The Talented Mr Ripley - Blog Posts
Novelist Patricia Highsmith ate the same thing for virtually every meal: bacon and fried eggs. She began each writing session with a stiff drink—“not to perk her up,” according to her biographer, Andrew Wilson, “but to reduce her energy levels, which veered towards the manic.” Then she would sit on her bed surrounded by cigarettes, coffee, a doughnut and a saucer of sugar, the intention being “to avoid any sense of discipline and make the act of writing as pleasurable as possible.”
From Killian Fox, The Gannet’s Gastronomic Miscellany, 2017
More writers’ food habits from LitHub
Attitudinal Psyche: The Talented Mr Ripley: Tom Ripley
EVFL
1E Confident Emotion: Tom is outwardly emotional and expressive. He is good at dealing with emotions of others, and always knows what people want to hear. He is opinionated in regards to culture, but diplomatic in expressing those opinions when he does. He is open to the emotional expressions of others and can be quite charming.
2V Flexible Volition: Tom is logical amd good at setting goals. He plans meticulously how to impersonate Dickie, in order to exercise his own willpower and achieve his desires. He is not pushy and will let other people make their own decisions, but will also manipulate others in order to achieve his goals. He knows what he wants and how to get it, and makes quick decisions in order to accomplish what he wants done.
3F Insecure Physics: Once he acquires the money necessary to do so, Tom puts a lot of effort into his appearance. He is very conscious of how his appearance affects the way others see him, and wears expensive clothes in order to attract attention. He is not overly focused on his physical health or needs but is more focused on what he wants and his emotions.
4L Unbothered Logic: Tom is not very theoretical. He prefers to focus on his goals and emotions instead of why the world works the way that it does. In the book he mentions not really having an aptitude for anything outside of impersonating other people. He is not concerned with logical principles but is more focused on status so that he can attract other people’s attention and achieve his goals.
The Talented Mr. Ripley: Tom Ripley: INFJ 3w2
Myers Briggs: INFJ
Ni: Tom is good at anticipating what other people are going to do next. He is a clever strategist and plans out his crimes. He is intuitive about other people and uses his insights into other people’s thoughts to cover up his murders. Tom skillfully predicts future outcomes and adjusts his plans accordingly. He plans everything he does and is always focused on the big picture.
Fe: Tom always knows what to say to make people like him. He charms Meredith into thinking he’s rich like her, and he charms Marge and Dickie by telling them what they want to hear. He is outwardly emotional and prone to outbursts when he’s upset because he can’t hold his emotions in. He also has no problems with lying about who he is in order to get ahead, manipulating other’s feelings to get what he wants.
Ti: Tom is clever and methodical in his cover ups. He sends letters to himself to make it look like Dickie’s still alive, then forges a suicide note by Dickie to cover up both Dickie’s and Freddie’s deaths when people start to get suspicious of him, and lies to Marge about how he got Dickie’s rings.
Se: Tom relies on clever planning mostly but can improvise in the moment when he needs to. He can sometimes be too impulsive and nearly ruins his own plans, and finds it easier to plan ahead.
Enneagram: 3w2
Tom knows how to charm people into liking him. He manipulates Marge, Dickie and Peter so that he can get ahead. He hates not having money, and mooches off Dickie to enjoy a life he never could have before. He pretends to be Dickie to get Meredith to like him and later impersonates Dickie to keep living the life he desperately wants. He is also very “helpful” to Dickie and Marge- he agrees to keep Dickie’s secret after Silvana’s death, he lets Marge confide in him in order to make her feel loved so he can manipulate her. He needs to feel loved and becomes devastated when Dickie eventually rejects him, his 2 wing disintegrating to 8 rage when he kills Dickie.
Unpopular opinion - saltburn is a lesser version of the talented Mr Ripley.
I watched the latter in October 2023 absolutely adoring it, and seeing saltburn now is... Disappointing. A bit. It's a good film! Just clearly had TTMR in mind when shot and written.
the talented mr. ripley makes me want to bang my head against a wall until it bleeds truly. there is nothing more beautiful and simultaneous heartbreaking as that movie is.
Jack Davenport and his ability to always be paired with a blonde who...
1° Friendzone:
2° He is killed by her:
3° He does some harm to her or vice versa:
🎥 The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant (2005)
The Stolen (2017).