The Depiction of Narcissistic Personality Disorder of Elizabeth Halsey as Found in “Bad Teacher” Movie

Narcis Narcisism gained attention and discussion in recent years. This is caused by the rise of social media facilitating self-promotion and self-expression on a massive scale so that narcissistic behaviours can be seen more and more obvious. It could become a problem when they were excessive,


INTRODUCTION
Narcissism is a psychological phenomenon that refers to a personality trait or disorder characterized by an excessive and selfish preoccupation with one's needs, desires, and achievements.It can manifest in various ways to different degrees, from normal levels of selfinterest to a more severe personality disorder.At normal levels, narcissism is necessary for personal well-being to set and achieve goals, form positive relationships, and cope with life's challenges.It provides a degree of emotional resilience and better coping with setbacks, criticism, and failures without experiencing a significant blow to their self-esteem.
At a certain level that is higher than normal, narcissism becomes a problem when they are excessive, inflexible, and maladaptive, leading to harm or distress to individuals or those around them.These extreme traits can be classified as Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).There are some situations and characteristics that indicate narcissistic traits have become problematic.When someone shows difficulties in forming and maintaining a healthy relationship such as a lack of empathy, manipulation, and exploitation of others for personal gain, as well as difficulties with teamwork and collaboration, it can be problematic.Showing extreme defensiveness, anger, rejection of constructive feedback, or hostility against criticism is also one of NPD's traits.
Individuals with NPD can potentially affect others due to the nature of their personality traits and interpersonal dynamics.They tend to have difficulties in relationships and negative consequences for those around them.They may not be aware of the harm they cause, as their behaviour are often driven by a distorted perception of themself and others.The sufferer of NPD may exploit others and take advantage of them to meet their needs.The lack of empathy shown by the NPD sufferer can result in emotionally hurtful behaviour toward others.Manipulation and deception traits to maintain a favourable self-image, gain admiration, or achieve objectives can lead to confusion, emotional distress, and harm to those who are manipulated.Another trait of NPD is extreme self-centeredness where the individual ignores other's perspectives, needs, and feelings.Materialism and excessive vanity make individuals focus only on material possessions, physical appearance, and status symbols which can lead to shallow and unfulfilling relationships, as well as financial or personal problems.
This phenomenon of narcissism does not only exist in daily life, or any social media but also in movies, TV shows, literature, and other forms of media.Narcissism in popular culture is often portrayed in a way that reflects the various facets of these personality traits, whether it is presented for comedic effect, as a central theme, or as a means of character development.This portrayal can be seen in a comedy film entitled Bad Teacher movie which is played by the character of Elizabeth Halsey.
In the movie, Halsey, as a middle school teacher, exhibits numerous NPD traits such as lack of empathy, she does not care others feeling.She also has envy trait, she believes she deserves an easy path to success if she can chase away anybody who against her.She also often displays arrogance and a sense of entitlement.and manipulativeness is also shown through her looks and charm to manipulate men, including her pursuit of Scott Delacorte, a wealthy substitute teacher, to achieve her materialistic goals.She also manipulates her students, coworkers, and even a car wash fundraiser to benefit herself.
Bad Teacher is a comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and released in 2011.The film is known for its satirical take on the teaching profession and the unconventional behaviour of the main character.It tells the story of Elizabeth Halsey, a foul-mouthed, irresponsible, and selfish middle school teacher, who becomes a substitute teacher at John Adams Middle School after being dumped by her wealthy fiancé.She has no genuine interest in teaching and primarily sees it as a means to an end.Her sole motivation is to raise enough money to get breast implants and attract a new rich husband.Her lack of enthusiasm for teaching is evident in her negligent and unorthodox teaching methods, which include showing movies in class and consuming alcohol on the job.This behaviour quickly clashes with the more dedicated and traditional teachers at the school, especially the nerdy and overly enthusiastic Amy Squirrel.
