Narcissism, trauma and celebrity: Introduction part B
I want in this blog to look at case studies through biographies and interviews - of iconically famous people, to ask what narcissism theory says about their lives and what their lives tell us about narcissism. I don’t know exactly what I will find. Before I begin looking at my ‘icon number 1’, I’m going to say a bit more about the plan for this blog and then there will be two posts describing a theory of narcissism step by step. It is this theory that will make predictions about what we will find in the lives of people who prominently use narcissistic strategies to manage their lives, their emotions and their relationships. It is this ‘map of narcissism’ that will guide what I’m looking for in biographies of iconic celebrities. In part A of this introduction, I gave a definition of narcissism and answered some other questions about why I started this blog.
Which celebrities and why?
I want to place some restrictions on which celebrities and influencers I study. I want to take note of what my chosen theory predicts. According to this theory1, the degree of earned, sustained fame, influence or power will often reflect the degree of use of narcissistic strategies. So, I will pick the extreme cases deliberately: fame that spectacularly surpassed all expectations. This is my main criteria. In some cases, these celebrities have become caricatures – simplistic manifestos of artistic expression, glamour, intelligence, hedonism, sexuality... The caricature and the person are different, and I am interested in both. The caricature is often, I think, a reflection of very difficult childhood experiences. As you will have noticed by now, my chosen theory of narcissism is linked to trauma.
I will not select celebrities primarily because they are known for their mental health problems, criminality or difficult childhood. If I am asking, “are celebrities driven by trauma?” this would create a self-fulfilling prophecy. But some cases will of course already be known for having mental health problems, offensive behaviour or difficult upbringing.
Who is coming to your mind so far?
In the cases I choose, fame or influence must have come about as a result of sustained motivation. Some people tire of fame quickly. For some, fame is imposed. Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head in Pakistan in 2012 by a Taliban rifleman. This set her on a course to fame and influence. But she was ‘driven’ it seems mainly to be educated. Not to be idealised or famous.
Am I only interested in dead people?
In the cases I choose, enough detail must have been written – particularly about their childhood. The iconically famous of the twentieth century are particularly well documented without too much myth. My prediction is that the more famous they were, the more narcissism there was, and also the more detail written that can help to illustrates the theory.
For living celebrities, there can be a lot of control about what is revealed – mainly because of what it might cost them in reputation, image or future opportunities. When they are dead, this concern about costs has been partly removed. In the UK virtually nothing was written about the prolific sexual offending career of TV presenter and DJ Jimmy Savile until just after he died – an event which released an explosion of revelations and turned his public persona on its head. My selected celebrities need to be dead. Or old enough for plenty of accounts to have emerged.
Theoretical approaches and clashes
I don’t want to write only for those who have studied psychology. I enjoy few things more than communicating psychological ideas to the non-psychologist*. Whatever your background, do let me know what you think. But the psychologist or psychotherapist reader might be wanting to know which theoretical approaches I will draw on. I will write a dedicated post in two parts about theory of narcissism later on - as free from jargon as possible (for those familiar with the terms, I will draw on psychodynamic object relations theory, attachment theory, trauma theory and mentalization). I will be describing iconic fame – when it is the result of sustained motivation – as often being part of a kind of post-traumatic syndrome. Are there any icons for whom you think this definitely would not be the case? Make a note now and perhaps they will come up.
Biographies as case studies
Over years of work in clinical settings one of the things I have been trained to do is assess personality in to day-to-day functioning – relationships, mood, behaviour that promotes wellbeing and behaviour that causes problems. Listening to the history of someone facing difficulties means trying to understand first what the person is telling me. But it also means looking for what might be missing from the account or looking for other explanations about the problem that the person might not yet be aware of. What helps with this is theory. I want to search for the type of events that the theory says might prime a person to develop narcissistic strategies. And also, to look for behaviours that might represent narcissistic strategies in the celebrity.
Aren’t there problems with using biographies?
You will by now have noticed at least one problem. Autobiographies and biographers have agendas and will be biased. And some subjects are upsetting and get avoided. One of Marilyn Monroe’s best biographers, whilst interested in her childhood, makes almost no mention of the sexual abuse widely accepted to have happened. Celebrities themselves want to shape and control the memory of them that will be left when they are gone. Freud said he was like his father – this seemed to be part of his narrative. But looking at descriptions of both his mother and father, Freud describes similarities in himself to both of them. And he was by far his mother’s favourite4. Some writers might sensationalise to sell books.
There are risks attached to this writing experiment and there is a point at which I will have to stop. Equipped only with biographies, I am not interviewing these people myself and cannot ask them to clarify their actions, thoughts, motives or feelings. This is partly why I am limiting myself to looking for fairly extreme examples of documented experiences, behaviours, thoughts and feelings – and where there is a lot of public information to choose from.
I do not have consent of these celebrities to diagnoses particular mental health problems. As I have said already, I am not labelling anyone as having narcissistic personality disorder or any other mental health condition. I am saying that we all employ narcissistic strategies and roles at one time or another. I am looking for anecdotes of specific kinds of traumatic experience or anecdotes of strategies that, in that moment, seem to be self-idealising, grandiose or denigrating. In most cases it would take more than this evidence to make a diagnosis and more importantly, it would usually require the person to be asking for one.
Trigger warning
Necessarily, this blog will explore some distressing events that fall under the heading of trauma. It will describe some painful childhood experiences. Whilst for some celebrities these experiences have been portrayed and described in book or film, this is usually done in the absence of focus on the details of what children actually need, in order to develop and function well emotionally and relationally later in life – when they have the chance to shine and use their strengths. When I read about the childhoods of celebrities knowing about these details, I suspect that what stands out - and how it affects me - might be a little different. And I hope to share that somehow.
*I am a psychologist. But when I use this term, I include my colleagues who are called psychotherapists and psychiatrists. We usually have overlapping roles.
Ryle A. 1990. Cognitive Analytic Therapy: Active Participation in Change. Wiley: Chichester.
Imbesi, L. (1999). The making of a narcissist. Clinical Social Work Journal, 27, 41-54.
Daily Mirror (2022). 1st February.
Jones, E. (1953). Sigmund Freud: Life and Work. Volume 1: The Young Freud 1856-1900. The Hogarth Press.