagine your child, the one who you set up playdates and buy things for because you love him or her, will turn out to be a mass murder? Perhaps, what is like to live with a person who you later find out to have hatred towards the world and humanity? Unfortunate, the surreal and unimaginable tale would unravel for the Rodger family on the tragic day May 23, 2014. Elliot Rodger, the son of Hollywood filmmaker Peter Rodger, went on a rampage that left three of his roommates stabbed to death, three others shot dead, and 14 innocent by-standers injured in Isla Vista, California. The event left many people traumatized, no one would have expected that Rodger can carry out the execution of innocent people, but while searching investigators

came across his manifesto and retribution video, they speculate that he has an unstable mind and a troubled life. Unfortunately, people can only theorize that Rodgers’ unstable mind and his experience with social exclusion are the major factors that has triggered the horrific attack near the University of California, San Barbara. Although, amidst the tragedy Rodger is not only a mass murder, but he is a person who exhibit qualities of narcissism, because throughout his manifesto and retribution video, he display statements and actions that are mentioned in the narcissism personality inventory.
In his quest, described in his manifesto, to garner attention and admiration, a quality known as exhibitionism in the narcissism personality index, Rodgers would altered his image as a method to gain attention from his peers. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary exhibitionism is defined as, “The act or practice of behaving so as to attract attention to oneself.” In school, when Rodgers see how some of his peers were getting attention for their looks and their behaviors, he would altered his appearance seek attention or to acquire recognition:
My first act was to ask my parents to allow me to bleach my hair blonde…Trevor was the first one to notice it…saying that it was very “cool”. Well, that was exactly what I wanted. My new hair turned out to be quite a spectacle, and for a few days I got a hint of the attention and admiration I so craved. (17-18)

For Rodgers, the method he used to garner attention was to dye his hair blonde, which one can see from the quote above, that is exactly what he did by asking his parent to allow him to bleach his hair. As Dr. Jean M. Twenge and Dr. W. Keith Campbell, describe in the chapter nine, called Hell Yeah, I’m Hot, of their book, The Narcissism Epidemic, in order to attract attention to themselves many people are going under the knife, to look younger and prettier. By dying his hair, Rodgers is trying to attract the admiration and attention just like the people Twenge and Campbell’s book. Even without revealing to others his new hair color, his classmate Trevor, came up and patted his head, exclaiming how cool Rodgers' new hair style was. In sum, to get the attention he desire Rodger would alter his physical appearance as a way to gain attractiveness like the popular kids at his school.
Vanity as a quality in the narcissism personality inventory could be seen in Rodgers excessive pride of his privilege to travel the world. In regard to pride, Emi Furukawa in her article, “Cross-cultural Continuities and Discontinuities in Shame, Guilt, and Pride: A study of Children Residing in Japan, Korea, and the USA,” acknowledge that, “regarding pride, past studies of related constructs suggest that it is socially desirable in US culture” (5). Being the son of a movie producer, Rodgers has the privilege to travel to beautiful destinations with his parents at a very young age, such as Spain, France, and Malaysia. Thus, Rodgers has an opportunity that many people can only dream of having. But, instead of sharing his experience with a humble attitude, in his manifesto he would vainly assert of his adventures: “Only a couple of months after my birth, I went on my first vacation, France… Already a world traveler, I went on a trip to Spain… It was the fourth country I’ve been to at such a young age. At the age of 4, I, Elliot Rodger, had already been to six different countries. Who can claim that, eh? The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Greece, Malaysia, and the United States” (2-3). In Rodger’s manifesto, he recalled his past travel experience as a kid to six countries around the globe. But, along with his recollection of the memory, he depict an attitude that is attribute to vanity, a quality of narcissism, particularly the part where he question, “Who can claim that, eh?” which he is boldly referring to how at just only four years old, he has already traveled to six different countries. Of course that is a great feat to feel prideful of, but as Furukawa has pointed in her article, “US children demonstrated the highest level of pride, reflecting the emphasis of self-enhancement in US culture” (14). Rodger who grew up in America is doing exactly what Furukawa has discussed, he want to enhance his image and to do so, he assert excessive pride of his privilege to travel at a young age. In sum, Rodgers’s recollection of his travel experience with a vain attitude, which portray a quality of narcissism criteria.
Another facet of the narcissism personality index is envy, Rodgers in his manifesto and retribution video showcase envious attitudes toward people because he felt inferior in to them.

