This word has entered our modern lexicon, but I could only infer some vague sense of its meaning. It showed up one too many times for me to ignore, so I went looking.
Turns out it refers to a 1944 psychological mystery, or I suppose thriller for the era. We enjoyed it yesterday evening as a DVD checkout from our local library… and I do mean enjoyed.
Charles Boyer plays the villain who works to drive his wife insane by convincing her she is doing crazy stuff and cannot remember any of it.
Ingrid Bergman performs quite credibly as the young victim.
Now I have a feel for what people mean when they say “gaslighting”.
The art of psychological war has advanced more than a little as lamestream media and political prostitutes can gaslight half the world’s humans at one whack. Nevertheless, this 78-year-old movie does an excellent job of portraying the principles involved.
One of the great things about older movies is the absence of computer animations, their gracious use of the English language and the presence of acting to carry the water instead of special effects.
As you might guess, my movie diet almost never includes modern Hollyweird products.