Halsey's description of her character as a teacher can be categorized as narcissistic.She shows traits that are the opposite of what a teacher should have.A teacher should demonstrate empathy by understanding her students' perspectives, needs, and emotions.She should create a positive and effective learning experience, and help students to grow academically, socially, and emotionally where students feel valued and heard.A respectful behaviour should be practiced by a teacher to appreciate the individuality of each student and foster an inclusive, respectful classroom culture.Based on the brief descriptions above, the researchers formulated the research questions "What kind of Narcissistic traits does Halsey exhibit in Bad Teacher movie?

Narcissism
Narcissism, in psychological terms, was a personality trait characterized by a heightened focus on oneself, one's desires, needs, and achievements.Individuals exhibiting narcissistic traits often displayed an excessive self-absorption and an inflated sense of self-importance (Yakeley,2018).This trait, considered on a spectrum, ranged from normal behavior to pathological narcissism, which could manifest as Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), a more severe and maladaptive condition.People with narcissistic tendencies typically displayed a constant need for admiration and validation from others.They often sought excessive praise and recognition for their accomplishments, considering themselves unique or special compared to others.This exaggerated self-view often led to a belief in their innate superiority, resulting in an attitude of entitlement where they expected special treatment and privileges.
Narcissistic individuals tended to view relationships in terms of how others could benefit them, rather than fostering genuine connections based on mutual respect and understanding.They often engaged in manipulative behaviors, exploiting others to fulfill their own needs or desires without considering the impact on those around them.In one of the surveys done by Asrar-Ul-Haq in 2020, Bosses with narcissistic tendencies drive hardworking employees away.The initial problem in narcissistic individuals is their elevated ego, narcissistic traits could lead to difficulties in various life domains and of course in professional settings, these individuals might initially excel due to their charisma and confidence but could struggle with maintaining healthy work relationships due to their self-centered behaviors and inability to collaborate effectively (Asrar-Ul-Haq, 2020).
In conclusion, narcissism was a personality trait characterized by self-centeredness, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy.While it exists on a spectrum, severe narcissistic traits could significantly impact various aspects of an individual's life, causing challenges in relationships, work settings, and overall emotional well-being.Therapeutic approaches aimed at addressing these traits often focused on building self-awareness and fostering healthier ways of interacting with others.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)
Much like any other personality disorders, people who has NPD will show several traits.According to (Rosenthal, 2022), we can use the acronym "SPECIAL ME" to remember the nine traits of NPD: Sense of self-importance, Preoccupation with power, beauty, or success, Entitled, can only be around people who are important, Interpersonally exploitative for their own gain, Arrogant, Lack empathy, Must be admired, Envious of others or believe that others are envious of them.These nine traits are considered as the main traits of people with NPD.Some of the previous traits above are also mentioned in another source.A common sign of people with NPD is the belief that they are superior to others and deserve special treatment.They are also manipulative and exploitative for their own gains.People with this disorder need to feel validation from other people by bragging about their own achievements for recognition.They may also speak rudely toward those they consider inferior (Begum, 2023).
From the traits listed, it is apparent that the traits of NPD revolve around thoughts, feelings, and actions.There are nine criteria that fall under the traits of NPD.First is the grandiose sense of self-importance, overestimating their capabilities.Second is fantasies about having or deserving success, power, love, and the likes.Third is belief in superiority, thinking they should only interact with people they deem worthy.Fourth is the need for admiration, bragging for compliments.Fifth is entitlement, expecting favourable treatment compared to other people.Sixth is willingness to exploit others, forming friendships to boost their own status.Seventh is lack of empathy, saying things that can hurt others without second thought.Eight is frequent envy, feeling envious of others' achievements and wishing to be envied.Ninth and last is arrogance, behaving in a way that is condescending (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) There are multiple definitions of NPD by experts.NPD is a mental health condition.It affects a person's sense of self-esteem, identity, and how they treat themselves and others.It's more than arrogance or selfishness.In the worst cases, people with NPD may struggle with feelings of failure or rejection, putting their own health and well-being at risk (Cleveland Clinic, 2023).That is not the only definition of NPD.NPD is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance.They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them.People with this disorder may not have the ability to understand about others' feelings.However, behind such confidence, they are easily shaken by even a simple criticism (Mayo Clinic, 2023).
