NPD Theater—Voice of the Mirror | Act 5

The vanity mirror reflects my face, heavy and dull.
Having fallen, I gaze at the clouded surface of the mirror.
The torn hem quietly tells the story of how the ideal stage was ruined.
A sandstorm brushes against my cheek, passing by with a dry rustle.
"Who?"—a low sound echoes from deep within the mirror.
Yes, something is not adding up.

The costume assistant looks at the torn hem with a stiff expression.
The mouth reflected in the mirror has a cold color, as if it knew of the performance's failure.
Slowly, they begin to talk to the costume, shedding tears.
The sandstorm grows hot and clings to me.
"Who?"—the voice in the mirror wavered.
Yes, the costume assistant is the one at fault.

I declare that the failure lies with the costume.
That single statement proclaimed that the costume assistant was the destroyer of the ideal stage.
The costume assistant says nothing, looking on in disbelief.
The sandstorm departs for the desert, leaving only an empty silence behind.
"That's right"—the voice of the mirror is released lightly.

Yes, this is fine.

Commentary

The story begins at the dressing room vanity. Following the scene where the protagonist (I) falls on stage and tears their hem, a voice from deep within the mirror echoes, asking "Who?" This "voice of the mirror" is the voice of the founder of the ideal-self religion in NPD. It speaks for God (the ideal self) and shows the believer (oneself) the truth (ref: Both founder and believer are oneself—the self-contained religion of NPD). Here, the protagonist does not face the reality of their own failure or the costume assistant's tears, but instead follows the mirror's "Who?" voice, thinking only of shifting the location of responsibility outward. The repetition of this mirror voice symbolizes the blame-shifting mindset of NPD. With the final "That's right," the responsibility is fixed upon the costume assistant, and a sense of relief and self-justification is achieved.

Afterword

In this act, a scene was depicted where the costume assistant talks to the costume and sheds tears. If this were not an NPD individual, the focus would be on "empathy" or "sympathy" toward the tears. However, from the perspective of the protagonist (NPD), these tears are processed as "proof of admitting responsibility." This is where the absurdity is highlighted. In NPD, because one cannot empathize with others, the multifaceted meanings held by tears (sympathy for the costume, frustration at having the costume ruined, or self-reproach for one's own inadequacy) are stripped away and conveniently simplified into an "admission of responsibility." In this scene, the "blame-shifting mindset," "black-and-white thinking," and "lack of empathy" of NPD act simultaneously, depicted as an excessive and distorted reaction. I hope the unreasonableness felt by the costume assistant comes across.