Science in the Bad Seed

Mervyn LeRoy’s The Bad Seed tells the chilling story of a child sociopathic murderer willing to kill anybody to further her needs. The brutal Rhoda Penmark sets the standard and archetype for many later fictional criminals, particularly child killers. Because the film supports the premise that one inherits murderer tendencies, Rhoda would not be as evil if her mother does not carry a “bad seed” gene. At the same time, this movie also supports another controversial scientific theory. Some of the characters dabble in Freudian psychoanalysis, a discipline that contemporary psychologists commonly dismiss as pseudoscience. The Bad Seed advances many scientific ideas that both modern and 1950’s researchers consider outdated.

One of the first characters Mervyn LeRoy introduces is Monica, the landlady. Throughout the film, she acts as an amateur psychologist who sometimes gives off rather ridiculous interpretations. For instance, when LeRoy sprays water on Rhoda’s shoes, Monica furiously tells him: “You’re definitely a schizophrenic with paranoid overtones” (The Bad Seed). Her overly exaggerated and unscientific diagnosis quickly leads viewers to believe that Monica is an incompetent psychologist. Later on, when she begins dabbling in Freudian psychoanalysis, viewers would believe that the director is making a subtle criticism of Freud. Her claim that she unconsciously marries her husband solely because of his surname appears absurd. But, as it turns out, the director treats psychoanalysis seriously. Monica’s analysis of Christine begins when she spots in her what she thinks is an unconscious aversion to violence. This moves to free association, where patients spontaneously relate their thoughts to the psychologist, despite how embarrassing or trivial the thoughts appear. To psychoanalysts, these random thoughts represent pieces of the unconscious, which is the ultimate governing force (Mitchell 24). In Christine’s own free association, she relates her thoughts about her father while listening to a crime story. At first, her thoughts are fairly innocent – she simply states how much she loves her father. Later, she admits to believing, somewhat childishly, and having dreams that she is adopted. Dreams, to psychoanalysts, open the unconscious. When somebody mentions Bessie Denkers, Christine becomes interested, suggesting some sort of unconscious memory or association with the fictional serial killer. All is eventually settled when the plot reveals that Christine, whom Richard Bravo adopts, is the child of Bessie Denkers.

Given how Freudian the film is, one has to evaluate the scientific merits of psychoanalysis. Contemporary psychologists generally agree that psychoanalysis has little, if any, scientific merits. Freud based his vague theories off of isolated case studies instead of rigorous objective scientific experiments. Additionally, Freud worded them to make them unfalsifiable. In other words, they cannot be potentially proven false (Michell 146-151). The philosopher of science, Karl Popper, stated that falsifiability is a hallmark of any good scientific theory (Humphreys 289). Contemporary psychoanalysts are constantly revising psychoanalytic theory to evade imminent scientific extinction (Mitchell 223).

Since psychoanalysis is a pseudoscience, the film certainly does not adhere to scientifically rigorous psychology. Even for the 1950’s, the film fails scientifically. The scientific community has reacted to Freud’s theories with criticism and scorn since the day he published them, though his theories have always been popular with the general public and the film and literary world (Mitchell 89-90). Therefore, it is understandable that Mervyn LeRoy uses so much psychoanalysis, but that does not excuse the fact.  

One can excuse LeRoy’s use of flawed psychoanalysis, but certainly not his misinterpretation of sociopathy. The film’s main premise is that people can inherit criminal tendencies, specifically sociopath tendencies. In the film, Rhoda exhibits virtually all the symptoms of antisocial personality disorder, also known as sociopathy or psychopathy. She’s unlawful, deceitful, aggressive, irresponsible, lacking in remorse and empathy, and finally, she hides it all with superficial charm (Copley). The director implies that Rhoda inherits her mental disorder genetically from her maternal grandmother, the infamous Bessie Denkers. He provides rampant support for this dubious genetic theory. For example, Bravo originally reacts to the theory with harsh skepticism. Later, when he asks a doctor about its validity, he begins to buy into it, illustrating the archetypal zealot who changes views. Indeed, filmmakers constantly exploit characters like Bravo to support a point.

Filmmakers further emphasize the genetic part when they place Rhoda in a perfectly normal and loving environment. Both her parents are law abiding, affectionate, kind, and fairly well-to-do. Everyone whom Rhoda associates with, except for Leroy, are friendly. As a matter of fact, her father is a military colonel. How more law-abiding can one get? Despite all these positive influences, Rhoda becomes horribly malevolent. So, viewers quickly rule out environmental and social factors, with genetics being the only option left.

But, is this nurture-exclusive option plausible? The nature vs. nurture debate has a long history, with early proponents holding that solely nature or nurture entirely shapes a human being. As it later became obvious that both play major roles, the debate then became: which one is more important? Nowadays, psychologists even consider that question to be naïve, since both factors play such interacting roles. When an interviewer asked the psychologist Donald Hebb whether nature or nurture is more important, he responded by asking back rhetorically, “Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?” Indeed, scholars commonly agree that both nurture and nature constantly shape and influence each other. Of course, certain characteristics are either entirely nature or nurture, such as political affiliation or gender (Powell). The hypothesis that a specific gene leads to sociopathy is even more questionable than the overall nature stance. The closest anyone has come to a “bad seed” is a recently discovered gene linked to antisocial behavior, though it only leads to criminality if the possessor is raised in an abusive environment. In psychopathy, like in most cases, it is a combination of nature and nurture (Copley).

The Bad Seed, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, depicts a heartless psychopathic child committing a series of murder for her own selfish benefit. The crucial question is: are psychopathic tendencies genetically inherited? The director says “yes,” while the scientific community says “no.” His Freudian psychoanalysis and idea of a “Bad Seed” gene is fairly preposterous and does not corroborate with scientific research, both contemporary and previous research. Many of his other ideas do not corroborate either, such as his mishandling of Mendelian genetics and his slight addition of astrology, when Monica declares: “My horoscope says that today is the day for paying attention to small objects” the moment Christine discovers the penmanship medal. The filmmakers and writers might even have a possible bias against the scientific world: in the feature, the primary scientific authority is the doctor, and he is “wrong.” Meanwhile, the unscientific Monica and Reginald, a landlady and criminologist, respectively, are actually scientifically “correct.” Whether or not a bias exists is questionable, but The Bad Seed still has a significant place in the history of film. In science, however, it certainly does not.

Works Cited

Copley, Jennifer. “Causes of Psychopathy: Theories on Sociopathic Personality Disorder.” Suite101.com. 30 Jul. 2008. 28 Nov. 2008 .

Humphreys, Paul. “Falsifiability.” The Oxford Guide to Philosophy. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 2005. 289-90.

Mitchell, Stephen A., and Margaret Black. Freud and Beyond. New York: Basic Books, 1996.

Powell, Kimberly. “Http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/nature_nurture.htm.” About.com. 15 Mar. 2006. 28 Nov. 2008 .

The Bad Seed. Dir. Mervyn LeRoy. Perf. Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Eileen Heckert. DVD. 1956.