From another source, NPD is a pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy.This particular disorder is classified under personality disorder.A person with NPD may be impaired when maintaining relationships with other people.NPD is also a complex personality disorder, often detected with other personality disorders (Mitra & Fluyau, 2023).
The researchers concluded that NPD is a type of personality disorder that causes a person to think highly of themselves regardless of other people's feelings.This condition may cause them to be unable to connect with other people due to their inability in understanding others' feelings.Because of their selfishness, people with NPD may struggle to keep calm when faced with criticisms.

Narcissistic Traits
Much like any other personality disorders, people who has NPD will show several traits.According to (Rosenthal, 2022), we can use the acronym "SPECIAL ME" to remember the nine traits of NPD: Sense of self-importance, Preoccupation with power, beauty, or success, Entitled, Can only be around people who are important, Interpersonally exploitative for their own gain, Arrogant, Lack empathy, Must be admired, Envious of others or believe that others are envious of them.These nine traits are considered as the main traits of people with NPD.Some of the previous traits above are also mentioned in another source.A common sign of people with NPD is the belief that they are superior to others and deserve special treatment.They are also manipulative and exploitative for their own gains.People with this disorder need to feel validation from other people by bragging about their own achievements for recognition.They may also speak rudely toward those they consider inferior (Begum, 2023).
The traits of NPD revolve around thoughts, feelings, and actions.There are nine criteria that fall under the traits of NPD.First is the grandiose sense of self-importance, overestimating their capabilities.Second is fantasies about having or deserving success, power, love, and the likes.Third is belief in superiority, thinking they should only interact with people they deem worthy.Fourth is the need for admiration, bragging for compliments.Fifth is entitlement, expecting favourable treatment compared to other people.Sixth is willingness to exploit others, forming friendships to boost their own status.Seventh is lack of empathy, saying things that can hurt others without second thought.Eight is frequent envy, feeling envious of others' achievements and wishing to be envied.Ninth and last is arrogance, behaving in a way that is condescending (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) In addition to the traits listed above, there are several others traits that may be shown by people with NPD.They can show psychopathic or antisocial characteristics ranging from inconsistent moral standards to specific criminal behaviour.They can commit criminal acts to avoid "defeat" when enraged by circumstances.This may be due to their inability to understand other people's feelings and disrespecting boundaries (Ronningstam, 2010).
The traits so far have been from the perspective of outsiders.To get insights of another perspective, research was done to see how narcissists view themselves.The results showed that people with higher narcissistic value are aware of their narcissistic behaviour and understand that other people see them in a negative light.However, narcissists tend to use this knowledge to boost their own confidence by assuming others are jealous of them.By doing this, they can maintain their own positive self-perception (Carlson, Vazire, & Oltmanns, 2011).
Further research showed that people with NPD can be categorized into two based on their traits.These categories are adaptive narcissism (authority and self-sufficiency) and maladaptive narcissism (exploitative and entitlement).People with high maladaptive narcissism are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and aggression while having low self-esteem.In contrast, people with high adaptive narcissism are more likely to manifest opposite tendencies.Moreover, maladaptive narcissism fades as they age, while adaptive narcissism does not (Cai & Luo, 2018).
The researchers have concluded that among many sources, traits of NPD are all similar if not the same.The traits shown by people with NPD are mostly arrogance and lack of empathy.They only care about boosting their own status while trying to bring others down at the same time.They are also prone to envy, meaning they want to have what other people have.When they are the ones who have something that people don't, they will brag about it to boost their own self-esteem.
Regarding to this research, several studies was done in 2020 titled "Living with pathological narcissism: a qualitative study".Written by Nicholas J. S. Day, Michelle L. Townsend, and Brin F. S. Grenyer, the paper talked about the research done among relatives of people with many narcissistic traits to further understand the impact of narcissistic behaviours.It is similar with the researchers' topic because it studied the traits of narcissistic people but focused on its impact to their relatives (Day, Townsend, & Grenyer, 2020).
Another related research was done in 2023 titled "narcissistic personality disorder".The authors are Paroma Mitra and Dimy Fluyau.In their research, they talked about the traits of NPD and studied the possible causes that could result in an NPD.The similarity of the research lies in the use of NPD traits for the topics, but Mitra and Fluyau's research is more focused on finding the cause of NPD within a person (Mitra & Fluyau, 2023).
