*Brain Drain,Mila Bas Pain#4*|I/O|When we play, there's no beating us.

Originally posted by: .annihilation.

Amy : Amy, in my opinion, was a born psychopath. Whatever she did wasn't just because she felt the need to teach her cheating husband a lesson. Much before Nick came into her life, she's displayed all the red flags and warning signs but they got ignored because she had a crappy set of parents. She had falsely accused and pressed charges of grievous degree of rape on her boyfriend(the one before Desi), pressed charges against Desi (Although, he was said to have issues of his own as well), physically abused/resorted to violence to her friends/classmates and instances as such. The fact that her parents treated her as money making machine and not a human or their daughter didn't help her childhood either. All of the criminal offences she committed occurred during childhood to adulthood thereby establishing the journey of her becoming full fledged psychopath by the time Nick came into picture. Had someone paid attention to her in the childhood, there might have been a chance a treatment or a cure that would have been effective to a certain extent at least but that didn't happen.

Enter Nick, she saw a man who made a perfect material for an experiment. In her own words, she's said to have engineered Nick to become a person he naturally wasn't, their relationship/their marriage was in the first place laid on a wrong foundation and when partners are engineering each other to become something they're not, such relationships/marriage don't last long. They faced recession and while Nick had genuinely lost his job due to it, Amy quit herself. Again, she confessed that time of recession made a perfect opportunity for her to test her marriage because she felt Nick going 'lazy. Once Nick's philandering ways came to her knowledge, she hatched the world's most fool-proof and genius plan to ruin Nick's life. And everything that followed, as they say is, history.

Point being, every single thing she did stemmed out of her brain's functioning than the betrayal she might have felt because of Nick cheating or her marriage falling apart. Every single thing she did, she did it in complete consciousness, knowing what's wrong and what's right but always choosing to do the wrong because according to her, it was 'right'. Her sense of right or wrong or a sense of judgement doesn't even hold any accountability because she perhaps could never be made seen or realise the barbarous, monstrous and unforgivable deeds and crimes she committed. Because? Brain, it was all screwed up right in the head and thus the name, 'Gone Girl'.

Maya : She matches Amy's character sketch to a great deal; mirrors almost. The difference and perhaps the only one between Amy and Maya is, Maya has her traumatic past/childhood abuse to fall back on while Amy's childhood was 'controlled' beyond the permissible limits, Maya's was greatly damaged. So, every time Maya does anything wrong, she can always flash the past card and get away with it and that's something she had been doing till season 1. Personally, I could see her treading on a journey to become a full fledged psychopath bit by bit and it's something I have always said (when I used to make topics here) that if she isn't stopped within time, then she'll turn into someone no one will be able to recognise. After Ashwin's death, after having successfully alienated Arjun, after having discarded her only link to conscience (her Ganesha), there was nothing she feared, no one she had to face or be answerable to. Come season 2, she's become an unapologetic, unabashed, fearless, unstoppable, omnipresent, ruthless, barbaric and monstrous version of herself. Gone was the scared and abused little kid and in was the all powerful abuser. The girl who was once abused is now an abuser herself.

Now, keeping in mind some of my theories (being responsible for Ashwin's murder, perhaps even Mauritius pandit's, causing Jhanvi's accident rendering her paralysed, causing Vikram's accident, faking pregnancy 2 times) and the things she's shown to have done in the show such as mentally torturing Arjun (domestic violence, mental abuse, abduction, intrusion of privacy by putting up cameras even in bathroom, isolation from family and friends), mentally and physically abusing Jhanvi and endangering her life along with her own, falsely getting Ayaan convicted in an attempt to rape case and now physically torturing Vandana, there's absolutely no chance at a 'redemption' in my opinion. Redemption is for those who can possibly realise their mistakes and repent for them. Given Maya's psyche, I doubt if she's capable of doing that because according to her, all that she's done is way of serving punishment to those who have wronged her or not obliged by her rules.

