Xofer

27th Oct 2004

Matchstick Men (2003)

Question: Why does Nicholas Cage keep doing things 3 times? He opens the door, unlocks it, and a few other things three times.

Answer: His character has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The primary trait of OCD is that you do things over and over, often for a set amount of times.

Xofer

3rd Mar 2004

Matchstick Men (2003)

Question: How can Roy possibly be a smoker? He has OCD and is constantly cleaning the smallest of messes. The ashtray in his car was overflowing with butts.

ChiChi

Chosen answer: OCD isn't about cleanliness, it's about obsession and compulsion (hence the name). Cleaning could be a compulsion in this case, though smoking could be as well (and probably is, with the amount of butts in the ashtray). If that's the case then the cleaning probably wouldn't apply to the ashtray, since all he'd be doing is smoking and cleaning it, which would limit his actions even further. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the basics.

Xofer

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