Directed by Dan Partland, #Unfit :The Psychology of Donald Trump is a compelling, thoroughly absorbing and sobering documentary from 2020, which posits that the Orange Menace may in fact be, as many have long suspected, a malignant narcissist, who is not merely unfit for office, but a global threat. It does allude to The Goldwater Rule, passed in 1973, which stipulates that psychiatrists may not diagnose famous people with mental health conditions. Here, all malignant narcissistic traits- as defined in the DSM- appear to be present and correct, though: arrogance, entitlement,exploitative behaviour, a lack of empathy, and so on.
In the time since this was filmed, of course much of the political landscape in America has changed, with ‘Sleepy Joe’ Biden (as Trump named him) the current American President, but the film.now serves as a warning from history that Trump must not serve again, in the interests of safety, and for sanity’s sake in general. It makes an extremely convincing case.
With several experts in their field, from psychologists like Justin Frank, Ramani Durvasala, and Lance Dodes, to historian and cultural critic Ruth Ben-Ghiat and former intelligence officer Malcolm Nance, the testimonials range from his hyper-indulged background of extreme privilege, to his inflammatory and racist rhetoric.
Even former Trump advisor Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted all of eleven days in the Trump administration, wades in stating that Trump “hates everyone. He’s out for himself” .
But probably the most damning profile of Trump’s mental state comes from psychologist John Gartner, who compares the narcissistic behaviour we’ve witnessed during his Presidency to that of chimpanzees. “This is very deep in our genetic programming”, he says. “This is why demagogues get to be successful. Before Trump we had fractures in our society, but we had overarching identity as Americans and Trump says no, we we’re two troops. That troop is attacking and if we don’t go over there and beat the crap out of them, they’re gonna destroy us”.
This means of fear-mongering is at the heart of Trump ‘s dangerous agenda, hence the rise in ethno-nationalist hate groups following in his wake.
I enjoyed the documentary enormously. Of course it’s targeted at a left – leaning audience, but with such brilliant minds (and plenty of wit) it’s hard not to get swept up in their discourse. It’s “bigly” great.
Hit The North 