"Peep Show", Sociopathy, and Social Theatrics

After getting a few episodes into the British television series Peep Show, I came to the conclusion that protagonists Marc and Jeremy were sociopaths, or perhaps as Steven Moffat's Sherlock might say, "high-functioning sociopath". Each character does terrible things in the name of their own satisfaction and they do it completely without remorse. But something slowly becomes apparent about the world of Peep Show: Marc and Jeremy aren't the only sociopaths. No, everyone is a sociopath. It's just most obviously apparent to see this in Marc and Jeremy because the show lets us hear their inner thoughts, and thus all the awful internal logic that gets them to do the things they do.

However, though the plotting of the show purposely causes cringe-inducing, unsettling situations where Marc and Jeremy compromise any sense of self-worth or morality, it would be almost too strong to describe them as sociopaths in the fullest sense of the term. The show more largely seems to get at this point: everyone in their own way is a bit of a sociopath. If you heard the running thoughts inside my head, you might come to see me as an awful, even atrocious, person. I have a filter though and keep out some of the more despicable and questionable ramblings in my head safely tucked away.

Ultimately, Marc and Jeremy are most concerned with self-preservation. This becomes clearest in the season four story arc about Marc marrying Sofie, a woman he's marrying out of a false sense of necessity, desperation and obsession with appearances. He would rather go into a loveless marriage than end up with egg on his face. Yet in his miserable, uncomfortable quest to prevent coming off like an ass and nominally be happy, he ends up doing the exact opposite. He ends up looking like the terrible person he wants the world to believe he's not. If Marc is a sociopath, he is awful at being one.

What Peep Show understands really well is the dramaturgy of social interactions. There's the person we outwardly present ourselves as to the world, and then there's the person we really are deep down but suppress for the sake of appearances. But there's an intersection of these two versions of ourselves. The latter version of ourselves wants highly selfish things but realizes that we likely can't get them by completely revealing our inner self. So we utilize the outward facade of ourselves to get the baser things we desire. Marc and Jeremy constantly botch this by revealing too much of their inner selves or by other people more successfully navigating the intersection. In other words, they're like you and me, just in more self-consciously heightened comical scenarios.