THE PARANOID PERSONALITY

"I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration,
Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion, and the international
Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."
-Gen Jack D. Ripper/Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George

The Paranoid Personality - A pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent.

Three Films That Got It Right...
DR. STRANGELOVE - General Ripper, in Dr. Strangelove, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, seals off his high security defense bunker, overrides the authority of congress and the president, and opens fire on his own troops. He does this so that he can initiate a "Code Red" which, in effect, means he has authorized the annihilation of the planet Earth. No one can be trusted, including men that are wearing the same uniform and saluting the same flag. He believes the Russians are responsible for fluoridation, an insidious Commie plot to contaminate the red-blooded American water supply. General Ripper cannot allow this conspiracy to sap all of our precious bodily fluids. This is why he will only drink grain alcohol and rain water, and why he must eschew the culmination of the sexual act with women so as not be drained of his essence.
ZERO EFFECT - Darryl Zero, in Zero Effect, is a modern example of the cinematic gumshoe. He is inarguably the "world's most private detective." He is so private, in fact, that he cannot bring himself to meet his clients, instead he sends his surrogate, Steve Arlo, to make deals and to collect payment. He spends his time blockaded in his apartment, surrounded by state of the art surveillance equipment, unwilling to leave even for food - he can subsist for untold days on nothing but Tab, bulk pretzels, and amphetamines. Darryl Zero has no social life and he has no social skills. But Darryl Zero is very good at his job. His paranoia is in no small way responsible for allowing him to be able to make such a claim as the world's most private detective. He is so distrusting that he feels compelled to employ a myriad of disguises, "[You] can meet him five times without knowing it's the same guy." He is also, as is a Paranoid's wont, suspicious of everyone and everything, which makes for good detecting.
AMERICAN HISTORY X - Venice, California is the breeding ground for a lesson in American History X. Here, a young, muscled out, tattooed Neo-Nazi skinhead named Derek (Academy Award nominee, Edward Norton, in a chilling performance), lives in a world of ultra-violence and white supremacy mongering. When he murders two black kids who get too close for comfort, he is sent to prison. Three years later he returns a newfound man. Unfortunately, while Derek has been gone, his younger brother, Danny, has been carrying the racist torch in his brother's name - Derek having now reached the level of something akin a fascist folk hero. Anxious to save his younger brother from the futile life of hate that he once embraced, Derek discovers that the sins of the past (including his father's) are upon him. The struggle for the young boy's soul will be nothing less than a fight to the death.
The Paranoid Personality centers on a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent. This distrust is as imagined and unwarranted as it is unrelenting. They often spend an inordinate amount of energy (physical and psychological) scanning the environment for danger, certain the world is filled with hidden meanings. They rarely feel safe. There is an utter certainty that the world is inhabited with suspicious and menacing people, that the world is out to get them. Consumed by ill thoughts, they send them outward, onto others, attributing blame where none is warranted. Their personality is rigid, unable to relax, singularly preoccupied and resolved, and their demeanor is resolved, inflexible, pointless to argue with. Anger is often unprovoked and seen in sudden fits-a product of retaliation to their suspicions. These suspicions, however, stop short of being delusional, and this is a very important point: if the individual is hallucinating (sight and/or sound)-such as Carol Ledoux in Roman Polanski’s paranoia thriller, Repulsion-the diagnosis becomes much more serious and is classified outside the realm of the Paranoid Personality Disorder. In the case of Repulsion, the character suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia. Paranoids tend to be rash and explosively reactive. They pride themselves on being unemotional and objective; in reality they appear as hostile, uncompromising, and defensive.

The essential concept of paranoia covers a vast and sweeping terrain. It can nonetheless be separated into two categories:
º Real Paranoia
º Imagined Paranoia
It is in this second category (the imagined) that the Paranoid Personality Disorder exists. To better understand imagined paranoia, it is worth first exploring the overall canvas of paranoia.

In this urban 21st Century, paranoia has become such a catchphrase in lay society that it is a staple in political speeches, product marketing, coffee mug logos, bumper stickers, and (to little surprise) the movies. The 1950s gave rise to a slew of science fiction movies such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds, The Thing, The Blob, The Crawling Eye, and the movie that simply called them what they were…Them! These films flooded the market and popularized the idea of "paranoid films." Yet despite the moniker, these films do not explore the Paranoid Personality style of individual characters-the movies themselves are paranoid, products of the end of World War II and the mass hysteria of the ensuing Red Scare.