As Jens Lange and Jan Crusius has refer in their article, “The Tango of Two Deadly Sins: The Social-Functional Relation of Envy and Pride,” they said that, “Envy is a negative emotional response to a situation in which someone lacks another’s superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes the other lacks it (Originally from Parrott & Smith, 1993; Smith & Kim, 2007)” (2). Rodgers in his manifesto and retribution video exclaim illustratively what makes him envious, particularly the cool kids at his school because he would describe how they make him fell inferior because of their look, behaviors, and ability to attract the popular girls at his school or the men in college, who Rodgers stated in his retribution video, who were attracting and obtaining love from all the girls. In his manifesto, Rodgers

stated:
I was very short for my age…it fully dawned on me that I was the shortest kid in my class— even the girls were taller than me… I became extremely annoyed at how everyone was taller than me, and how the tallest boys were automatically respected more. It instilled the first feelings of inferiority in me, and such feelings would only grow more volatile with time. (15-17)

As one can see, Rodgers is envious of others who were taller than him because in school, he exclaim that he was very short for his age.

Furthermore, not only does he said he felt envious of the taller kids, it frustrated Rodgers so much that the envious attitude he has for taller people would, “Remain for the rest of his life.” He was annoyed by the fact that the taller boys would automatically get respect, and that makes him feels inferior. In another example, from his retribution video, Rodgers discuss talk about how he is envious of the, “ popular kids, who lives such life of hedonistic pleasures, while I Have to rotten in loneliness for all these years…They all looked down upon me every time I try to go out and join them… They all treated me like a mouse.” The point is, Rodgers is envious of not only tap people, but he envies popular kids who are living a life of hedonistic pleasure, while he rots in loneliness. Furthermore, he envy them because of the fact that they make him feels inferior, treating him as if he is a

mouse.
In essence, from the two examples above one can see how Rodgers display an envious attitude, a facet of the narcissism personality index.
The other facet in the narcissism personality inventory that Rodgers portray, particularly in his retribution video, is the act of superiority. Christopher Orlet, the author of an article titled The Look-At-Me Generation, summarizes well about self-worth, a narcissistic quality that Rodgers exhibit, he expresses, “People with an inflated sense of self-worth are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short lived, to be at risk for infidelity, to lack emotional warmth, to be dishonest, and to demonstrate over-controlling and violent behaviors” (3). Rodger discusses in the video how in the day of his retribution, he will show the popular kids—the ones who lived a life of hedonistic pleasures, the sorority girls how rejected him, and people he envied—who is the superior one. He exclaims, “You will then finally see, I am in truth the superior one the true alpha male (pause follow by an evil laugh). Yes, well now I will be a god compared to them, you will be animals… you are animals and I will be a god exacting my retribution” (video). One don't need to carefully watch the video to realize Rodgers’ inflated sense of self-worth. The expression in his words alone, it has already depict a sense of superiority. Words such as alpha male, and god correlate to superiority and that is what Rodgers has implied about himself in the video with phrase “I will be a god… I am the true alpha male.” Furthermore, Rodgers discusses how the people he despise are comparable to animals. In this context, his inflated sense of self-worth, a quality of narcissism, has make him separate himself from others because in his closed-minded perspective, everyone he despise are animals. No one else can compare to his almighty status as the true alpha male or the god who will exact his reattribute on the animals. In general, in Rodger retribution video he show-case a superior attitude to depict himself as someone who is superb and who has excellent qualities, such as those that belong to god or the alpha male.