Most of us have mutiple personalities. They’re called personas and we use them discriminately in our interactions with others.
But then there are those alleged to actually have multiple personalities. Different folks with very different personalities floating around inside their head. But more or less on their own.
A clinical condition in other words.
Still, 23 separate personalities?! And how the hell exactly is something like that actually confirmed?
In other words, is it real? Well, here’s one take on it: psychologytoday.com/blog/sa … r-metaphor
Me? I’m just not sure. For one thing, to the best of my knowledge, regarding my own personas, I call the shots. Well, whatever that means with “I” being the embodiment of dasein.
As one reviewer put it, “Split, isn’t scary, it’s tense.” More to the point, you can only imagine trying to put yourself in this situation. You are dealing with a “frame of mind” that cannot be reasoned with. Not only that, but if the condition turns out to be legit, you can’t really even blame him for, among other things, making your life a living hell. And then, as this same reviewer noted, “…last but not the least, is the traditional ‘Shyamalan Twist’. Trust me, this time your minds will be blown when you come to the conclusion.”
Maybe.
Then there’s the murkier part that’s seems determined to suggest some “supernatural” element in all this. That way the sky is the limit as to where the plot can go. Your reaction to the film will depend in large part on what you believe or do not believe about “multiple-personalities” disorders.
Then there is Casey’s back story. The one with her Uncle. Another kind of beast entirely.
So, is this actually based on a true story?
Sort of: the13thfloor.tv/2017/01/23/s … uis-vivet/
Trust me though: the most riveting film – television miniseries – to go to in order to explore all of this is still Sybil. By far in my opinion.
Look for the link to Unbreakable.
And Nietzsche?
trivia at IMDb: imdb.com/title/tt4972582/tri … =ttqu_sa_1
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_(2016_American_film
trailer: youtu.be/84TouqfIsiI
SPLIT [2016]
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan
[b]Marcia: Pardon me sir, I think you have the wrong car.
…
Claire: What the hell is going on? What are we doing here? What happened to my dad?
Casey: He’s out there.
Claire: Do you know what happened to my dad?
…
Kevin [one of the personalities, pointing to Casey]: I choose you first. It will only be a minute.
Claire [to Casey]: Pee on yourself. Pee on yourself.
…
Clair: Are you okay.
Casey: He wanted me to dance.
…
Claire: We just cried and screamed and we didn’t hurt him because we were afraid to get him upset. God, that’s victim shit. Jesus! We should fight him. We should drop a crazy-ass bomb on him.
…
Casey: I’ll let you know when I hear something that makes sense. We don’t even know what this is yet.
…
Dr. Fletcher: Well, we look at people who’ve been shattered and different as less than. What if…what if they’re more than us?
…
Casey: There’s a lady outside.
…
Patricia [one of his personalities to the girls]: Don’t worry. I’ll talk to him. He listens to me. He’s not well. He knows what you’re here for. He’s not allowed to touch you. He knows that.
…
Dr. Fletcher [to a colleague]: They are what they believe they are. The brain has learned to defend itself.
Colleague: You speak of them like they’re supernaturally gifted. Like they have powers or something. Karen, these are patients.
Dtr. Fletcher: They have been through trauma. And perhaps now they are capable of something we’re not. We have brain scans now. DID patients have changed their body chemistry with their thoughts.[/b]
So, have they?
[b]Dennis: Patricia has reminded me that I was sent to get you for a reason. That you are sacred food. And I promise not to bother you again.
Casey: Maybe he has a dog or something.
Claire: You think he’s gonna feed us to his dogs?
…
Hedwig: My name’s Hedwig. I have red socks. He’s on the move.
Casey: What?
Hedwig: He…is…on…the…mooove.
Casey: Who?
Hedwig: Someone’s coming for you, and you’re not gonna like it. You guys make noises in your sleep.
Casey: Tell us.
Hedwig: I’m not supposed to say; but, he’s done awful things to people and he’ll do awful things to you. I have blue socks, too.
Marcia: We’re his food?
[Hedwig shrugs]
Casey: How old are you?
