#UNFIT: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DONALD TRUMP: The Must See Documentary of 2020

For many Americans, the last 5 years have been a tumultuous rollercoaster ride of anxiety and frustration. With a loaded cannon sitting in the seat of power over an entire country, unrest and uncertainty have become the American culture. With the election just months away, now more than ever is the time to understand not only why President Trump is in power, but why he is so dangerous. #Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump, from director Dan Partland, steps forward as a harrowing documentary to warn citizens of the United States, not through bias and extremist agenda, but through necessity and an American responsibility.

The structure of #Unfit unfolds with brilliant and captivating execution, starting with the presentation of Partland‘s case for the mental health of our commander in chief, delivering support of the film’s hypothesis through credible testimonials and driving it home through application. What makes this a unique documentary is the clear attempt to avoid bias, but rather prove a hypothesis — that President Trump is a malignant narcissist. There is an even-toned nature, with little hate, but a clear fear of the dangers this diagnosis could pose for a country and for the world.

Broken down into coherent segments, #Unfit takes viewers through a rapid-fire of solid and concrete rationales for its hypothesis, the challenges the field of psychology faces in the experts’ stand against the President, and the diagnosis itself. #Unfit is not only a cinematic chance to see the scientific method at work, but also a warning to the American people of how dangerously close we are to losing the America that we have worked so hard for. If there is one documentary you see this year, I implore you to make it this one.

The Hypothesis

With a documentary this jam-packed and masterfully successful, as well as potentially controversial, it is important to consistently maintain the unbiased course of action. And almost to perfection, #Unfit stays the course, truly sticking to the obligations the film has undertaken. The only moment I truly felt there was a bias was in the film’s use of animation.

The animation does not create the bias, but the depiction does. There is a conniving and villainous adult cartoon aspect given to Trump — a number muncher feeling as Trump gobbles up the country piece by piece. It’s the hook the film needs to capture its audience. Though, it potentially deters those who might be on the fence — and certainly, those with their minds made up. Thankfully the film is smart enough to know that sometimes your biggest advocates are those who used to be the closest.

Immediately following this, #Unfit begins to dive into a variety of talking heads that will help support and prove the film’s hypothesis. The talking heads are not extreme liberals, or one-sided, but mostly consist of psychologists with their credentials to back them up, as well as former Republican supporters both in the party and once close to the president. There is a comforting feeling that individuals were not chosen to prove a point, but rather because their knowledge and experience made them the most qualified.

One of the first talking heads audiences have an extended moment with is George Conway, the husband of Kellyanne Conway — Republican, Filipino, and no longer able to support the President as he did when he first took office. He voted for Trump and supported his wife’s involvement in his administration.

“I was hopeful he would calm down, and yet as time went on…” he admits, the heaviness of his eyes showing the weight of a country that is not defined by political parties but by a moral compass that has been duly challenged. As he calls it, “a practical joke that got out of hand.” From this moment, you know this is not a liberal-funded project but rather a warning to the public. A warning, and a wake-up call to a country distracted by party sides rather than a terrifying reality.

The Challenges

There is a scientific method to #Unfit, wherein a hypothesis is proposed, and evidence is presented and examined to see if the hypothesis holds water. Trump is a malignant narcissist, it finds, a mental condition that unfortunately has found its way to the top of politics in the past through Hitler and Mussolini.

While presenting their hypothesis, the collection of talking heads presents the challenges both against their collective diagnosis being made public and the medical responsibility they vowed to uphold. Recalling the Goldwater Rule of 1964, many of the various talking heads discuss the challenges Freudian-based psychology once posed when Barry Goldwater ran for president. At the time, many tried to diagnose him as mentally ill through observation, an unaccepted form of diagnosis at the time. In 1964, a diagnosis of mental illness could only be made and accepted through one-on-one interviews with patients. While it was claimed Goldwater was mentally ill, he was able to win his case against those in the psychology field that would attempt to condemn him and disprove their diagnosis on the basis that they never even met him.

Flash-forward to today and the Trump administration is using the same basis to discredit and throw shades of doubt on the diagnosis of malignant narcissism. None of these psychologists have ever met him, none have interviewed him.

Yet, while in 1964 you needed these, in present-day, psychology is based on observable behavior — as categorized by the commonly accepted DSM. Why? Because as many psychologists have come to understand: patients lie. Our behaviors, however, can be the most revealing. And in today’s technologically advanced society, there is plenty to observe.

With this contrast provided, #Unfit compounds the need for psychologists to come forward and speak up. Not only is there a moral right, but there is a duty. While the field of psychology is deeply rooted in privacy and safe spaces, The Tarasoff Rule of the 1970s placed responsibility and obligation on those providers regarding the dangers their patients pose to others. If you know your patient has the intent to harm someone (i.e. states he is going home to kill his wife), you must warn the victim.

And they are warning us. They are warning us that Trump is a Malignant Narcissist and that if we are not careful, he has the power to damage the democratic experiment we have worked so hard to create. That this one man has the power to throw America into the unrelenting grip of fascism — a grip that is slowly reclaiming the world.

The Diagnosis

#Unfit takes its time weaving between psychology and present-day observations. Each moment brings us closer and closer to the actual breakdown of the diagnosis at hand. Examples have already been laid out for the audience, each representing the four major aspects of a malignant narcissist. As an audience, even you will begin to identify examples on your own. While no other forms of mental illness are presented or considered, there is a strong case that none need to be. By today’s standards, Trump is one of the most dangerous men in power.

However, #Unfit does make sure to acknowledge that mental illness does not immediately exclude someone from office or from the ability to lead a country. Rather, it could actually enable them to do their job better. Abraham Lincoln is believed to have suffered from depression, which many credit as what enabled him to endure the emotional and psychological effects of the Civil War — because he already had the tools to persevere and to push through. Bill Clinton suffers from compulsion and hyperactivity, both traits that, at times to his detriment, helped him push his country forward and constantly work for the better. However, where Trump, a malignant narcissist, is concerned, he poses a potential danger to the likes of fascists before him.

No Conclusion in Sight

Sadly, there is no conclusion for #Unfit — there can’t be. We are less than 100 days from the election, and concerns of Trump relinquishing power if he loses — or even if he wins the election — rise with each day. As we watch the effects on the USPS, mail-in ballots, threats on funding, and the death toll of COVID-19 climbing, there is a national fear and nervousness rising. What is going to happen? The future is unwritten and uncertain.

#Unfit is a timely and vital documentary on the nature and presidency of Donald Trump. While releasing near the election poses success for the documentary itself, it gives those behind the project, who have been screaming into the void, a platform to speak — a chance to warn us all before it’s too late.

Have you seen #Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!

#Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump will be released September 1, 2020 on VOD.

Watch #Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump