These are interesting questions and great analogies, but I'm not sure that taking Maria Riva's book as fact (and what seems to be the primary research source here) is the best way to support the arguments. Riva's book is arguably more autobiography than biography, in that it reflects her own subjective experience, her own "truths," and not necessarily what actually happened. The extensive word for word dialogue Riva quotes and claims to have remembered from as early as age three, is one example of some of the misleading ways she presents information as factual. That alone should immediately trigger some caution in evaluating her writing. There is a serious lack of critical thinking skills in this country, and our educational system needs to do a better job with that. I also take issue with your proposition that Dietrich lived without conscience. She clearly had a great deal of narcissism, but it's well documented that she was extremely generous, which requires at least some capacity for empathy. Such a claim also completely erases the enormous sacrifices she made during WWII, often at great risk to her own well being. Her narcissism may have deeply damaged her daughter and led to her own unhappiness and isolation, but she clearly had a moral compass, and used it.