Viraj Dobriyal (from DSNDS, Life Ok show) : Again, a character quite similar to Maya's. After having killed his wife (among other million awful things he did), he owned up to everything he did, was established as 'obsessive' in the show, had been sent to a mental care facility and then sent to jail to serve his term for all his crimes. He was shown to have been deeply regretted all that he's done but also understood that there was no forgiveness and no redeeming him, at least not in this life.

Personally, I wouldn't mind the same end to Maya as Viraj's unlike Amy's who got away with everything in the end. Another end, I think that'd do justice to her character would be she dying while saving Arjun either from herself or from some external harm. Or just simply be institutionalised in an asylum or be sentenced to whatever punishment court deems fit for her crimes. If the makers decided to take up any of the three routes mentioned above, I wouldn't mind it at all, would be content with the show's/Maya's end. However, if in the name of redemption, they decide to get a baby/child in the picture or just sent Maya to a doctor and after a few days, she's said to be completely cured or recovered and then be united with Arjun, then I'll probably laugh it all off. 😆

Oh and yes, I too have had major issues with the way Maya's character shaped up or the show's writing in general. One of the gravest mistake they made was to give Maya a traumatic past if they intended to establish her as a psychopath (whether officially or unofficially; that is leaving it open to interpretation/study). That's the very reason why the show's audiences are divided into sections. Also, their love for keeping things ambiguous doesn't help the case either, millions of questions that are still unaddressed and unanswered which actually should have been cleared long ago.

Originally posted by: .annihilation.

https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2015/02/12/differences-between-a-psychopath-vs-sociopath/

Some points highlighting the key difference between the two.

- Unlike psychopaths, most sociopaths don't hold down long-term jobs or present much of a normal family life to the outside world.

(Maya successfully ran F&C for a long period)

- When a sociopath engages in criminal behaviour, they may do so in an impulsive and largely unplanned manner, with little regard for the risks or consequences of their actions. When a psychopath engages in criminal behaviour, they tend to do so in a way that minimises risk to themselves. They will carefully plan criminal activity to ensure they don't get caught, having contingency plans in place for every possibility.

(90% of the things she's done are always planned and calculated. She does care about the consequences, as in, she doesn't allow her reality to be exposed in front of the world)

- Without emotional involvement, any pain that others suffer is meaningless to a psychopath.

(Self harming, physical pain is meaningless to her)

- Psychopaths, in general, have a hard time forming real emotional attachments with others. Instead, they form artificial, shallow relationships designed to be manipulated in a way that most benefits the psychopath.

(She doesn't share a one real relationship with anyone, a relationship that's not toxic and destructive both to her and the person involved, the second line screams about Arjun)

- People are seen as pawns to be used to forward the psychopath's goals.

(Self explanatory)

- But psychopaths can often be seen by others as being charming and trustworthy, holding steady, normal jobs. Some even have families and seemingly-loving relationships with a partner. While they tend to be well-educated, they may also have learned a great deal on their own.

(Doesn't this nail her personality?)

- Basically, just read the entire article.

Originally posted by: .annihilation.

Tum kisi ki dawaa nahi ban sakte'

Ever since Maya told that to Arjun, that dialogue's been bugging me so much. If that'd be reality and I'd be present in that scenario, I'd go up to May and tell her, jo khud zehr ho uski koi kya dawaa banega?' It's a different case that'd I have called upon my death though. 😆 Sounding too harsh and critical, am I? No. Allow me to explain how. Firstly, this notion or the idea about one person becoming another person's cure is a farcical and fallacious one to the core, in my opinion. What am I about to explain is basically meant for real life situations and people, of course but then isn't fiction inspired from real? It is.

For instance, let's assume a hypothetical scenario where you're physically sick. Say, you have a headache or a stomach ache or just about any pain in any area of your body. What do you do? Do you expect your parents, your family, your friends, your boyfriend or anyone else in your general vicinity to somehow just heal' or cure' you from your sickness? No, you don't. You consult a doctor and get yourself treated.

