That's part of why this thread was created- we're esoteric; some of us like symbiotes as metaphors as well as cool @ss-kicking aliens.
Personally, I don't take Kasady seriously most of the time. How could I enjoy him if I did? That's why I find it so agreeable that Marvel writers have obscured his child-hood. As far as when and where he made "choices" as opposed to adaptations, I don't care...end result is, he's a very simply motivated charactor, and I love that he's not too complex. I like that his evil is crude and impulsive.
I love seeing how horrible he's been from a young age- it reaffirms how much of a hard-case he is.
I don't want to excuse his mother's behavior by ever suggesting that NOTHING could have moderated his antagonistic stance toward the world.
HOWEVER- Clete is a fictional charactor. Both in our world, and in the Marvel Universe, where he is always exaggerating himself and his exploits and his evil. Clete wants to be seen as a Bad Seed, clearly. He wants us to believe that he was born totally bad, or at least inalterably predestined for badness. So maybe I should give Clete just what he wants...
Nah! I'm not big on giving people like him just what they want! Let him take what he gets, I say.
The best thing about Kafka's unrealistic belief in Clete's potential for improvement is that it annoys and frustates him so. I'm happy that my more modest disbelief in his self-hyped born-badness would also somewhat frustrate him.
Anyway, in fights or when disrespected by psychiatrists, I love to watch him endlessly resist and attempt to overcome. He's so persistent, it's admirable. It's like he's been a punching bag all his life and doesn't mind so long as he has a hope of punching back harder.
Go Kasady!
And, you know what- its OK to have a charactor be a Bad Seed, but then that charactor is like a vampire or a werewolf- a completely fictional monster. Isn't it enough that one-half of "Team Carnage" is already a completely fictional monster?
If Marvel ever goes that route with Clete, I'd still enjoy him, because to me, part of his appeal is how over-the-top he is...
But since I can love him just as much with a more realistic perspective on his evil, I'll keep it that way as long as I can...
Also, I throw Clete a bone in my fiction by letting the matter remain a mystery. I'm SO good. 😄