Also maturing from this hybrid are the films of spy paranoia and political paranoia (Torn Curtain, Three Days of the Condor, No Way Out, The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May). Distinct in both the earlier and later inventions, the plot lines of these movies involved people/aliens or governments/other worlds doing unspeakable evil on a national or international scale. They usually involved real paranoia (someone is trying to do evil) as opposed to imagined paranoia (it feels like someone is trying to do evil). They featured a story line involving a character recently shrouded in paranoia because of events thrust upon them. The paranoia, up until the issuing plot point, has not been an ingrained part of their everyday psyche.

In these instances their fears and their paranoia are all too real and immediate but they are not the result of a Paranoid Personality.

Within this second category of imagined paranoia, there are two concepts to be considered:
º Secular Paranoia
º Individual Paranoia
First, Secular Paranoia. Paranoia as a social event.
Dr. Stangelove illustrated how paranoia can be infectious, affecting entire nations. During the Cold War, the enemy is faceless, devious. They represent undiluted evil and will stop at nothing to obtain their goals. They have no value for human life, not even their own. Stopping them is the righteous crusade of General Ripper, who, he himself believes, represents undiluted, God-fearing good. His crusade is not unlike that of other paranoid men-men such as Adolf Hilter (or cinematically, Adenoid Hynkel in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator)-who fomented an entire nation into committing unspeakable atrocities. These are individuals who choose an enemy as a convenient receptacle for all the ills of the world. As the cultural climate changes, so does the face of the enemy-from the dreaded infidel of the Crusades, to the Holocaust and the Red Scare of the Cold War. Whether this issue is segregated America or brewing homophobia, the Paranoid Personality is able to set himself up as the righteous oppressor. They see themselves as having God on their side-the chosen enemy taking on the role as the obstacle to the triumph of good. Marker examples include the Bible-thumping fundamentalist, William Jennings Bryan (Inherit the Wind), Otto Preminger’s Washington insider soap opera, Advise and Consent, and 17th century Salem’s McCarthyistic witch hunts (The Crucible).

A key issue to secular paranoia is the abject terror of outside forces that may trigger emotional responses of inferiority and humiliation. Given this bent, it is not surprising that paranoia surfaces as the unmitigated hatred or fear of whole, distinct groups. As such, film genres were created specific to themselves from the phobias that underlie racism (Mississippi Burning, To Kill A Mockingbird), anti-Semitism (Chariots of Fire, Sophie's Choice), urban nightmares (Death Wish, Dirty Harry), and homophobia (Philadelphia, Torch Song Trilogy).

Although the majority of films involving paranoia may only explore the personality in a symbolic sense, most films present the culmination of paranoia in at least one character. It is usually a character who embodies the abject terror toward the group in question. Quite dramatically, this is seen with the hardened suspicions and dislike that White Chief of Police Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger, In the Heat of the Night) has for the Black cop from Philadelphia, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier). We see it as well in the rabid racist, Deputy Pell (Brad Dourif in Alan Parker’s moody Mississippi Burning). It is also crystallized in Denzel Washington’s homophobic lawyer, Joe Miller, facing off with his HIV client, Andrew Becket (Academy Award winner Tom Hanks in Philadelphia).

There are also many films in which the paranoia is not directed toward an outside group but is portrayed as an internal plight. Such characters cannot accept themselves and are, in effect, self-hating. It might not seem as though there is much in common with Boys in the Band and Boyz N the Hood, but remarkably there is. Gay films such as Jeffrey and Parting Glances and the Black America of Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing and Jungle Fever have, at their center, a study of the effects of an internalized paranoia. In these situations you have a self-hate that does not allow for self. For the boys of Boys in the Band, their own ingrained self-hate releases itself in angry, vindictive, jealous attacks on one another. Michael, the worst of the lot, breaks down at the end and weeps: “If we could just not hate ourselves.” For the boys of Boyz N the Hood, their self-hate takes it a little further than vicious bitch attacks at a birthday party. These “boyz” kill one another. The fights your character chooses to fight-the accusations that he levels at others-are therefore very revealing. It is precisely what they notice (and fear) about their own lives that will influence the roads they travel.

It is vital to note that although it might be imagined paranoia, this secular paranoia is (as with real paranoia) not truly considered a diagnosis for Paranoid Personality Disorder. Within the psychological community, the true Paranoid Personality Disorder is considered to be independent of cultural factors and is not a transient state growing out of group dynamics. Racial and sexual phobias would not fall into this category. Whereas that may be well and good for the therapist’s office, what is of importance here are characters not couches.