Another instance, you just suffered a terrible accident, are critically injured and nearly escaped death. Now, you're not in a position to get yourself to the Hospital in order to save your life. It becomes the moral, civil and human responsibility of anyone who finds you in that condition to see it to that you're taken to a Hospital.

One more, let's say you're diagnosed to be having cancer, potentially in it's critical stage. There's a chance of recovery but a bleak one. What do you do? Go upto your parents, your family, your husband, your friend, your boyfriend, any of your loved one and ask them to be your cure? Tell them that they're responsible for your healing? No. You don't. You do whatever is that you can to beat cancer if it's beatable or just accept your fate.

Similarly, mental illness of any kind is like the cancer of your brain, your mind. The kind of cancer it is, its stage, its degree, its criticality, its treatment, they all depend on what that said mental illness exactly is. To say or expect or demand your cure or healing from another human being because he/she loves you or cares for you is a notion that should be nipped right in the bud. Let's for a moment step into the shoes of the person you're a responsibility of. Do we realize the incredible amount of pressure we're placing on them? Do we realize the magnitude of guilt they'll feel if they're to ever fail in any of their efforts? Do we realize the extent of confusion they might feel because even though they try so hard, they can't understand everything there is to it all? Can we fathom the intensity of the pain they must feel because they know they're helpless after a point and they can't bear seeing their loved one in so much agony?

Am I suggesting that loved ones of people suffering from mental illnesses do not have any responsibility towards them? HELL NO. Families, friends, loved one's, coworkers etc have all the moral and civil responsibility on their shoulders to be empathetic to their pain, understand them as much as they can, stand by them, stick to them and support them in any and every manner they can. Not to shun them, not to ridicule or mock them, not to insult them or label them, not to discourage them and never to make their condition or situation worse than it already may be.

This is precisely why I liked yesterday's episode, particularly the Jhanvi-Maya and Arjun-Vandana bits. Because in those particular scenes, all I could see was a daughter and a son breaking down in front of their respective mothers, letting it all the pent up emotions out, just pouring their hearts out to them. I absolutely LOVED how Jhanvi despite everything Maya subjected Jhanvi to, she was only a mother to her in that moment. Shedding tears with her, feeling her pain just as much and just giving her the comfort she could provide even in that paralyzed condition of hers. Exactly the same for Vandana, she wasn't judgemental, she wasn't critical, she was just being there for Arjun and letting her son pour his heart out. All of it may not make complete sense with the context of the story and the characters but like I said, it didn't matter to me as all I could see was when everyone and everything failed two people, they found home in their respective loved ones; parents.

Now, I may think that Maya's a psychopath, in all probability, a born psychopath. Others may think her mental illness/personality disorder is something different. Whichever the case might be, I believe we ought to unanimously agree that Maya's an unpredictable, dangerous and savage person to be with. A lethal combination of beemari (disease) and burayi (evil) with burayi taking up a greater precedence and proportion over beemari. Given everything Maya's subjected Arjun and his family to, given every criminal deed of hers, given how no human being is capable of healing' or curing' her by themselves alone, I'd not expect Arjun to continue to stand by Maya. That's extremely unfair and wrong on so many levels. And more so because Arjun has tried every possible thing (except for one thing; taking her to a psychiatrist/psychologist but that's something we don't know if he ever did or at least tried to) he could for Maya. Despite it all, he's still willing to be there for her in whatever way he can even if it means to be forever remain physically and mental caged.

The fact that remains is Maya's case has gone far beyond anyone's help, support or understanding, whatever her condition may be, she NEEDS to be institutionalised in a mental care facility/asylum because she's a danger to herself and everyone around her. Once she's been diagnosed, and treated if her condition is curable can it be determined whether or not she's capable of leading a normal life from thereon. She also needs to serve whatever punishment the law deems fits for her share of criminal offences, imo.