Tom Ripley’s “Talent” Explained in Psychological Terms

Anthony Minghella’s 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley, adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s homonymous novel, is a forgotten cinematic masterpiece that delves into the meaning of identity and self. And while the film is fascinating in a number of ways, one that has largely been ignored so far is the accuracy with which Tom Ripley’s psychopathological profile is characterized.

Spoilers Ahead!

The Talented Mr. Ripley is the story of a young man struggling to make ends meet in 1950s New York City. One day, as he fills in for a friend during a classical piano performance, he is approached by a successful businessman who, mistaking Tom for a Princeton graduate, asks him if he knows his son, Dickie Greenleaf. Instead of coming clean, Tom embraces the “role” of a sophisticated Princeton graduate and pretends to know Dickie. His “transition” into this fictitious persona, which is far from his real one of penniless waiter, is so seamless that it bears an undeniably uncanny quality — also thanks to Matt Damon’s criminally underrated performance.

Later on, Mr. Greenleaf offers Tom a free trip to Italy to go fetch his spoiled, jobless brat son and bring him back to America. Tom accepts, and this time we witness him getting ready for his next impersonation: the only thing he knows about Dickie is that he loves jazz, so he begins studying jazz records to the point of blindfolding himself and trying to guess the artist’s name. He seems to instinctively know how to break down, analyze and study character, as well as how to put on a perfectly crafted mask and pretend to be someone he is not.

Additionally, despite his humble background and poor finances, Tom is a man of culture: not only does he play piano, but he also knows and loves classical music and opera, and he is enchanted by the prospect of finally visiting Europe. He is intelligent and sophisticated, which is partially the reason why he blends so smoothly into the world of “the rich”.*

Without going into the lengthy details and many twists of the plot, let’s quickly sum up what happens: Tom gets to Italy, he successfully convinces Dickie that he is indeed a former classmate of his, endears himself to him to the point that Dickie invites him to stay longer, and, generally speaking, he plays his part flawlessly. At least up to the point where he starts developing feelings for Dickie. That’s when his true self begins to emerge, and his mask begins to crack.

Tom’s “Talent”:

As the name of the film implies, Mr. Ripley is a highly skilled individual. Tom has an innate talent for impersonating others, which includes imitating their voices, mannerisms, body language, etc. It is a talent so extraordinary that to Dickie it is initially uncanny and almost frightening: “Stop!” says he, “It’s too much! You’re making all the hairs on my neck stand.”

Tom “switches” personas and “assumes” new personalities as if he instinctively knew how to do so. In fact, it almost seems as if Tom had more character when he impersonates others rather than when he is himself. The real Tom is a meek, timid, quiet guy. A “nobody”, he describes himself. In terms of “personality” in its proper psychological definition, that is, an enduring set of traits in a person’s character and behavior, Tom is almost a blank canvas, and every time he puts on somebody else’s mask, the canvas suddenly gains the brightest, most vivid colors. It comes to life. It becomes real.

This is a concept that people who suffer from personality disorders will be very familiar with. Not because we are all skilled actors and impersonators but because, as uncanny as it may sound, we, too, feel a lack of “permanent personality traits” and will, in some cases, be extremely comfortable in radically changing our general behavior, attitude, mannerism, etc. This is particularly true for Cluster B personality disorders, which are characterized by “dramatic” and emotionally aberrant behavior. Don’t worry, we are not Tom Ripleys. But the concept behind Ripley’s chameleonic personality has a psychological degree of truth.

Diagnosing Tom Ripley:

But what is Tom Ripley’s diagnosis? As a non-professional in the field of mental health, I will hazard the following conclusions:

1. Borderline Personality Disorder

Tom displays multiple signs of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), the most commonly diagnosed of all personality disorders, including:

