Primal Fear - Psychology Connections

1.Describe the main characters of the film: Who are they? What are their motivations? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are the obstacles they face?

During the cross-examination, the aggressive 'Roy' blew out from Aaron's character and assaulted Laura Linney, the assistant District Attorney Prosecutor. Vail took advantage of the situation by defending his client based on insanity. However, at the end of the film, there is a clear shocking twist, when Aaron congratulates his lawyer for his competence. Aaron sends apologies to Laura for the assault he caused. It dawns on Vail that Aaron was still recalling what Roy did, rather than forgetting the incident. Roy unknowingly revealed his guiltiness of killing the archbishop. It was evident that his presence in the courtroom was premeditated, and Roy was his real

During the Salem witch trials, many lives that were taken due to a few people’s self defence. In the book, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a group of girls caused a whole town to go array. This group of girls were caught naked, dancing and conjuring spirits. These girls were going to accept the blame and receive the whipping for what they did, but one of the girls, Abigail, was not about to go down. Abigail had the whole group of girls convinced that it would be best to lie and to not accept the beating. By doing this, they were put into the court and used to tell the judges whether or not the people whom were accused were truly witches. Though the girls had no way of telling if the accused were truly witches, they

Prepare yourself for a journey. Travel with me, as we explore the mind of a character named Roy played by Edward Norton in the film directed by Gregory Hoblit in 1996 Titled “Primal Fear”. In this film Roy suffers from a psychological disorder. As we travel on this journey deep into the mind of this character, we will begin to unlock the secrets that lay within. Discovering what psychological disorder Roy suffers from, how he thinks and his thought process from a bio-psychological perspective, and treatments for this disorder using cognitive behavior therapy. “Primal Fear” is the story of a young man who is accused of the murder of an archbishop. With all the evidence pointing towards him as the target suspect, an ambitious and vagarious

Stacey asked if he could be part of the jury and Mr. Jamison explained to him how it worked. The next few days they were waiting for TJ’s trial. Clarence, little Willie, and Stacey were planning to go to the Trial. Stacey asked Cassie if she wanted to go to the trial with him, but Cassie seemed scared so Stacey said nevermind. The next day when Stacey, and the others were about to go to Strawberry to go watch the trial Cassie, and the other Logan kids came with them. When they got to the trial they saw that TJ wasn’t there yet, and that they couldn’t sit anywhere because there was only so much seats for colored people. They saw Jeremy and they spoke for a while. The boys then had to use the bathroom, and Cassie was going to get a drink from the water fountain. When Jeremy saw this he immediately got Cassie, and The other Logan kids, and explained to them that those aren’t for colored people. They would get into trouble if they saw them using the bathrooms, and the water fountains. Stacey came and said that TJ was in the court room.

They are trying to charge Maurice with murder but he won't give them the evidence they need. The police gave Maurice a choice to stay in juvie for two more years, if he told them the truth but if he didn't tell the truth he would have to go prison for 40 years. Maurice told them the truth and was sent back to juvie.

October 13, 2006 seemed like it would be like any other day for Arlena Lindley. Her friend had come to visit her but when her three year old son, Titches, soiled his pants, the day took a turn for the worst. It was on that fateful day that Lindley’s then boyfriend, Alonzo Turner, beat her toddler with a leather belt, threw him against the wall and then proceeded to wipe the boy’s face in his cereal. Turner would continue to abuse the boy, going as far as pushing the young boy’s face into the toilet. Lindley tried grabbing her son and running, yet her efforts were to no avail. Turner snatched the toddler from her hands and proceeded to lock Lindley and her friend out of the house. By the time the two reentered, Titches had stopped breathing;

2) What are some of the themes that are central to the film? How have they been communicated?

Fear can be an influence on someone's descent into a bad situation. In the play The Crucible the Puritan town of Salem is under suspicion of witchcraft. When a group of girls is discovered dancing in the forest, their leader (Abigail) tries to cover it up by accusing people in the town of witchcraft. All the accusations of witchcraft result in many different events, including the arrival of Judge Danforth and Reverend Hale. If anyone were to be under suspicion they would be tried for a confession that they dealt with witchcraft, and if they didn’t confess they would be hanged. The characters in the play are conflicted with different types of fear that change their personality and causes them to act differently. Fear influences people to take extreme measures and act irrationally.

“The Gift Of Fear,” a psychology book written by Gavin De Becker, is an extremely useful and informative read. It gives valuable advice about how to act upon human intuition, how to recognize threats, and defines what real fear is and it’s purpose. I found the book to be extremely interesting. This book provided me with a sense of understanding on violence and fear and I feel much better prepared when it comes to recognizing dangerous situations.

When Meursault is brought into the court for the trial, the accuser realizes the strange behavior Meursault seems to give off. He then uses this information to persuade the jury that Meursault is a dangerous criminal without any morals or compassion. Meursault has no way to combat the accusations, so he had to depend on the lawyer. The jury agreed with the accuser that Meursault seemed to have no compassion for others and no regret from past mistakes. The jury found Meursault guilty of the crime and the judge sentenced him to death with the accusers persuasion.

To start of the novel Fear, by Gabriel Chevallier, Jean Dartemont is in France observing all the civilians celebrate the start of the new war. He criticizes their behavior and strongly disapproves, however, he admits a curiosity in him that convinces him to volunteer for the war for it will be a ‘remarkable spectacle.” After being approved to go to war, Dartemont heads to a training camp. There he becomes a private after failing to become an officer. Here he commands a group, but realized he finds the maintenance of soldiers to be tedious and useless work. Already he becomes quite eager to arrive at the front lines, which soon happens.

Martin Vail is easily manipulated by the youthful, innocent appearance of Aaron Stampler. Martin did not believe that Aaron was innocent at first but upon spending much time with the young boy, he begins to unconsciously sympathize with him. This behavior is explained using the psychodynamic perspective because he does not realize that the reason he believes in Aaron’s innocence is because of his appearance and

(Preview these questions before you watch the film. Take notes as you watch the film, then answer on a separate paper.)

Primal Fear (1996) Primal Fear is a neo-noir crime thriller directed by Gregory Hoblit, based on William Diehl’s novel of the same name. It follows a Chicago defence attorney, Martin Vail (Richard Gere) as he defends a 19-year-old choir boy (Edward Norton) who is accused of murdering an influential Archbishop. The split personality is portrayed, like many other films using the trope, through dialogue.