I’ll be the first to admit that I rarely read fan fic. I avoid doing so not out of some
smug ego trip but because I am wary of becoming influenced by the style and ideas of other
writers. But last week a friend of mine recommended a piece to me that she particularly
enjoyed so I decided to take a look. The story was a Pitch Black fan fic and having read
the entire thing I was left feeling somewhat aghast at the authors treatment of Riddick’s
character. He was portrayed as a mean and selfish sexual sadist, violent towards women,
egotistical and self centered. This is not my vision of Riddick at all so in response I
plan to take up his defence against these accusations. First of all I’m going to quote
from my friend Plasmo who posted this on the same topic:
"According to the official web site (PitchBlack.com) Riddick is diagnosed as a
"violent sociopath with a primitive fight or flight response."
Here's just a portion of some of the associated features of a person with Antisocial
Personality Disorder (a sociopath in politically correct terms):
"Individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder show little remorse for the consequences
of their acts (Criterion A7).
They may be indifferent to, or provide a superficial rationalization for, having hurt,
mistreated, or stolen from someone (e.g.,
"life's unfair," "losers deserve to lose," or "he had it coming anyway" .
These individuals may blame the victims for being foolish,
helpless, or deserving their fate; they may minimize the harmful consequences of
their actions; or they may simply indicate complete indifference.
They generally fail to compensate or make amends for their behavior. They may believe
that everyone is out to "help number one" and that one should stop
at nothing to avoid being pushed around. ...
"Individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder frequently lack empathy and tend to
be callous, cynical, and contemptuous of the feelings, rights, and sufferings of others
. ....
[note: all of these tendancies are Riddick up one side & down the other, but to continue
the description...]
"These individuals may also be irresponsible and exploitative in their sexual relationships.
They may have a history of many sexual partners and may never have sustained a monogamous
relationship. "
American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
Fourth Edition, 1994, pp. 645-650
My personal feeling about Riddick’s description on the Official web site is that its not
much more than trendy, politically correct rubbish that the author dreamed up for the
sake of making Riddick sound dangerous. We have Thomas Harris to thank for making the
sociopath a modern day anti hero. I’m not saying that Riddick isnt dangerous however.
He has killed approximately 14 people. Of those fourteen, we only truly know the motives
for two of them. He killed the pilot of the skif he hijacked during his escape and he
killed Johns. The pilot was in his way and Riddick didn’t need him, which I agree is
symptomatic of sociopathic behaviour, however I don’t believe this one act should be
taken out of context. We don’t know enough about Riddick’s history to understand why
he was in Slam in the first place, what the conditions were like for him. For all we
know, he may have been wrongly accused, framed, or even put in Slam by a social system
that prefers to incarcerate its social misfits rather than offer them guidance or
acceptance. We have assumed that in Riddick’s case he got what he deserved but can
we say that for sure?
As I said before, I don’t deny that Riddick shows sociopathic tendancies. He is able to
kill without hesitation or remorse and seems to enjoy physical confrontation, but in my
opinion too many people focus only on that aspect of his personality, which, from his
conversation with Imam we know is a product of his early life. But what about the other
things that go to make up Riddick? There is plenty of evidence in the movie that Riddick
is a complicated individual, who does not deserve to be tarred with a single brush.
We know that he has a mischievious sense of humour from his conversations with Paris and
Johns.
We know that he is at least tolerant and accepting of children from his relationship with
Jack and that he is also capable of handling her hero worship of him in a mature manner
without taking advantage of her.
He is an intelligent tactician. He studies his enemy thoroughly and doesn’t rush into a
conflict with them under the illusion that he is indestructible.
He is highly observant and uses all his senses. His descriptive narrative at the opening
of the movie is worthy of Sherlock Holmes.
He is protective towards those who cannot defend themselves. I know some people may have
a problem with me suggesting this, judging by other comments on this topic I have read,
but let me illustrate my point. We all know that at some point Riddick would have killed
Johns. Johns was a threat to his continued liberty. But what is the true trigger that
causes Riddick to attack his captor? Johns threatens Jack’s life and not only that he
makes the suggestion that Riddick should kill her to save them. Would Riddick have
truly objected to that proposition if he held human life in such low regard. After all,
John’s suggestion, although brutal, had logic to it.
The only single act of Riddick’s that gave me concern was the way he left the survivors
behind and got into the skif. I couldn’t rationalise that act with the Riddick I thought
I knew. Then two things occurred to me:
Would Riddick have led them to safety in a cave if he planned to leave them there to die
anyway?
Riddick closes the door of the skiv after he has attached the fuel cells to the engine.
The assumption has always been that he is preparing the leave. But earlier on in the movie,
when Fry is performing a diagnostic run, the door of the skif is also closed.
So, can we say for sure that Riddick really was planning to run. After all he did go back
with Fry. The easier option, if he truly were the cold selfish killer would have been to
take off. Fry had no way of getting into the skif until Riddick opened the door for her.
He could easily have left.
I’ll finish on one final point. Take a look at the expression on his face as he is holding
a dying Fry in his arms, in the moment before she is snatched away from him and then tell
me he feels nothing at the death of another human being.
Listen to his words as she disappears into the darkness. Are those really the words of a
self-centred egotist?
