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Emily Compagno questions how people fall for a ‘psychopath in sheep’s clothing’.
Over the years, the wild fascination with serial killers and psychopaths, through documentaries, mockumentaries, social media, and more, has skyrocketed, with people creating fan clubs and raising GoFundMe funds for "criminals" they are charmed by or potentially think are innocent.
With true crime podcasts and internet sleuths running amok, fascination with psychopaths, Machiavellians, and charming narcissists is at an all-time high. There is an actual term for the romanticization of criminals, especially serial killers, called hybristophilia. According to studies, Reddit’s r/serialkillers page has more than half a million members, and true crime is the most popular American podcasting genre.
Which takes us to the question, how people fall for narcissists and psychopaths.
Emily Compagno's take on the romanticization of criminals
Outnumbered co-host Emily Compagno was asked this exact thing at Fox News' segment Gutfeld! hosted by Greg Gutfeld. Calling them a ‘psychopath in sheep’s clothing’, Emily Compagno expressed that somebody who falls for narcissists, or a potential psychopath, sees a sort of potential, in terms of personality attributes like confidence and security (financial or in themselves). The conversation, which was bulldozed by Sherrod Small, Brian Kilmeade, was quite inconclusive, but the general consensus was that attractiveness often leads to trustworthiness,s and these Machiavellians, like Ted Bundy, portray themselves in a certain way to essentially catch a victim.
Emily Compagno was put in a tight spot when she was questioned by Greg on the fact that women do a better job at hiding their craziness, to which she replied that "maybe you should ask the guys." Gutfeld retorted by calling her "batsh*t crazy."
One of the biggest traits of Machiavellians is manipulation, and some of the biggest Machiavellians represented in modern media include characters such as Tony Soprano from The Sopranos, Tom Ripley from Anthony Minghella's film The Talented Mr Ripley, and Lord Varys and Lord Baelish from the Game of Thrones series, amongst others. Each of these characters was called a mastermind and regaled for their manipulative skills in different settings, being villains in their own stories.
However, talking about hybristophilia, whether voluntary or accidental, though there isn't one right answer, this reaction often stems from a past trauma reflected in present times. It could be inate curiosity or fascination especially since serial kills get blasted all over the media, or it can be the "trending" ideology of "I can fix him." Low self esteem and self consciousness also plays a major role in relationships with manipulative or narcissistic partners, as they make easy, plyable victims.
One such study also stated that this attraction to someone dangerous or charismatic with something lurking behind can also be a reflection of their own inner wounds.
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