• Insecure attachment style and intense fear of abandonment: these are both obvious in the relationship that Tom develops with Dickie. Tom develops feelings for Dickie and becomes slowly obsessed with him, and when it is time for him to leave, he devises an ingenious plan to stay longer. After even more time, when Dickie makes it clear that Tom has outstayed his welcome — and refers to him as a leech — Tom experiences an intense feeling of rejection and begins to lose his otherwise ever-tight emotional control. After Dickie openly bullies him, Tom finally “snaps” and strikes Dickie in the head. It is important to notice that, in this case, Dickie is what therapists would refer to as Tom’s “Favorite Person”, meaning a person that, in the mind of the Borderline patient, provides them with a sense of emotional fulfillment that they become slowly addicted to.
• Inability to regulate emotions: Tom seems cool and contained as long as he is wearing one of his masks, but upon being “triggered”, he will experience an emotional overflow, and he won’t be able to contain it, thus experiencing an emotional outburst. This happens most notably in the aforementioned confrontation with Dickie, which escalates to physical aggression and ultimately leads to Dickie’s death.
• Unstable sense of self: as previously stated, Tom seems to lack those well-characterized, enduring traits that make up a person’s general “personality”. This can lead to a feeling of chronic emptiness and a need for something to fill that emptiness, such as a finely elaborate set of personality traits (Tom’s many “personas”). People with BPD are known to often question their sense of self or to feel “displaced” from their bodies. Additionally, according to the theory of “As If Personality” developed by Helene Deutsch, people suffering from BPD may exhibit general signs of “depersonalization” that they try to conceal by attentively observing the behavior of others and trying to imitate it, therefore masking their lack of an “authentic self” in the eyes of the world.

2. Antisocial Personality Disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is mostly known to the general public as “psychopathy” or “sociopathy”. That labeling is problematic for a number of reasons, with some professionals denying the very idea that a “true psychopath” exists. However, it is important to stick to the facts, meaning the symptoms as outlined by the DSM-V:

• Lack of empathy towards others: arguably the most “infamous” of all traits associated with ASPD. On a number of occasions, Tom displays utter disregard for other people’s well-being, as well as a lack of concern for their emotional needs. His own needs take complete priority over other people’s, which leads Tom to lie, scheme, and deceive (all traits which are also commonly associated with ASPD). The most dramatic example of Tom’s lack of empathy is in his lack of remorse over the murders he commits and over appropriating himself of other people’s identities.
• Deceitfulness, repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for pleasure or personal profit: Listed verbatim as symptoms of ASPD in the DSM-V.
• Physical aggressiveness: While Tom is not generally an aggressive individual, he commits a series of vicious murders throughout the film and doesn’t generally feel any guilt over them.
• Pleasure in charming and outsmarting others: People affected by ASPD can be incredibly intelligent and oftentimes take pleasure in using that intelligence to outsmart other people. In some cases, this will escalate to criminal behavior where the person suffering from ASPD will try to outsmart authorities just for the “thrill” of it. Needless to say, Tom is extremely successful in his endeavor to charm and outsmart others by donning his many masks, and doesn’t shy away from criminal behavior.

I don’t believe any other storyteller has ever attempted to outline a fragmented personality with the same psychological accuracy that we see in Tom Ripley’s character. Indeed, the world of cinema has long been plagued by misrepresentations of mental illness, with the first and foremost example being that of “Multiple Personality Disorder”, which, in real life, is actually a condition called Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and, contrary to popular belief, is not a personality disorder at all. Most attempts at portraying the “mentally sick” mind in mainstream media are laughable at best and cringeworthy at worst.

The Talented Mr. Ripley is frighteningly accurate in its portrayal of BPD and ASPD, which accounts for the way that the film generally affects its audience in a very unpleasant way, with some describing the experience of watching it with “a sense of dread” and an “oppressive” and “claustrophobic” feeling. It successfully mixes psychological veracity and art, making the film an unprecedented and unrepeated masterpiece.

* It is worth noticing that the film and the original material differ in this matter: in Highsmith’s novel, Tom is immediately introduced as a con artist who regularly pulls small-time scams; in Minghella’s version of the story, however, he is a sensitive individual with artistic proclivities, and he tries to make an honest living all by himself. As the masterful filmmaker that he is, Minghella makes us like Tom and feel for him, which, as we’ll see, is what makes the movie such an uncomfortable watch: by the time the viewer has taken to liking Tom and identifying with him, we are sucked into his anxiety-ridden trip of murderous activities and elaborate cons. The first time I watched the film, the anxiety of being in Tom Ripley’s mind affected me so much that I initially thought I would never watch the movie again.

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