“…the notion of authenticity as a moral ideal: the idea that we each have a way of living that is uniquely our own, and that we are each called to live in our own way rather than that of someone else.” (Carl Elliott. 2003. Better than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream. Pp. 29. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
“Unlike objects, people are conscious of the way they are classified, and they alter their behavior and self-conceptions in response to their classification.” (Carl Elliott 2003:229)
In the chapter "The True Self", Carl Elliott examines "the ideal of authenticity". In our understanding of self we maintain that there exists an 'authentic' us, as it were "an identity particular" to us as a person. However, Elliott questions the validity of speaking of a "true" fixed self and wonders if an "authentic" self actually materializes (among other ways) through performance. In a way, the image of Madonna, Jame Gumb (of Silence of the Lambs) and Patrick Bateman (of American Psycho) represent performances of "authentic" selves in question. Madonna exemplifies one way in which the self alters in response to "classifications". Madonna's performance seems to contradict the idea of an "authentic" self as she outwardly appears to transform from one identity to another. In both Silence of the Lamb and American Psycho, the central antagonist's in the plot are characters that appear to be 'inauthentic'. Jame Gumb attempts to create an authentic self by donning a "woman suit". Patrick Bateman, meanwhile suffers from disarticulation of self. The axe reflects back a widely distorted image of his face. The performance of Patrick Batemen does not reflect an "authentic" self. The consequences of such disarticulation (that the characters present an 'inauthentic self') are quite violent in these cases. In response, Elliott proposes that "the self has many aspects to it. We all have parts of ourselves of which we are proud or ashamed, aspects of our characters that emerge only at some times and under some circumstances" (Elliott 2003:51) and to imagine one's self as a "fixed, concrete, unitary entity" constrains our performance (leading to distorted selves and violence, perhaps?). Madonna than maybe the most "authentic" self.
