Arnold....see ya

Last night I watched the 60 minutes interview of Arnold Swarzenneger, with Leslie Stahl.  If you missed it, you missed a really interesting look into human psychology and the lasting effects of early damage done to a  to a person.  To say that Arnold is a mess is an understatement at best, but what I found most intriguing was not just the story about his childhood but how he laughed about how cruelly he was treated by his father.  The guy is totally detached from himself--he can't feel squat--so much so that he doesn't seem to really get what he's done to his soon to be ex-wife, and his kids. 

Yes, he says one or two of the right things, but you can see he doesn't mean it --the arrogance is all over him.  He's not the least bit contrite.  Put simply, his words and his actions don't match.  A couple of times he even tripped himself up in his own lies--and when Leslie questioned him about them, he didn't even realize he'd lied or that his real motives were so transparent. This man is totally incongruent and lies at the drop of a hat to get what he wants, how he wants it.  It's clear he thinks that he's earned the "right" to do what ever he wants, and everyone else can just basically lump it.  He just does not get it.

I don't hate Arnold at all.  I personally found him fascinating.  To watch someone work so hard to overcome a childhood of "not being good enough" was actually heartbreaking.  No matter what he achieves, it's never going to be enough for him.  He's got a childhood hole inside of him big enough to fly a jet through that's never going to completely heal. He'd need LOTS of professional help and a sincere desire to clean up his past before he'd ever start to become whole again, and he's way too arrogant to admit he's a train wreck.

Yes, he's charming and over the top, and that's what he's counting on to woo you back to team Ahhhhnold.  I'll skip his book that comes out today.  I've seen enough and it's just too sad.