Movie Analysis-Along Came a Spider
I selected the movie, Along Came a Spider, because I found the movie in itself to be complex. There were many different issues within the storyline itself that made for a very good and intriguing plot. I was very fascinated with how the main character, Gary Soneji, seemed to be so caught up and focused on the Lindenbergh kidnapping, which involved the kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindenbergh, Jr., who was the 20 month old son of aviator Charles Lindenbergh, Sr. and his wife (fbi.gov). Soneji was very consumed and borderline obsessed with the case, to the extent that he decided to carry out his own kidnapping. He kidnapped the daughter of a senator who was a student at Washington Day School, the private school where he was a math teacher. After the kidnapping, Soneji, who wore prosthetics while teaching, watched the news coverage of the kidnapping. When questioned about why he kidnapped the girl, Soneji admitted that at the age of 15, he had burned down a house. He stated that he did not get the response that he thought that he would, which was to end up on the news. Ultimately, he wanted attention and he wanted to feel as if he was someone important. While Soneji was the one who kidnapped the senators daughter, Jezzie, who worked for the Secret Service at the private school that Soneji taught at, was in on the kidnapping also. Her reasons for assisting with the kidnapping were greed and power. She resorted to murdering one of her co-workers in order to not be caught. The situation in the movie was very interesting to me because both of them played integral roles.
The characteristics of non-criminal and criminal psychopathy can be anywhere from lack of empathy, no remorse, failure to accept responsibility for their actions, pathological lying, and even boredom, just to name a few. The characteristics vary depending on the severity of psychopathy and the lengths that the person is willing to go to in order to carry out their intentions. According to ScienceDaily, The brains of psychopaths appear to be wired to keep seeking a reward at any cost (2010). The characteristics can apply to both non-criminal and criminal psychopaths regardless of the situation. According to Hare (1999), a characteristic that psychopaths tend to have is facile distortions of reality even when they know that others are aware of the facts (p.105). It seems that regardless, psychopaths could care less who knows about what they do, they will still keep their lies and manipulation going as long as those around them allow them to do so. Non criminal and criminal psychopaths are different in a sense that psychopaths have a variety of reasons for committing the crimes that they commit, whether it be self-satisfaction, revenge, greed (such as in the case of Jezzie), boredom, etc.—they have a reason that they feel is justified. Whereas noncriminal psychopaths do not act on their impulses criminally in ways that criminal psychopaths do.
It seems that psychopaths have somewhat of a method in what they do. While they do things on a whim and are willing to try anything out with no qualms, they ultimately seem to like using those around them to obtain whatever it is that they may feel that they need or want. Many psychopaths may even resort to extreme coercion, aggression or violence (Hare, 1999) in order to obtain whatever it is that they desire. The differences between a non-criminal psychopath and a criminal psychopath is that a non-criminal psychopath may come across as maybe a close friend or someone of that sort that you normally would not suspect of being a psychopath, but they may try and succeed at manipulating or using someone to make them do or think what they want them to or to take advantage of them for their own personal gain. A criminal psychopath, while both show no emotion or remorse for what they do, may or will resort to violence if need be in order to coerce whoever they want to do whatever it is that they want for their own personal gain. According to Szalavitz, some refrain from violence because they can get what they need without it, but many, of course, do cross the line into crime. Almost always their manipulation skills are exceptional (msn.com, 2011). Some criminal psychopaths have even resorted to murder in order to gain the gratification or satisfaction needed. The difference between the two seems to be a very thin line. The main character is classified as a psychopath and not as exhibiting behavior indicative of antisocial personality disorder or general criminal behavior because Gary Soneji committed his crimes for attention. He showed no remorse whatsoever, and neither did Jezzie, while committing his crimes. Both Soneji and Jezzie killed in order for their plan to go through as smoothly as possible. He is also classified as a criminal psychopath because he, as well as Jezzie, gained the trust of the student that they kidnapped. Neither one of them showed any empathy for her in the situation. Soneji and Jezzie can be classified as criminal psychopaths because they committed the kidnapping of the senators daughter for monetary gain (Jezzie) and attention (Soneji). They were willing to go to whatever lengths and they told whatever lies that they needed to in order to keep law enforcement off of their trail so that they could get away with the crime. Soneji would be managed in the criminal justice system by being forced to see a psychologist to determine how bad his psychopathy is, along with jail time for extortion and kidnapping. Jezzie would be receive the same sentence for her part in the crime.

References
Hare, R.D. (1999). Without conscience: The disturbing world of the psychopaths among us. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Movie: Along Came a Spider. (2001)
Psychopaths' Brains Wired to Seek Rewards, No Matter the Consequences (2010 May 15). Science Daily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100314150924.htm

Szalavitz, M. (2011 February 25). Why Do Some People Become Psychopaths? Retrieved from http://health.msn.com/health-topics/mental-health/why-do-some-people-become-psychopaths
The Lindenbergh Kidnapping. FBI.gov. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/the-lindbergh-kidnapping