Conversation s

I think Raymond is taking advantage of Ian’s affection for him, true, and also emotionally manipulating him. That said, Raymond puts on too much of a show, we know as the audience that it is not as calculating as he convinces himself- not saying he loves Ian, but there is some genuine affection there, even though Raymond is trying his best to stifle it and pretend it doesn’t exist. I just think the comparison to Bardi is unfair: Raymond isn’t a good person, but Bardi is a monster.

(I feel like my reply may come across as defending Raymond so please don’t misunderstand me that’s not my intention at all. I just disagree that he’s “not much different/no better” from a pedophile who bought a child, imprisoned him, hit him, raped him, belittled him in every way for YEARS, worked him to the bone and took credit for all his work, left him to die in a burning building while somehow finding the time to rescue some of HIS paintings.)

The keyword was 'psyche'. I wasn't interested in judging the characters as they are blatantly very different. But the bottom-line of the psyches are *at the moment* similar. They are there to get what they want, by any means they think is allowed. Naturally, the monster (I agree Bardi is a monster) does it his way, whereas Raymond does it in his affectionate and subtly caring way. They are both psychologically challenged individuals, set out to get what they want. We will probably never know why Bardi turned so monsterous, as we will know why Raymond is so fixated on getting revenge on nobels. the psyche of Raymond seems a lot more malleable and open to improvement, which I guess what we will see as plot goes on...

Aha... I do see what you were trying to say now ^^