Let’s put it out there

kissofgallifrey:

Of course Kilgrave’s powers are a defense mechanism. Of course it is. But can you blame him?

Think about it. There’s a child who believes he’s been tortured for this study for his entire life, until some weird thing happened to him and his parents ran away and abandoned him. He has to survive alone, but how many abandoned children manage to actually survive on their own in the streets? Not many. He uses his powers because he has to and because he can’t control it.

And as he learns to control it, he realises he can’t trust anyone. All these people who helped him – they all did it because he compelled them to. Nobody actually ever expressed any desire to be close to him of his own free will. And again, don’t get me started about his parents.

Freud would have loved that.

Now he’s growing up while he’s still a child, really, when it comes to emotional and social intelligence. He uses his powers because he still thinks he can’t trust anyone, because he still thinks that’s the only thing he has. And why shouldn’t he? That’s the only thing that never mistreated him, if you want to put it this way.

Like David said, what kind of a moral can you develop under these circumstances? He doesn’t understand right or wrong – the only thing he has is himself and his powers, and that’s the only thing he cares about. The only things that never failed or hurt him.

But he’s lonely, and even if he doesn’t really know much about feelings, somewhere deep down, he’s lonely.

And worse than that, he’s feeling like a freak, deep deep down, where he’d never admit it.

And then he runs into Jessica Jones and realises he’s not a freak. Or at least, he’s not the only one. He doesn’t have to be alone, and he certainly doesn’t have to be lonely.

I mean, look at the things he’s saying and doing when it comes to her. Counting the 12 hours to make sure she wasn’t under his control to see if she stays – that’s something only someone very lonely, very vulnerable would do. I don’t know if you can call what he’s feeling love – personally I don’t think so – but he’s getting attached. He’s getting fond of her and he wants to see if she is, too. He gives her that time to see if she stays there with him if he lets go of his one, huge defense mechanism.

He doesn’t want to use it, not any more than you or I would want to use our harmful defense mechanisms.

But he thinks he has no choice, because that’s the only thing he has left.

And I ask again, can you blame him?

*I’m not saying this makes anything he did any less horrible than it is, but just… think about how he became the man he is. Be honest. Wouldn’t you do the same?