Begging for Mercy from the Merciless

Few movies offer anything worth seeing when it comes to real world self-defense, but there are a few exceptions.  One such film is No Country for Old Men.

This film is not exceptional in its gun play or action, though it is quite good overall, but it is a must see for anyone who takes their personal security seriously. 

I recently read that a panel of psychologists analyzed all of the top villains in movies and ranked Anton Chigurh, the antagonist in No Country for Old Men played by actor Javier Bardem, as the most accurate portrayal of a psychopath.  I would agree with this assessment.  I am not a clinically trained psychologist, but I was blown away by how well the actor portrayed this character when I first saw the movie and the personality seems right in line with the research I have done pertaining to the most psychotic of criminal actors. 

Bardem played the part impeccably well, and he captures the cold pragmatism seen in such a killer that ranks high on the Dark Tetrad of behavior.  Such an individual is, quite frankly, impossible for the average person to relate to.  Most humans are capable of violence, even unspeakable violence, but there is usually social and environmental conditioning that happens over a lifetime to make it so.  Consider the atrocities committed in civil wars across the globe and throughout history; when raised to perceive “the other” as your enemy and as your oppressor, violence comes rather easily.  But true psychopathic violence is entirely different.

The scary reality remains that there are many such individuals roaming the world.  True psychopaths have, literally, no remorse or sense of compassion for other humans, and they are actually turned on by inflicting violence and cruelty.  Anton Chigurh is a psychopathic character who, while not really inclined to go out of his way to do violence just for the hell of it, thinks nothing of killing to meet his goals, or to even make the obtainment of his goals even the slightest bit easier.  What is even scarier about this character is that he is damn good at violence as well. 

I encourage the reader to do this: watch the movie and ask yourself, how would I deal with such an individual?  If you found yourself in a situation where this character was a coin flip away from taking your life and the lives of those with you (see the movie) would you prefer to have the ability to do more than beg for mercy from the merciless?  That is a life decision that should be made well beforehand. 

Live fire practice is essential. To buy the ammo I use for training go to:

https://www.ammoman.com/9mm-blazer-brass-124-grain-fmj-5201-1000