Whether dealing with real paranoia (Enemy of the State, North by Northwest), an extreme case of Paranoid Schizophrenia (hallucinations such as John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, Polanski’s Repulsion), or internalized paranoia (The Boys in the Band), the noted films are worthy of study, their value insightful, even if they do not meet the criteria of what is clinically deemed a Paranoid Personality. Although such films may not be at the heart of the disorder, they may well be at the heart of this chapter. Truth is, there are few films that specifically address the issues and lifestyle of the true Paranoid Personality. The reason being they can be extremely difficult to root for when portrayed as a major character or entrusted with carrying a significant story line. Most films portraying a paranoid character tend to fall into these fringe categories, as opposed to the rigid diagnosis. The bottom line is that the fundamentals for all of these types of paranoia are rooted in similarities that can be found and applied no matter which direction a character may be headed. Therefore, a wide array of film examples will be offered from which to grasp a better understanding.

Paranoid Personalities suspect (without sufficient basis) that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving them, and these cases usually involve inflexible patterns of perceiving, relating, and thinking. The skinhead, Derek (American History X), has an inflexible, unjustified, and irrational fear of all non-Anglo races. He suspects the motives of all other races as being malevolent in nature-and this leads him toward a kill-or-be-killed mentality. Darryl Zero's (Zero Effect) inflexibility is apparent in his absolute distrust of everyone around him.

The common link among the various modes of the Paranoid Personality is fear-fear of loosing control, fear of being controlled, fear of violence, fear of love. Fear of those trying to get close, because secretly the other person is trying to take over. Fear of their own low self-esteem that leads them to foster issues of station and dominance. Fear over concern that persons of authority will humiliate them or expect them to be submissive. They struggle righteously against fear. General Ripper (Dr. Strangelove) reacts to the perceived threat of his homeland being laid to waste by the commies. The fear and paranoia is so real, Ripper will shoot his own officers to be on the safe side: "Fire on anyone within 200 feet! Shoot first, ask questions later!" Derek (American History X) uses guns and brute muscle to combat the wild male animal he imagines in his head. Darryl Zero (Zero Effect) will go to extraordinary and complicated lengths to outsmart the least smart.

The Paranoid Personality is also preoccupied with unjustified doubts concerning the loyalty and trustworthiness of friends and associates. Although Darryl Zero would be socially crippled without Arlo (and reluctantly trusts him with a good-sized portion of his life), he still can never take him completely into his confidence. He keeps him in the dark about the very errands he is running. In Nicholas Hytner’s film adaptation of Arthur Miller’s Broadway play, The Crucible, this distrust is the heartbeat of an entire community. Pointedly, the theme of paranoia is fermented throughout the story in many characters and on many levels other than the prime concern of witch hunting. Near the end of the Third Act, Elizabeth Proctor (a seamless performance by Joan Allen) speaks for the final time with her condemned husband: “I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me. Suspicion kissed you when I did.” Her self-hate has participated in their downfall and it speaks volumes about those that flame the firestorm of the Salem witch trials.

For the Paranoid Personality, no one is beyond unrelenting suspicion. They dread any kind of defeat and view all around them (either specifically or in general) as persecutory. They must constantly ward off humiliation and threats to their safety by staying one step ahead and taking the offensive: in Derek’s case, with fascist, ultra-violence; in General Ripper's case, with nuclear warheads; in Darryl Zero's case, with a multitude of slippery identities.

Interesting here is the dichotomy between the self-representation as omnipotent, vindicated, and triumphant over the world and the deep-seated image they harbor of themselves as impotent and completely humiliated-a vision of their life as despised by the world as well as by themselves. It is the tension between these two images and the experience of them in a subjective world that creates a sense of paranoia.

The Paranoid reads hidden, demeaning, or threatening meanings into benign remarks or events. The major manifestation of the Paranoid's fear is hyper-vigilance. They put every word and every gesture to extreme scrutiny. They monitor the slightest movement for threat of danger. Derek explodes at his widowed mother for bringing her date (a Jewish man) into their home and to their dinner table, infecting their lives. The Paranoids’ consuming distrust and suspicion is what leads them to interpret the motives of all they come in contact with as malicious, which causes them to be anxiously sensitive and always on guard. Michael, the gay leader of the pack in The Boys in the Band, verbally batters his old college roommate and longtime friend. Convinced his straight act is just that (an act), Michael scrutinizes every word, every glance, and every move of the man. He interprets his behavior with such vile suspicion their friendship comes apart at the seams.

The Paranoid Personality suspects without reason that others are exploiting or deceiving them. They always look for the real, evil intent behind the actions of others and they will go to great lengths to take the offensive against threats against their well being. Zero barricades his front door. General Ripper cavalierly fires off rounds from his machine gun through the shutters of his office window.

