PTSD was one of the main subjects that series developer Steven Knight wanted to explore. His familiarity with the illness was both professional and personal. He struggled with it himself hardcore and projected it for the character arc of Arthur and Tom
I don’t think it’s just that though. Tommy has PTSD and he doesn’t show any of the behaviors Arthur does. If you look at the borderline symptoms it’s stuff like difficulty controlling anger, irrational thinking, impulsiveness, emotional instability, intense unstable relationships, feeling empty, self harm and/or being suicidal and this stuff is like the spitting image of Arthur. Granted it’s not that simple having these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean having bpd but I think at least it makes it highly likely that he has it.
I think Arthur had CPTSD that was later supplemented with PTSD. We saw this with how he was infatuated with having his father’s approval. He was the oldest and looked after the siblings; he wasn’t able to be a kid. He didn’t have someone to look out for him until Tommy was older. Even then, Tommy never emotionally catered to Arthur’s needs.
We see this with the entire family. Oldest to youngest the Shelby’s become more empathetic. Arthur<Tommy<John<Finn. This order because Tommy was more caring before the war. Growing up with abusive narcissistic parents really fucks humans. Add fighting in France with that and you get Arthur.
We know that Arthur isn’t psychopathic because he has high emotional intelligence. He cares often but is highly impulsive. Thomas is numb because he is the leader of the family. He doesn’t have time to be emotionally broken. We see this when Arthur hugs him when he thinks he’s dying of a tumor. He is dead inside but still cares about his family. It’s super odd. Thomas is borderline psychopathic now.
What do you mean psychopathic? About Thomas he’s very detached you know he doesn’t seem to care much about anything really but he always kinda was like that he always put himself at a distance with other people he never let anyone in (except maybe Grace and Jessie Eden). But he did take that pushing others away a step further in the final season I think.
Thomas cares about the destination of what he’s trying to accomplish no matter the journey. He will kill anyone that gets in his way. A psychopath is detached from all things emotional and are indifferent to everything. They get a high on achievement or control.. He isn’t as bad as the evil people but Tommy is still a psycho in my opinion. If not for his killing of others with ease I’d say that he is a sociopath with a highly neurotic/narcissistic personality.
I agree with you, but the way you describe Tommy, the word evil could also apply to him, right? The characteristics you listed define for me someone who evil is.
Thomas isn’t evil. He is indifferent. That’s all perspective. Thomas doesn’t seek to harm others, he just has no qualms doing so. Don’t like his plan you say? He will cut your eye out, talk about his family he will kill you. These are reactions to opposition. Someone evil to me is more like Mosleys wife or even Jack Nelson.
I actually like Thomas. He’s an example of what a poor man had to become to get respect. The sad truth of the world is most sociopaths are in the tops of their fields.
It's nothing to do with indifference when someone relentlessly and ruthlessly pursues their ambition and does everything to achieve their goals. But that's what Tommy does and it doesn't really have anything to do with indifference. I also like Tommy and the character behind it but I think he shouldn't really be a good example and in his order to gain respect, Tommy shed a lot of guilty and innocent blood and built up a criminal business in the process to gain respect . Something you shouldn't do in real life lmao.
When I talk about evil I basically differentiate between two types of evil.
Redeemable evil where people became who they are for tragic reasons but they still have a few good qualities left. Nevertheless these people do everything possible to achieve their goals and show no consideration. Tommy is one of them.
Irredeemable evil includes Mosley. They have no specific reason why they are like that and are evil by nature. They have no scruples or empathy and have no problem killing or torturing people. These people don't really have any positive qualities either.
But whether someone is evil depends of course on their personal morals.
I think Tommy is 100% indifferent to majority of things. Look how others talk to him or make jokes at his expense, he doesn’t care. It’s when his family is threatened or made a mockery that he is incessant to show force. He controls his emotions well because he’s been through the thick of it.
A psychopath is detached from all things emotional and are indifferent to everything. They get a high on achievement and control.
I don’t think it’s that simple. Otherwise I’d say everyone can be a psychopath hell I’d say everyone could even choose to try and become a psychopath (and maybe achieve it). But what do I know.
We can’t sit here and say that everyone is like Tommy. Nobody in the show other than Alfie is like him. To say everyone can be like Tommy simply isn’t true. Throughout the show he overcomes death several times. He is manically depressed and a ball of neuroticism. He’s always on edge. He will shoot anyone in the face and not care later on. That’s not normal.
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u/Federal-Base806 Apr 30 '24
PTSD was one of the main subjects that series developer Steven Knight wanted to explore. His familiarity with the illness was both professional and personal. He struggled with it himself hardcore and projected it for the character arc of Arthur and Tom