One other related research was the one done by Jessica Yakeley in 2018.The research was titled "Current understanding of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder".The research studied about historical contributions to the conceptualization of narcissism and NPD.In the research, NPD traits were used to show the challenges in managing patients with NPD (Yakeley, 2018).

METHOD
In accomplished this research, the researcher used a qualitative research method.This research was categorized as qualitative research because this research only focused on phonemenon happened in society.It was used because the researchers described about The Depiction of Narcissistic Personality Disorder of Elizabeth Halsey as found in Bad Teacher Movie.This was a comedy movie directed by Jake Kasdan and released in 2011.According to Hayman, Wilkes, Debra and Halcomb (2011), qualitative research tried to seek understanding of human thought and behaviour and its interpretation.In addition, Myers (2009) in Frank Nyame and Nandish Patel's journal ( 2009), qualitative research methods were developed in the social sciences to enable researchers to study social and cultural phenomena.Another from Ross (1999) qualitative approaches research based on a world view which is holistic.It has the following beliefs; there is not a single reality, reality based on perceptions that are different for each person and change over time, and what we know has meaning only based on the context.This research had explored the story of the movie, the characters behaviour, by using qualitative research.In conclusion, qualitative research method is a research method that can describe or explore a phenomenon such as feeling or thoughts processes and the goal is to gain a deeper understanding of a person's or group's experience.This method fit with the object of this research, which analysed a character in a movie.
The technique of the data collection in this study was documenting analysis.The document analysis refers to printed materials, images, literary works, film or other types of record (Creswell as cited in Rahayu: 2017).In collecting the data of this research, the researcher took the following steps, the first was by watching the movie several times to get the point of the story in Bad Teacher movie, the second was by marking the data related to the traits of NPD showed in the movie as portrayed by the character of Elizabeth Halsey, the third was by classifying in what kinds of types of traits that the Elizabeth Halsey had.
In analysing the data, the researchers used descriptive method to support the research.This research had descriptive research because it described the actual data systematically according to the actual situation.Collis and Hussey (2003:2) descriptive method can be used to identify and classify the elements or characteristic for the subject.The purpose of using the descriptive method was to acquire accurate, factual, systematic data that can provide an actual picture of the data.Descriptive research was used to describe various aspects of the phenomenon.The researchers applied this technique to the analysis by identifying the problem, then the researcher categorized and classified all data after that explained the analysis of those problem and connected it to the finding.

Entitlement Trait
Soon after that, Elizabeth revealed that she expected to have an easy job as a teacher with not much responsibility and more summer holidays.She also said she would focus on finding a guy that would take care of her.
Elizabeth : "You know, Lynn, when I first started teaching, I thought that I was doing it for all the right reasons.Shorter hours, summers off, no accountability.From now on, my full-time job is finding a guy who's gonna take care of me."Elizabeth willingly kissed Jason because he seemed to be a successful man.When Jason told her he wanted to quit his job to be something else, she immediately pushed him back and left him because she believed she deserved someone better.
Jason : "I'm going back to school and becoming an occupational therapist.I wanna do something important, just like you Elizabeth : "An occupational therapist?Do I look like I wanna marry a fucking occupational therapist?"During lunch break, when Russell Gettis approached her and tried to get closer to her, she merely asked if he was still a gym teacher and coldly rejected him after his affirmation.This was because Elizabeth only saw monetary value in guys she was trying to leech off of.
Russell : "Hey, uh, might be too soon, but you wanna, like, grab a bite or something sometime?Elizabeth : "You still a gym teacher?" Russell : "I am, yeah."Elizabeth : "Then no." Elizabeth called her family to get money from them for her breasts enlargement operation.She mocked her father's body, lied to her grandmother about dying, and shamelessly asked for 10,000 dollars from her ex-fiancé by saying he owed her money from their separation.These despicable acts showed her narcissism because she only thinks of herself.
