Steve Carter
Active Member
- Apr 28, 2017
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Well, we are talking about two different things. The first is if long-term sexual blackmail happens in the workplace. I take it we both agree that it does. The second is a difference of opinion on if the victim can develop feelings for the abuser. On that we seem to disagree so that is what I will focus on.
The game clearly portrays Matt as a narcissist. I'd read up on relationships with narcissists where their victims suffer all kinds of abuses but the victim still claims to love the narcissist. The blackmail only served to get a foot in the door. The characteristics of the narcissist is what transform the relationship. I'll also add that this is only on one of the paths. On the other two paths, the girlfriend still hates Matt but has just accepted the situation of the blackmail. This is also common, as downplaying the severity of sexual abuse is one common coping strategy to minimize the emotional impact of it. Self-blame, self-doubt and not wanting to reveal the abuse due to a sense of shame are other coping strategies. Matt states that the abuse will occur over a limited amount of time, leaving the victim to decide if they should just wait out that limited time so they can forget about the abuse after the timeline has expired, or expose the abuse, and forever be known by everyone as a victim of abuse and never be able to forget about it because you know it will always be on everyone else's mind. If they wait it out, the situation becomes normalized for the victim. The anxiety of being frequently assaulted gets replaced with a numbness, which is how the victim copes.
Just like with Stockholm Syndrome, once a situation becomes normalized and the victim has regular contact with the abuser, the victim can start to identify with the abuser's perspective and, in some cases, even a desire to protect the abuser. Couple that with the fact that Matt has the superficial charm and the insight into how to manipulate people common in narcissistic personalities, I would say what is happening in the game is not a totally impossable situation. The appeal of the relationship between the girlfriend and Matt seems to be that Matt is more exciting than her current partner. This is also the appeal that many people say they find attractive in narcissists. I also get the sense that this isn't Matt's first rodeo and it seems that he knows the psychological process required for the victim to experience in order to make this happen.
A second, simpler explanation that is kind of taboo in sociology/psychology circles (because it is considered blaming the victim), and the situation I subsribe to (because my first situation kills my boner) is that the girlfriend is a willing participant due to her being repressed and Matt is pushing her boundaries in ways the MC doesn't. For her, the blackmail situation is just a convenient way of avoiding responsibility for experiencing her actual desires. Matt could just have recognized this and is in effect "topping from the bottom", basically recognizing her needs and desires and providing them to her in a manner she will accept them, breaking through all the social stigmas preventing her from engaging in this activity before. Of course, this isn't altruistic for Matt, as he is doing this to establish his own control. The difference in this situation is that the gf is a willing participant, even if she will not admit it even to herself. If this is the case, resentment towards the MC is reasonable, as her perspective is that Matt could figure this out when the MC couldn't, making Matt superior. So essentially this is a consentual non-consent situation, and in reality, when everyone is being 100% honest with themselves, no blackmail is even taking place. Matt's success with being women's best sex ever may be just because he is good at recognizing what a woman really wants sexually, what is preventing her from getting what she wants sexually, and how he can break down those barriers preventing her from getting what she wants. This also addresses all questions like "why didn't the gf do this or that?" The answer is because she doesn't really want to, and deep down, she wants the situation to continue even if she won't admit it to herself on a superficial level.
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