The Paranoid Personality often has little sense of humor-every joke is taken as a veiled insult. They perceive attacks on their character or reputation that are not apparent to others. They tend to be taciturn, overly cautious, yet they are prone to fits of intense anger. This leap to anger or counterattack is sudden and without warning. These attacks (acts of defense in the Paranoid’s mind) are nearly always portrayed in films as cold hearted, matter of fact, devoid of personal motivation. The all too justified cold stare in Byron Beckwith’s eyes (the racist murderer in Ghost of Mississippi) is not that different a stare from that of Paul Kersey (the vengeance seeking widowed husband of Death Wish).

Shame is difficult for the Paranoid Personality to acknowledge or handle. This is because much of their denying of any faults, weaknesses, or blame is done at another individual’s feet. They see and interpret their own failings as belonging to others. General Ripper lays the blame and responsibility on the president. Derek blames non-Anglos in general, and Zero, on a world too stupid to save itself. An important feature of the Paranoid Personality is that they rarely seek treatment. If they do seek treatment, they are usually brought in by a spouse or a family member tired of the accusations and exhausted by the obsessive behavior. Equally important is that they usually remain unconvinced that they are psychologically disturbed. In their view, their problems revolve around how other people have mistreated and betrayed them: the skinheads call to arms against the Blacks and Hispanics who have moved into their community (American History X); the gay party boys (Boys in the Band) who feel hated and despised by the straight world that they must live. Instead of focusing on themselves in a healthful way, they spend undue amounts of time and energy stopping (or offensively harming in preemptive retaliation) others who might cause them shame or humiliation. In American History X, Derek organizes a vigilante group of neo-Nazis to raid and vandalize a neighborhood store that has been lost to them by an encroaching ethnic mixed bag. On the surface, his rhetoric and anger is about the loss of jobs in their community to the “aliens” and that the time had come to take back what is theirs. Underneath this pro-violence rabble rousing is a much deeper and darker motivation. As Derek’s community is overtaken by what he and his friends see as second class citizens, they are faced with an overwhelming sense of humiliation and abandonment. They believe that “White America” has left them behind. They believe they have been forsaken and lumped together with the “aliens.” They see themselves as the chosen people (the most powerful), yet they are powerless, impotent. It appears to them that the America they know and believe in has given up on their community (in this case Venice, California). It has cut its loses and moved on to more desirable locations. This act by a “greater America” to leave them on the side of the road (to essentially de-class them) is central to igniting the fire and forcing to the surface their issues of self-hate.

The Paranoid Personality is reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against them. They fear that if people got to know them, they would use the knowledge of the Paranoid’s failings against them. The maligned loners of urban dramas, renegade cops and cowboys, the secret midnight meetings of vigilantism, the solitude of a spy-all show a great fear of any level of intimacy. Sometimes at stake is merely an issue of feeling vulnerable, other times it’s an issue of life and death.

The Paranoid Personality persistently bears grudges. They are unforgiving of insults, injuries, and slights. They can also be extremely jealous and devious and can locate disloyalty wherever they choose to look for it. They are always on the lookout for slights or threats, and will create one if necessary. These threats they perceive against themselves may be physical (as in General Ripper's concern over the infiltration of his precious fluids), but underlying this is the fear of losing face, of being exposed as grandiose: all-powerful, but ineffectual. This is certainly the case of the race-inspired hatred of American X, Rosewood, and Ghost of Mississippi. Paul Kersey (Death Wish) can clean up the scum of the streets and make New York a safer place to live, but he could not save the life of his wife. The anxiety of his failure and loss of power vents itself every time he goes out into the streets. Darryl Zero has a morbid fear of being outsmarted and will go to any lengths to prevent this, even if it means hiding his identity from everyone save one person. Paranoids’ sense of self-esteem is attained only when they feel that they have exerted power over authority. They want to feel triumphant, vindicated. This need makes them highly aggressive and irritable. They think they are on the righteous crusade, so this empowers them to act aggressively-they are irritable because of their hyper-vigilance.

The Paranoid Personality has recurrent suspicions, without justification, regarding the fidelity of their spouse or sexual partner. An intimate relationship with a Paranoid can be a cruel one, a war, a true example of love-hate. They fear that the hate (suspicion) will overpower and destroy the relationship (as it does for Elizabeth Proctor, The Crucible). Paranoid Personalities experience others as discontinuous; no relationship is perceived as enduring. They are, from the beginning, waiting for it to fail. They live in the moment, unable to place any credence on the history of the relationship. In nearly all the films referenced, the Paranoid character is either void of a meaningful relationship or has experienced strained relationships at best.

