Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… in Los Angeles, in an unstable home. His mother wasn’t caring, and his father left him when he was 10 after discovering that his mother had cheated on him with the neighbor. Tate was exposed to lingering physical and emotional abandonment from both of his parents. Tate is scarred by the experiences he had growing up. As he says, “The world is a filthy place. It’s a filthy goddamn horror show. There’s just so much pain, y’know?”
Profession… unemployed. Tate doesn’t have many prospects; he was kicked out of Westfield High School. But Tate admires a lot of men in Hollywood that were successful high school dropouts: Kurt Cobain, Marlon Brando, Robert de Niro, and Al Pacino.
Interests… monologuing and scaring people. He also likes to go to the beach, which calms him down and helps him breathe better.
Relationship Status… dating Violet. Tate is obsessed with her, and she is the only light he has ever known. She’s a dream for him, being smart, pretty, and into dark matter like he is. He even painted a rose black before giving her, which she loved.
Challenge… his fear of rejection and identity issues that stem from traumatic experiences in his past. Tate’s currently seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Ben Harmon, due to his erratic behavior and the fantasies that he’s had for over two years of harming people from his high school. He claims to like the people in his fantasies in that hurting them would spare them from a bad world. Due to his conflict of interest with his psychiatrist’s daughter, Violet, Dr. Harmon threatens to discontinue treating him. This worries Tate because he wants to get better for himself but also for Violet.
Personality… angsty, clingy, and stubborn. When Tate doesn’t get what he wants, he reacts violently. Once when he was upset, he started banging on things while yelling, “Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!”. He feels damaged, hates his mom, and doesn’t have many friends. It’s an isolated life, which is why once he has Violet, would do anything to keep her with him. He believes that no one should hurt someone that they love, but Tate is impulsive, and this can interfere with his desire to protect those he cares about.