Is there anything else to be learned about narcissism? Have you ever suspected that the people at the top—our leaders, our politicians, etc.—might be more interested in themselves than anyone else? And what happens when narcissism and wealth collide? Woody Allen’s new film, Blue Jasmine, is like a shining light on many of these questions.

But first, let’s look at how narcissistic behavior is infecting our society. It’s been thirty years since Christopher Lasch told us in his 1979 book The Culture of Narcissism that we were entering a historic period of selfishness and manipulation. I agree.

In divorce, we see good people decline, become narcissists, and exploit ruthlessly.

In business, we see CEOs getting ever-increasing bonuses while the average wage goes nowhere and cuts happen every day.

In politics, we see people running for office, so desperate to win that they are willing to do anything to make us believe they are fighting for us, not their precious careers.

Or we have all witnessed politicians turn a blind eye to Wall Street’s irresponsible design of financial instruments like mortgage-backed securities and derivatives. How did that give us an admission of guilt?

Blue Jasmine:

While many movies offer us bread and circuses and keep us entertained, Blue Jasmine aims for the American elite. It’s an unpleasant sight.

In Blue Jasmine, we deal with the financial elite. Based on the story of Bernie Madoff, Alec Baldwin plays Hal, a narcissist turned psychopath who has convinced everyone in his circle to invest in his wildly successful schemes. He has homes all over the world, a mansion in the Hamptons, a huge apartment on Park Avenue, and a lot of admirers, both male and female. The heroine is his wife, Jasmine (Cate Blanchett), who plays the role of the perfect hostess; beautiful, elegant, haughty, “charitable” and elite.

The only problem is that Hal is a con man, he has slept with countless women, conned everyone out of hundreds of millions, and gone to prison, only to commit suicide.

Jasmine is left with nothing but anger and despair. She moves in with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco and more problems develop. Jasmine is not only a spoiled brat in a woman’s body, but she is also losing control of herself, taking advantage of everything in her wake.

Ginger falls in love with Chili (Bobby Cannavale) and Jasmine does everything she can to destroy their relationship. Ginger once lost all her money to Hal, and now she is about to lose the man of her dreams as well. Allen invites us to feel for Jasmine since the story is told through her eyes. But we don’t.

Extreme Narcissism:

This story is about extreme narcissism. After losing all her money and friends, Jasmine is broken. But in the process, she takes advantage of everyone who cares about her. This is a trait of narcissism, the ability to see the world through your own eyes and to use others as pawns to get your needs met. Yes, pain makes people more selfish… but Yasmine and Hal were special.

Allen’s work is important because it looks at the dark side of people we sometimes envy. Many of us have some interest in the rich the famous or the geniuses. We feel that this is the best life. I think Allen wants us to grow up and enjoy the life we ​​get, not the one we’re told to admire.

Maybe he’ll figure that out himself, too.

Ultimately, Blue Jasmine is loosely based on Tennessee Williams’ novel Streetcar Named Desire. A crazy, intellectual sister named Blanche moves in with Stella, her down-to-earth sister, and disrupts Stella’s life. Stella and her husband Stanley in Streetcar seem more disturbed than Ginger and Chili in Blue Jasmine, but we feel the love is real. Happiness can be found anywhere, but not with narcissists.

The Value of Normalcy:

As in many of his films, Woody Allen wants us to see the emptiness of narcissists—and psychopaths. In real life, we read about Wall Street scammers, cover-ups by church officials, and even steroid use in baseball. In every institution, there is a rationale that condoning a terrible wrong is working for the greater good. Jasmine didn’t want to see… but she saw… her husband’s corruption. We turned a blind eye, the same way Major League Baseball ignored steroid abuse for years, the church hierarchy covered up heinous crimes, and our politicians turned a blind eye before Lehman Brothers went bankrupt.

Where there is narcissism, there is little integrity.

Corruption and the Need to Win:

Narcissists want to win, at any cost. Psychopathy, an extreme form of narcissism, is someone who deliberately manipulates others. Narcissists are a little less Machiavellian. They play themselves into believing that everything they do is perfectly fine.

After all, narcissists have an ego, a form of malicious thinking that makes them feel superior, so the rules that apply to others do not apply to them.

Woody Allen asks us, once again, to recognize that powerful people are often driven by self-interest and immediate justifications. He asks us not to idealize the rich, the powerful, the famous, or the genius. We have to grow for our good.