Gaslighting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gaslighting is a form of intimidation or psychological abuse in which false information is presented to the victim, making them doubt their own memory and perception. The classic example of gaslighting is to change things in a person's environment without their knowledge, and to explain that they "must be imagining things" when they challenge these changes.
The term derives from the 1938 stage play Gas Light, in which a wife's concerns about the dimming of her house's gas lights are dismissed by her husband as the work of her imagination, when he is actually fully aware of the reason for their dimming. This is part of a wider pattern of deception in which the husband manipulates small elements of his wife's environment, and insists that she is mistaken or misremembering, when she challenges them.
One psychological definition of gaslighting is "an increasing frequency of systematically withholding factual information from, and/or providing false information to, the victim - having the gradual effect of making them anxious, confused, and less able to trust their own memory and perception."[citation needed]
The term has also been used in a political sense to describe the deception of electors by political parties.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Cultural references
 |
This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (May 2009) |
- During episode eight - The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation - of 2008 comedy series The Middleman one of the characters attempts to convince another that he painted a piece of art which was actually done by her. She replies "I can't believe you'd try to gaslight me Pip".
- In the 2001 movie Amélie, the titular protagonist embarks on a mission to gaslight her local grocer as punishment for his cruelty toward his intellectually impaired assistant, Lucien. Amelie switches his lightbulbs with lower wattage bulbs and replaces his slippers with smaller ones, among other tricks.
- In Roman Polanski's film, Rosemary's Baby, Rosemary's husband and neighbors conspire to use her to mother the anti-christ, through the use of drugs and convincing her that she is mentally ill.
- On their album Two Against Nature, the band Steely Dan include the song "Gaslighting Abbie" about a husband and his mistress plotting to drive his wife crazy.
- In the 2007 movie The Darjeeling Limited, Adrien Brody's character asks Jason Schwartzman's character "Could she be gaslighting you?" when he discovers his ex-girlfriend had placed her perfume into his luggage.
- In the 2007 Edward Burns film, Purple Violets, Debra Messing's character implores Selma Blair's character not to let her husband "gaslight her".
- The play The Mystery of Irma Vep makes reference to this with a scene where Lady Enid is recounting to her husband all of the strange things that have been happening in the house whereupon the lights begin dimming. When she comments on it, her husband assures her that the lights are not dimming, convincing her that she must be going crazy.
- In Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 7, episode 22 (first aired August 24, 2008), Detective Eames (Kathryn Erbe) tells her partner Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) that someone is "gaslighting" him. An as yet unidentified killer has arranged circumstances to bring suspicion upon and to unsettle Detective Goren in the murders of his brother (Tony Goldwyn) and his nemesis played by Olivia D'Abo.
- On the popular crime drama Murder, She Wrote, in the episode "Reflections of the Mind", Jessica's friend Francesca Lodge is gaslighted by relatives and acquaintances attempting to make her question her own sanity.
- In the book entitled "The Twits" by Roald Dahl, Mr. Twit does this to Mrs Twit, to make her think she'd contracted a deadly disease.
- On the popular soap opera The Young and the Restless, in a controversial 2009 storyline, the character of Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson), who has a history of mental illness, is gaslighted by Adam Wilson (Chris Engen), as unlikely perpetrator who is blind and under house arrest wearing an ankle monitor, attempting to make her question her own sanity to get back on Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) and Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- Santoro, Victor (June 1994). Gaslighting: How to Drive Your Enemies Crazy. Loompanics Unlimited. ISBN 1-55950-113-8.
- Stern, Dr. Robin (May 2007). The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life. Broadway. ISBN 978-0767924450.
- George Cukor (director). (1944). Gaslight. [35 mm]. MGM.