Relationships for the Paranoid Personality are difficult because the issue of trust is quite problematic. This debilitating lack of trust and fierce vigilance of interpersonal borders naturally leads to a near absence of intimacy. You can't get too close to Paranoids because that is precisely what they fear the most. It is what sends them into complete terror. They lack warmth, choosing instead to keep a safe distance. They also tend to isolate themselves and see themselves as completely self-sufficient. General Ripper, Derek, and Darryl Zero physically barricade their lives-they shut down emotionally. Derek sports a barbed wire tattoos across his biceps-a symbolic image of no trespassing.

To handle these egocentric feelings, the Paranoid uses a high degree of the following:
º Projection
º Denial
º Reaction Formation

Projection is the ability to project one’s own feelings (of such things as fear, inferiority, and pain) onto others. Paranoids substitute an external threat for an internal threat. The character tries to get rid of his feelings by projecting them onto others. He causes the other person to feel the feelings he cannot feel. An example of this process is seen when the Paranoid is jealous of another individual's accomplishment. They will say that the accomplished person is trying to undermine them out of envy. Thus Darryl Zero, highly suspicious and fearful, feels that everyone from car rental clerks to the woman he is sleeping with is likewise suspicious and must be lied to. He convinces himself of this because he is the best at what he does, and everyone else wishes that they could have his high degree of detachment.

Denial is defined as a direct rejection of overwhelming stimuli that usually arises from the external world. An example of denial would be when Darryl Zero tells Arlo that he is making a mistake by leaving him, that Arlo needs him, when in fact he is denying that he is the one who will be lost if Arlo leaves.

Because of the Paranoids’ propinquity to become convinced that they hate what they actually love-reaction formation-they may experience and express the opposite of what might be expected. They may hate their partners for what they perceive is hatred from them. They may feel manipulated, and thus humiliated, and accuse their partners of treachery. The Paranoid Personality approaches every relationship (sexual or otherwise) with the belief that the other person will slip up and confirm their suspicions. Elizabeth Proctor (The Crucible) exemplifies this. She has such a low opinion of herself that she does not believe a man of true merit would fall in love with her. Therefore, when John Proctor marries her, she suspects from the very beginning that there must be something about him that is less than honest. What’s wrong with him for not seeing what’s wrong with me? A woman of self-hate, she cannot accept that someone might desire her for herself. Her suspicions lead her to be cold and aloof, if not downright frigid: “You could freeze beer, Elizabeth!” This pushes her husband away and leads him to an affair-thus proving what she suspected all along.

The challenge for an artist is to construct a Paranoid character and then find a way of getting that character to trust another person-this is the essence of Zero Effect. For a chance at love, the character must find a way to trust. Story lines involving the arc of a Paranoid Personality move in the same trajectory as that of a therapist working with a Paranoid Personality. The overall goal is to shift their perceptions of the origin of their problems from an external sense to an internal sense. This can take the form of a catastrophic event, a life and death situation to shock the character out of his personality style. For Derek in American History X, it is his arrest and incarceration in prison that finally opens his eyes.

(With American History X, it could be argued that the filmmakers are saying that the best way to cure a neo-Nazi is to send him to prison to be gang raped in the showers. This does occur and it is presented as the most blatant and brutal turning point. But there is also a much quieter series of moments building in the Second Act. This is seen in Derek’s relationship with a Black inmate who not only befriends him but also saves his life when Derek turns his back on his Aryan brothers. This kindness from a stranger is perhaps the most crucial of the pivotal moments. The movie presents options-one savage, one sensitive-and leaves the door open to interpretation.)

The childhood of the Paranoid Personality can be one of a harsh home life. For the Paranoid individual, criticism and ridicule dominates the family dynamic. It is often focused on the budding Paranoid, who serves at the receiving end of such unwanted attention. They assume (or have it thrust upon them) the role of family target. They are generally in a position of familial weakness, and are consistently mocked. Such action will cause them to hate who they are. The ridicule generally takes the form of teasing and sarcasm, but the hostility toward them is clearly there; it simply comes out cloaked.

The primary caregiver in the formation of the Paranoid Personality is usually characterized by a distorted maternal experience. The Paranoid mother fosters the Paranoid offspring. When a child's primary source of knowledge is so confused, the child experiences a desperate sense of uncertainty and the need to feel safe. These mind-muddling transactions get replicated repeatedly in the adult relationships of the Paranoid.

