Ronald Defeo, Jr. said as the last words on his BIO documentary, which I just took some time from the day to watch. I think he only said it because part of his whole way of living is trying to find pity and weakness in others. He told at least four versions of the brutal murdering of his parents and four siblings. For those who don’t know, which I didn’t until today, he is the murder’s story behind The Amityville Horror.
He may have been just playing for emotional reaction, but I want to take what he said and evaluated it to a further degree. I may even be considered as to be giving him an emotional reaction, but quite differing from what he was looking for: pity, as though it wasn’t his fault—he’s the victim.
How can something be wrong in the mind but right in the heart? We all know that our hearts are not compassion or thought chambers; they’re a muscular organ responsible for circulating blood. We do all thought with our minds. I’d like to say that he’s confusing heart with ego and mind with super ego.
Michael
Well think about it- when people love someone that they know isn’t good for them. Think about abused husbands or wives, who know that they should leave the abusive marriages for their own safety, but instead stay because they love the person too much to leave. Rough comparison, I know.
But let’s not forget that Defeo’s psychiatrist showed that he had APD. He probably had a lot of things conflicting in his “head” and in his “heart”, which you appropriately labeled as ego and superego.
This is true.
Someone told stories of how at 18 months old he wouldn’t stop crying at a wedding, so his father, filled with bright ideas, hit him off a folding chair. It stopped him from crying, but those years of abuse did something—to all of them.
Disappointing to see that happen.