Elizabeth : "As a matter of fact, it is about my tits, dad.Well, maybe if I had gotten yours and not mom's."Elizabeth : "Look, I'm not gonna beat around the bush, grandma.I'm dying and I need money for surgery."Elizabeth : "All I'm asking you for is $10,000.You owe me for breaking off the engagement.You know how humiliating that was?" Then Elizabeth decided to sell all items in the "lost and found" box even though they did not belong to her just so she could get more money for her operation.She also continued to let her students watch a movie during class while she slept.
Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that Elizabeth would do anything even though what she did was improperly as long as she could reach what she wanted, she never cared what other people thought about her.

Exploitative Trait
Elizabeth sat in a classroom, looked at a magazine when she heard that Lynn asked her for having launch, at the first she rejected the lunch invitation from Lynn but immediately agreed after Lynn offered to pay for their lunch.This was a sign of exploitative trait of narcissism because she only cared about something when it gave benefits for her, in this case a free lunch.
Lynn: "Sorry, I just wanted to know if you wanted to grab some lunch."Elizabeth: "I'm kind of in the middle of something, Lynn."Lynn: "My treat."Another proof that Elizabeth had exploitative traits when she was informed about a carwash project but showed no interest at all.But when the student told her about how much money they earned last year, Elizabeth looked surprise to hear that as seen below: Elizabeth : " What?Sasha : " I'm the student leader for this trip to Springfield E;izabeth : "Shocker" Sasha : "we're having our car wash this weekend if you around, maybe we could wash your car.This Springfield trip is the best part of seventh grades last year's car wash weigh six thousand dollars Elizabeth : "Whoa" Elizabeth went immediately to the principal and convinced him to elect her as the supervisor of the project.During the project, Elizabeth wore provocative clothing to gain more customers.After the project, Elizabeth kept the money for herself, doing embezzlement.
During teacher-parents meeting, a parent of one of the students from her class gave her some cash in exchange for her help with the student's trouble.Seeing this as an opportunity, Elizabeth tricked another parent to have her tutor their child in exchange for money even though she clearly had no intention of doing so.To convince the parent even more, she lied about her ex-fiancé cheating in their relationship.She also did not know how many students were in her class despite her having to teach for a while.
Elizabeth : "You know, a student like Chase would benefit so much from some extra attention."Parent : "So you think we should hire a tutor?"Elizabeth : "You know, I'd be happy to do it myself, but it's just so hard with a class of 20, 25, or 30, or whatever.God, it is so hard on my salary to have to pay for my own supplies, and my fiancé, he cheated on me with his sister."Elizabeth was invited to a Christmas dinner by the parent of one of her students.While there, she only focused on eating because it's free for her.When Garrett was asking for a relationship advice, she sneakily stole one of decorations from the house.She also gave blunt advice that made her look narcissistic.
Elizabeth : "Listen, it's not gonna happen, buddy.I was that hot girl.Hotter, even.And I would never have gone out with you.And I'm not saying that to be mean.I'm saying that to be helpful.

CONCLUSION
As the result of the study, it was shown that Elizabeth Halsey exhibited four of nine traits narcissistic personality disorder.The first is entitlement trait, she only thought about herself, she did not have any shame on herself, she still asked money from her ex-fiancé, asked money also from her dying grandmother just to make her tit bigger.The second was exploitative traits, in this case, Elizabeth Halsey took advantage on many people, she would do everything without thinking's other feelings and opinion.When someone would like to treat her lunch, she would be loved to, before she seemed not interested at all.The third was lack of empathy, she did not show any empathy for her students who got bullied in front of her, and the last was envy trait, she did not accept the reality that the wealthy man fell in love with her enemy at school, she arranged to set up everything to make her enemy kicked out from school.Finally she did it, Amy was transferred to other school.As for the suggestion, there were two suggestions of this study.The first is for English Literature study program students and the second one is for other researchers who were interested and wanted to conduct the study of narcissistic personality disorder that they could increase their interest to study about narcissistic personality disorder that applied in various literary works.There were still some gap studies about narcissistic personality disorder that can be elaborated for the next researchers such as the causes of narcissistic personality disorder, the impact of narcissistic personality disorder and many more