Ever wonder what happens to those spoiled child stars when they age into adulthood? Surely no one can live off of their fortune earned as a child forever, but what happens when children don’t have a chance to be a child and they are given an inflated sense of self-importance from fame at such a young age? While Narcissistic Personality Disorder wasn’t introduced as a mental illness until 1968, Lukas Heller and Robert Aldrich create a perfect example of this illness in the 1962 film adaptation of:
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
The introduction into Jane’s childhood is short, but self-explanatory—she is a bratty child star, adored by many, even to the point of having her own doll that looks like her that is sold at her performances. Her sister Blanche is quiet and well-behaved as she sits in the shadow of her sister’s fame and adoration. A quote on NPD from Freud reads “We can detect an element of megalomania in most other forms of paranoiac disorder. We are justified in assuming that this megalomania is essentially of an infantile nature and that, as development proceeds, it is sacrificed to social conditions.”
As the film continues, it becomes very clear that Jane’s ego has not been sacrificed to social conditions, as she ends up in a house purchased from Blanche’s earnings as a filmmaker and not with any help from her shoddy acting career. NPD is not usually diagnosable until adulthood, where the two sisters are now found. Blanche is also at the mercy of Jane, as she is paralyzed from the waist down after a mysterious car accident. Jane still holds a sense of self-importance despite her inability to contribute monetarily, as she reminds Blanche that it was Jane’s earnings that gave them a comfortable childhood.
NPD is marked by exaggerated feelings of self-importance. This is evident in Jane’s character throughout the entire film, but one of the primary examples is when she puts an ad in the newspaper for a piano player to work with, claiming that she is a famous singer. She is intent on reliving the glory of her days as a child star. This also feeds her need for admiration, and is not helped by Edwin, who offers to work with Jane and flatters her to earn his paycheque, not to compliment her actual abilities. He encourages her to pick up her act again years later for his own benefit and Jane listens because it is what she wants to hear. Edwin fuels these feelings of self-importance that Jane harbours, making her condition even worse. In the extensive research I did for this film, Jane’s decline is described in a vague fashion, saying “her mental health declines.” This moment in the film when Edwin is egging her on for his own benefit is when her NPD spirals into something so much worse.
Abuse of power and control are also symptoms of NPD, and are seen in Jane’s character as she slowly deprives Blanche of her necessities and forms of communication to the outside world. She begins by hiding letters from fans out of jealousy; develops into stealing the phone from her room; feeding her parakeet to her and, later, a rat; to tampering with her food to the point where Blanche is afraid to eat anything she is served. After Blanche attempts to pass a note begging for help to a neighbour, Jane stops serving her food at all. She takes advantage of the fact that Blanche is confined to her upstairs bedroom by her paralysis to control her out of anger and jealousy. This is also where a lack of empathy comes into play—no person in their right mind would starve their paralyzed sister, especially while living on her dime. This lack of empathy borders on psychotic and is considered a symptom of NPD.
NPD is commonly misdiagnosed as Substance Use Disorder, but in my analysis, I have found more symptoms in Jane for NPD rather than SUD. While Jane is a rampant alcoholic to the point where she receives grief trying to order her scotch and gin to be sent to the house, she does not exhibit any physical symptoms of withdrawal or dependence. She is also sober when she commits the murder of Elvira. She drinks to cope, not to be motivated or to function properly. Whether or not this was purposeful by the director and screenwriter is not clear. However, its effectiveness remains evident in the power of the film.
Mania is also a common misdiagnosis for NPD, but it is also not completely evident in Jane’s character. While mania is considered any heightened state of mind be it euphoric or depressive, Jane does not exhibit the energy typically seen in manic episodes. She does hold the delusional aspect of someone suffering from a manic episode, but the energy is not there. Delusions can also be found in patients with NPD, as they already have a grandiose view of themselves and this by itself is considered delusional. In order for Jane to be diagnosed as manic, her character would need to have significantly more in-depth analysis, which would be difficult to fit into a movie that is already over two hours long. In her portrayal in the film, NPD is the best explanation for her character.
None of these disorders were even recognized as actual illnesses until after the movie was made and some are still not fully understood today. It has been 50 years since NPD has been considered an illness, and treatment is still described as difficult and practically impossible, as the patient usually refuses to accept that something is wrong with them and that they actually need the therapy they are receiving. These filmmakers did not realize what they were creating when they adapted Baby Jane into a film, but they did it almost flawlessly. Baby Jane is a perfect example of adapting mental illness into a film. These results can be achieved by extensive research on the illness that is being portrayed. I have filled up pages and pages of notes just for this analysis. Reading books, case files, diagnostic manuals, and even internet articles can provide a better sense of the symptoms that should be portrayed. Giving a character a diagnosis is not enough. There must be symptoms and examples of said symptoms. Most mental illnesses are caused by some event in a person’s life. There is almost always a root cause to any mental health issue. Elaborate on that event, as the filmmaker did in the beginning by showing Jane as a child and how she has acted from the very beginning. Creating a film and building a character complex enough to exhibit mental health issues requires research, a back story for the character, and specific symptoms. Proper representation of illnesses come with proper story development and doing the homework necessary to understand the illness.
 and the representation of narcissistic personality disorder.){kind=link}