The world of infancy is simplistic and the basic things we take for granted as adults take on, in the eyes of the child, paramount importance. For an infant, social, communicative, and complex needs have not yet advanced. The primary relations take on a consuming importance. They become central. They signify life and death. Life is viewed as either all good or all bad. If they are fed properly, their frustrations are satiated and life is good. If food is denied, life is harsh, confusing, and frustrating. Such imprinting during the most receptive stage of the human psyche is profound and lasting. When fixation or arrest occurs, the paranoid individual withdraws into emotional isolation, and this sets off a pattern of major aggression. There is the self-hate of the homosexual who is unable to express or experience love because of a history of attacks from family, church, and society that has him insisting he should hate himself. The self-hate the brothers of Boyz N the Hood who kill one another because they are the product of a racism that sees little value in their lives.

When we are first introduced to Darryl Zero, his character arc is at a point at which his Paranoid Personality is firmly entrenched. We first meet him in absentia, as Steve Arlo is taking a meeting with a client: "He never meets clients, he doesn't negotiate his fee. He never even leaves the house," Arlo tells us. Later, Arlo describes him less charitably to a colleague in a bar: "He's a rude asshole."

The first time we see Darryl Zero, he is in his home and crime lab, a place possibly guarded as securely as the most severe of federal penitentiaries. He is raving, unkempt, and always on edge-no doubt due to the fact that he hasn't slept in three days because of all the amphetamines that he has been digesting. "They're good for my skin," he claims. He prides himself on his "objectivity and observation-the two obs." He mistrusts everybody, including Steve Arlo, who, after first lulling him into complacency with small talk, he snaps at accusingly: "Where the fuck have you been?" He does this knowing full well that Arlo has been briefing a client.

The first plot point occurs when Darryl decides to actually go and solve one of his cases at hand. He pursues great lengths to ensure that he eludes even the most benign glances by donning numerous disguises and assuming numerous false identities-three in the course of one plane trip from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon. Distrusting and detached (two points of pride with him), he can’t bring himself to speak face to face with Arlo in an airport. “Too fishy. Two guys in an airport," he believes. Instead they speak to each other from adjacent pay phones.

Act Two begins when Darryl arrives in Portland and begins the job of unraveling the blackmail scheme against his client, Mr. Stark. Mistrusting everyone (hallmarks of both a good detective and a Paranoid), Zero pursues Stark to his gym, never revealing his true identity as he runs on the treadmill next to him. At the gym, Darryl also meets Gloria, who he also immediately distrusts and likewise investigates. Act Two progresses with Darryl deploying his own particular brand of sleuthing. The hunt incorporates a methodology that is in no small part informed by his paranoia-the layers of the onion are slowly peeled away on the case of bribery against Mr. Stark. Darryl finds himself getting closer to Gloria, not only because she is the prime suspect as the briber, but also because he has become undeniably attracted to her.

Faced with his feelings for her, he must overcome his debilitating distrust and his abject fear of allowing anyone to become intimate with him on a sexual, social, or professional level. He also must face the dilemma that his entire relationship with Gloria is built on the deception resulting from his occupation-she believes he's a banker named Nick Carmine.

As Act Two approaches its crisis point, the stakes are raised for Darryl. Steve Arlo tells him that he is going to quit. Steve provides a vital function for Darryl in that he is the only one who Darryl trusts and thus serves as his only social conduit. Darryl flies into a rage at the news, tearing up his motel room and calling Steve an "ungrateful fuck": "What am I supposed to do?" he asks him. "Start taking meetings? Start talking to people?" He is being forced to call into question the seal of paranoia he has erected around his life.

In Act Three, Darryl's character arc takes a dramatic turn as he decides to let Gloria in. "Look at me in the eyes and talk to me," she tells him, and he opens up to her. They share painful memories of a similar traumatic childhood-something that Darryl has never before allowed himself to do. He feels safe with Gloria. How can you not trust somebody who is at least as wounded as you are? Hesitantly, he falls in love and they become intimate, something that was unthinkable to Darryl before he met Gloria. "I've never said the words before, to anyone," he tells her.

In the end he makes Gloria an offer to further their relationship, but she, guilty of bribery and rich from her crime, must leave the country. It doesn't matter. The important thing is that someone did breach Darryl's defenses. He is now at least able and willing to experience closeness and contact with others and still feel safe. All of this is due to what he dubs, "The Case of the Man Who Lost His Objectivity when He Lost it Over a Lady Blackmailer."

QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS THAT DEFINE THE PARANOID PERSONALITY:

A consuming distrust and pervasive suspiciousness of others.

