Word: narcissistically
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Professor Lasch is not amused by what he calls a "cultural radicalism": the decadence of American individualism. Its chief symptom: "The pursuit of happiness to the dead end of a narcissistic preoccupation with the self." The Narcissus of mythology, infatuated by his own reflection, pined away because he could not consummate self-love. Lasch's new narcissist has similar anxieties but feels no guilt. He has drunk the waters of progressive education and popular culture, and has little memory of traditional values and religious beliefs...
...narcissist may appear relaxed and friendly, but inside, claims Lasch, he is desperate for a meaning beyond himself. He is also a pent-up competitor for the approval and rewards of a distant authority figure. To the author, this authority is now vested in the bureaucratic state, which offers neither moral guidance nor philosophical distinctions between good and evil...
Shoddily directed and lamely acted, A Different Story is a catalogue of stereotypes and derivative comic situations. In their gay incarnations Albert is a prissy narcissist and Stella a macho loudmouth...
...strength of the acting. MacLaine's earthy housewife provides a gritty counterpoint to Bancroft's cosmopolitan artiste, and Baryshnikov's limited role makes no undue demands on his fledgling talents in front of a camera. His virility and sheer presence suffice for the portrayal of the compulsive narcissist stud in the company, and his dancing will predictably astound moviegoers unfamiliar with the awesome talents of Nureyev's successor. While Browne is relegated to the imposing shadow cast by Baryshnikov's virtuoso skills. When they team together in some of the dance sequences, she conveys the confusion and flighty emotions...
This has added to the problem of deciding who, in an age of less work and more play, is a disturbed narcissist and who is normal. Otto Kernberg of New York, a leading psychoanalytic researcher on narcissism, admits that even many certified psychoanalysts have narcissistic disturbances. But not to worry, Kernberg says; they usually stop practicing because narcissists hate to hear about other people's problems...