GoT S1E2 Extra: No, Cersei Lannister is a Sociopath

This isn't so much an episode specific thing as a general observation across the first few episodes: The Lannisters are sociopaths.

( Eps. 1-3 spoilers )

Of the Lannisters we've met so far I think the biggest sociopath is Cersei. To me one of the clearest indicators is her attempt to sympathize with the grieving Catelyn Stark in S1E2.

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Curiously, in the S1E2 extra piece that's a short director's commentary, the director highlights this scene as proof that Cersei is not all bad, because she expresses sympathy. I'm like, "No, it proves how much of a sociopath she is!!"

One of the key aspects of criminal sociopaths is that they use emotional intelligence as a weapon. For them sympathy is not a thing that leads to recognizing how they've hurt others and realizing they need to mend their ways. Sympathy is all a calculated act. They use it to manipulate people, to get their way more thoroughly.

In the scene above Cersei knows exactly who attempted the murder, and why. It was done for her benefit & her family's. And now she's creating an emotionally intense moment to deflect suspicion from herself and her family. Total sociopath move.

Earn Minimum Wage! Or Sligtly More!

I grabbed a quick lunch at McDonald's yesterday. In addition to there being a lighted sign with this message in the window, the woman who handed me my food gave me one of these cards with it:



I mean, I didn't think I looked like a person who needs a job at McDonald's. I'd shaved before going out and was wearing a clean shirt and nice shoes.

But that money... wow, fast food is paying a lot! ...Or is it?

It turns out $17.10/hr is the new minimum wage in Mountain View, California. (It's the same in neighboring Sunnyvale and only slightly less in other Silicon Valley cities.) McDonald's is loudly advertising that new employees can earn minimum wage... or slightly more!

I wonder if they wonder why they're having trouble hiring good people.

GoT S1E4: Cersei Presages Trump Presidency

In S1E4 of Game of Thrones there's a quiet scene where Queen Cersei Lannister is talking to her son, Joffrey, as she treats a wound he suffered in a previous episode. She states an almost completely fictitious account of how he was injured. Joffrey interrupts to object with the truth twice, but she shushes him and explains, "Some day you'll be king, and the truth will be what you make it."

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This may seem like a minor line, and probably to audiences back in 2011 (when the episode originally aired) it was like, "Enh. Whatever. That's Cersei Lannister being a sociopath." But to people who've lived through the era in the U.S. of 2015 to the present day it's alarmingly prophetic. That's because this is one of the primary methods of persuasion Donald Trump uses.

He lies. He repeats his lies. People who like him accept the lies willingly and repeat them, too. They believe them. And pretty soon, after all the repetition, even people who don't like him and didn't agree with the lie in the first place have forgotten what the truth even was.

Better yet, the scene is a two-fer. It wraps up after young Prince Joffrey has proposed a bunch of intentionally brutal policies— another eerily prescient parallel to 2017-2020— with Cersei's line, "Everyone who isn't us is an enemy." Yup, another plank of Donald Trump style persuasion. Define people not like your followers as the enemy, and feed their hatred of said enemy.