They tend to interpret the motives of others as malevolent.

They reflexively react with suspicion without any tangible basis that others are exploiting or deceiving them.

They are consumed with unsubstantiated doubts concerning the loyalty and trustworthiness of not only people with whom they work but with friends as well.

They are reluctant to confide in others.

They worry that any trust they give or confidence they share will be used maliciously against them.

They perceive demeaning or threatening nuances in the benign remarks of others or in neutral events.

They tenaciously hold onto grudges.

They do not forgive insults, injuries, or slights - even if they are the only ones who perceive them as such.

They are convinced that attacks and injurious slander are aimed at them and their reputations, though others may not see this.

They immediately react with anger and counterattacks to any slights, either covert or overt, that they perceive.

They are plagued with suspicions regarding the fidelity of their mates.
They have unwarranted and consistent feelings of being attacked.

They generally avoid intimacy.

They tend to isolate themselves.

They are ardently self-sufficient.

They tend to be very jealous.

They tend to be very fiercely argumentative.

They are hypervigilant of the words and deeds of others.

They tend to be very cold emotionally and seldom display warmth and tenderness.

They pride themselves in their rationality, objectivity, and the suppression of emotion - even if they are the only ones who think so.

They have difficulty with authority figures.

They often appear as uncompromising, stubborn, and defensive.

They are prone to being hostile.

They jealously guard their independence.

They seldom take responsibility for their own feelings but instead assign it to others.

They are constantly expecting to be attacked and exploited.

They externalize emotions and attribute their own motives and impulses onto others.

They are impressed with power and rank.

They hold those with less power and those who are weak in disdain.

NOTEWORTHY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PARANOID PERSONALITY

SPEECH
Hyper-vigilante. Distrustful. Careful. Demonstrative. Can be soft spoken or loud and pushy to ward off feared attacks.

PROFESSIONS
Loners. Career military. Religious leaders. Hi-Tech. Engineers. Jobs not known for individualism. Jobs that are group affiliated. Jobs out of the public eye.

DRESS
Often subdued. Sometimes representing group affiliation. Oftentimes little emphasis on a desire to be individually recognized.

HEALTH
Hypocondriacal issues. Severe paranoia about health in general and specifics. Fatalistic view. Self-medication with substance abuse is common. Panic attacks with and without Agoraphobia. Phobias, sexual difficulties from stress inducing situations. Ejaculatory problems. Sleep disorders. Sleep terrors and nightmares.

POPULAR CLICHÉS OF THE PARANOID PERSONALITY
Vigilante.
Loner.
Skinhead.
Bigot.
Racist.
Computer Nerd.
Righteously corrupt.
Morally indignant.
Misfit.
Outcast.
Pariah.
Puritan.
Partisan.
Zealot.
Monomaniac.

SIMILAR PERSONALITY STYLES OF THE PARANOID PERSONALITY
THE ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY
THE BORDERLINE PERSONALITY
THE MASOCHISTIC PERSONALITY

VIEWING SUGGESTIONS OF THE PARANOID PERSONALITY

Alien (1979) - Science Fiction/Horror, 117, Rated R.
For Sci-Fi paranoia.

American History X (1998) - Drama, 117, Rated R.
For racial paranoia. Edward Norton's chilling and well-deserved Academy Award nominated performance as the skinhead, Derek.

Blob, The (1958) - Science Fiction, 86, No rating.
For Sci-Fi paranoia. A product of the Red Scare and the end of World War II.

Blow Out (1981) - Mystery, 107, Rated R.
For political paranoia.

Boys in the Band, The (1970) - Drama, 119, Rated R.
For homophobic paranoia. Interesting study of an internalized, self-inflicted paranoia. In this case, sexuality. A great deal of fun theatrics that all comes down to, "If we could only not hate ourselves."

Boyz N The Hood (1991) - Drama, 107, Rated R.
For racial paranoia. Such as those boys in the band, an interesting study of an internalized, self-inflicted paranoia. In this case, color and race. Nominated for an Oscar for the writing.

Chariots of Fire (1981) - Sports/Biography, 123, Rated PG.
A study in anti-Semitic paranoia. Won the Oscar for writing.

Crucible, The (1996) - Historical/Drama, 123, Rated PG-13.
For political paranoia. Arthur Miller's look back on the phenomena of the communist red scare in America. A brilliant look at the nature of paranoia.

Day the Earth Stood Still, The (1951) - Science Fiction, 92, No rating.
For Sci-Fi paranoia. Unquestionably the best of the paranoid films from this particular era.

