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Mcu Analysis - Blog Posts
A comment from Cinema therapy’s video on ‘Loki’.
Transcript and extra notes below:
I...disagree with the idea of Loki being a narcissist.
Acting out the way he does isn't just a trait of narcissists but also of people with low self-esteem, (I should know, being someone who has acted in such a way myself in the past.) Loki was clearly constantly put down by others, disrespected by who he thought were his people, and generally considered 'lesser' to Thor for most of, if not all of his life for seemingly no reason at all. (He 'feels' he's in Thor's shadow because he blatantly is. There's clear favouritism not just from Odin, but from all of Asgard.)
He never wanted the throne, nor did he actually want power or popularity, he just wanted someone to tell him that he was worthy, he wanted someone to tell him he was worth something and that he wasn't a monster like the other Jotuns were. (This is far clearer in the deleted scenes, where Loki hesitates to take the throne in the first Thor movie, and even looks to his mother, the only person who really seemed to love him, before taking it. As well as his clearly more lovable interactions with Thor before it was revealed that he was Jotun.)
I mean, hell, he tried to commit suicide at the end of the first Thor movie when his father, whom he tried to get recognition from, and who was certainly the biggest issue with his self-esteem, rejected him yet again.
I feel like this is most prominent when you take into account that he IS a Jotun, a being that he was raised to hate and fear. He believes he's a monster, and that coupled with his already problematic self-esteem just makes it apparent that he has the exact opposite problem that a narcissist has. He does deeply care for other people as well. Frigga being the biggest example, in Dark world, he was heartbroken and devastated by her loss. (And the fact that the last thing he said to her was that she 'wasn't his mother' certainly didn't make it better.) Or in Infinity War, where he recognizes Thanos' plan to kill 'half' of everything, so, seeing as he's one of two brothers, gets Thanos to kill him so Thor will get out safely. Literally sacrificing himself for his brother, who he, on all accounts, shouldn't have cared enough to help there if he was a narcassist.
The mind stone and the sceptre weren't mind controlling Loki, but it was messing with his head, as is seen in-universe as well as mentioned in interviews. This is seen where he stabs Thor, as he's clearly shaken by what he's just done, even if you can only see this reaction for a few moments. He also doesn't believe in what he's saying in Avengers when he's telling the people around him to kneel, that's why Phil claims that he lacks conviction: Because he really does, he's doing all of this because he's hurting, and the mind stone is manipulating him, he doesn't actually believe anything he's saying there.
Before anyone brings it up as well: Ragnarok and the Loki TV show are pieces of MCU lore that should be taken with a grain of salt. Many things said in Ragnarok are inconsistent with the other movies (See Sif apparently having to prove that women can be warriors, yet, the Valkyries existed. Or the fact that apparently the Valkyries died before Thor's time but Thor always wanted to join them? Or the 'we were eight at the time' line, when Thor and Loki, being Asgardian/Jotun, age differently than humans, so by that point, would've actually been infants. The Loki show as well, Sylvie and the entire situation revolving around that comes with many character and story inconsistencies, such as magic seen not working in the TVA but apparently Sylvie can still use it in another episode.)
Basically, from where I'm standing, this diagnosis doesn't seem to make any sense? It makes more sense to say that he's faking narcissism just so he can look strong and more in control, while on the inside continuing to feel unworthy and unlovable. Lashing out not because he's truly hateful, but because, as you've said in another video: 'Hurt people, hurt people.' (Again, something I have sadly been through.) I'd also like to point out, in this way, his mischief seems more like a cry for help. As many will point out, if someone is neglected enough in early life, they're likely to develop a mentality of 'any attention is good attention', which seems to be pretty in-line with a lot of 'mischief' he pulls.
But hey, I'm not a therapist, and that's just my opinion.
Note: Narcissists aren’t inherently bad people. Don’t write them off as ‘evil’ or ‘monsters’. Not all of them are. Putting everyone in boxes like that for mental disabilities or neurodivergence is doing nothing but perpetuating harmful rhetoric and harming people.
...With that being said though, Loki ain’t it, chief.
Real talk though: Cinema therapy’s video on Loki is stupid as hell. ‘Loki genuinely believes he is superior’ is a direct quote, and as you can read from the above post, that statement is blatantly wrong on its own.