Death Wish (1974) - Crime, 93, Rated R.
For urban paranoia.

Do the Right Thing (1989) - Drama/Comedy, 120, Rated R.
For racial paranoia. Interesting study of an internalized, self-inflicted paranoia. In this case, race. Spike Lee was nominated for his screenplay.

Don't Look Now (1973) - Mystery, 110, Rated R.
A mix of Paranoid Personality and Paranoid-Schizophrenia.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - Black Comedy, 93, No rating.
For Dr. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) as a Paranoid Personality. Satirical and over the top but the points are made. Nominated for an Oscar for the writing.

Ghost of Mississippi (1996) - Historical Drama, 130, Rated PG-13.
For racial paranoia. James Woods' Academy Award nominated performance as real-life racist and murderer Byron Beckwith.

Great Dictator, The (1940) - War/Comedy, 128, No rating.
For political paranoia. Nominated for the writing.

Hidden Agenda (1990) - Political/Thriller, 108, Rated R.
For political paranoia.

In the Heat of the Night (1967) - Crime, 109.
For racial paranoia. Took home the Oscar for the writing.

In the Mouth of Madness (1995) - Thriller/Horror, 95, Rated R.
An example of Paranoid-Schizophrenia.

Inherit the Wind (1960) - Drama, 127, No rating.
For political paranoia. Oscar nominated for the writing.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - Science Fiction, 80, No rating.
For Sci-Fi paranoia. A product of the Red Scare and the end of World War II.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - Science Fiction, 115, Rated PG.
For Sci-Fi paranoia. One of the better film remakes.

Jacob's Ladder (1990) - Horror, 115, Rated R.
For Paranoid-Schizophrenia.

Jeffrey (1995) - Romance/Comedy, 92, Rated R.
For internalized homophobia.

Jungle Fever (1991) - Romance/Drama, 132, Rated R.
For racial paranoia. Interesting study of an internalized, self-inflicted paranoia.

Longtime Companion (1990) - Drama, 96, Rated R.
For homophobia.

Love Field (1992) - Drama, 104, Rated PG-13.
For racial paranoia.

Malcolm X (1992) - Drama/Biography, 201, Rated PG-13.
For racial paranoia.

Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1934) - Mystery, 75, No rating.
For political paranoia.

Mississippi Burning (1988) - Historical/Drama, 125, Rated R.
For racial paranoia.

Naked Lunch (1991) - Science Fiction/Fantasy/Drama, 115, Rated R.
For examples of Paranoid-Schizophrenia.

North by Northwest (1959) - Thriller/Spy, 136, No rating.
For spy and "wrong man" paranoia. Nominated for an Academy Award for writing.

Notorious (1946) - Thriller/Spy, 101, No rating.
For spy paranoia. Nominated for an Academy Award for writing.

One False Move (1992) - Drama/Crime, 105, Rated R.
For racial paranoia.

Parallax View, The (1974) - Thriller, 102, Rated R.
For political paranoia-and one of the better ones to do it.

Parting Glances (1986) - Drama, 90, No rating.
For homophobic paranoia.

Philadelphia (1993) - Drama, 119, Rated PG-13.
For homophobic paranoia. Nominated for an Academy Award for writing.

Repulsion (1965) - Horror, 105, No rating.
For examples of Paranoid-Schizophrenia.

Seven Days in May (1964) - Political/Thriller/Drama, 118, No rating.
For political paranoia.

Shining, The (1980) - Horror, 142, Rated R.
For examples of Paranoid-Schizophrenia.

Suspicion (1941) - Thriller, 99, No rating.
Joan Fontaine won an Academy Award for playing this wife who thinks her husband is trying to kill her.

Thing (From Another World), The (1951) - Science Fiction, 87, No rating.
For Sci-Fi paranoia. One of the better films from the 1950's paranoid films period.

Three Days of the Condor (1975) - Thriller, 117, Rated R.
For political paranoia.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Drama, 129, No rating.
For racial paranoia. Won the Oscar for writing.

Torch Song Trilogy (1988) - Drama, 117, Rated R.
For homophobia. Interesting study of an internalized, self-inflicted paranoia. In this case, sexuality.

Wedding Banquet, The (1993) - Drama/Comedy, 111, Rated R.
For homophobic paranoia.

White Dog (1982) - Drama, 89, No rating.
For racial paranoia.

Winter Kills (1979) - Political/Mystery/Comedy, 97, Rated R.
For political paranoia.

Z (1969) - Political/Thriller/Historical, 127, Rated PG.
For political paranoia. Nominated for an Academy Award for writing.