Hedwig: Nine.
Casey: So you’re not the guy that took us?
Hedwig [scoffing]: No.
Casey: You’re… not the lady?
Hedwig: What are you, blind?
Casey: You don’t know how they think?
Hedwig: N-no, they don’t… they don’t tell me much. I just ate a hot dog.
…
Marcia: We heard something. We didn’t understand it, but now we do. Do you know what we heard?
Hedwig: What did you hear?
Marcia: Come here. I’ll whisper it to you.
…
Casey: He said something. He said something about making the room safe. This is all new drywall. What was unsafe?
…
Dr. Fletcher [on Skype]: One identity in an individual with Dissociative Identity Disorder can have high cholesterol. One. There have been cases where one identity is allergic to bee stings. The others are not.
Interviewer: Are there moments where two identities can coexist at the same time?
Dr. Fletcher: There are times when two identities can take the “light” or “the spot” or consciousness at the same time. This happened with a student that I was working with. And her left and right hand were taking notes in different hand-writings about separate things at the same time. The differences in the identities can be dramatic. As much as the difference between you and me and every person in that auditorium. The identities have different IQ’s. They have different physical strengths. One personality is a Russian weightlifter and can lift three times his body weight. Their ability to hyper-focus and have different experiences is astounding. Have these individuals, through their suffering, unlocked the potential of the brain? Is this the ultimate doorway to all things we call unknown? Is this where our sense of the supernatural comes from? It’s about depth.[/b]
Again: How much of this is actually true of DID patients
[b]Dr. Fletcher: The authors of Hooters play on our incessant need for fat and man’s incessant need to be in the proximity of augmented breasts. It’s like if Henry V ran a fast food franchise!
…
Dennis: The Beast, he’s coming for you. All three of you, you’re gonna be kept separate. You’ve got…You’ve got a crumb on your shirt.
…
Hedwig [after awkwardly kissing Casey]: You might be pregnant now.
…
Dr. Fletcher: This story of The Beast. One thing, Dennis, that may comfort you if you are confused is that you’ve met the other alters. You’re all in a room in chairs, right?
Dennis: Yeah.
Dr. Fletcher: But you never met The Beast. Because he doesn’t reside with the rest of you. Because he resides in the train yard, as the story goes, because Kevin’s dad left on a train. But the fact is, you and Patricia have never met The Beast. Have you?
Dennis: No.
Dr. Fletcher: That’s because he’s not an alter. He’s not the 24th identity. He’s a fantasy.
…
Dennis: You wrote about a woman in Germany who’d been blind for 10 years. And then, it was discovered that she had DID. Then three of her identities developed sight. And you speculated that her optical nerves regenerated because of her beliefs.
Dr. Fletcher: What are you trying to say?
Dennis: There are things, Dr. Fletcher, that all of us would find hard to believe.
Dr. Fletcher: Are you trying to tell me there’s a 24th identity?
Dennis: You protect the broken. When you said that you thought this situation was extraordinary, I knew you can maybe understand.
Dr. Fletcher: Understand what?
Dennis: The Beast is real. He’s just emerged.
…
Dennis [to Dr. Fletcher]: The Beast is a sentient creature who represents the highest form of humans’ evolution. He believes the time of ordinary humanity is over. I hope this makes you feel calm. You will be in the presence of something greater. I was gonna ask for your last shirt, but I won’t. Because tonight is a sacred night. It’s almost over.
Dr. Fletcher: What does that mean? I don’t understand. He can’t be real. There must be limits to what a human being can become.
…
Claire [looking up at Dr. Fletcher]: Are you real?
…
Kevin [speaking in video recording]: The Horde keeps obsessing about the ones who haven’t suffered. I don’t know where they’re going with this, but it scares me.
…
Caire [to The Beast]: Kevin Wendell Crumb. Kevin Wendell Crumb. Kevin Wendell Crumb! Kevin Wendell Crumb! Kevin Wendell Crumb!
…
Kevin [to Claire]: There’s a shotgun I bought. It’s in the bottom cabinet, hidden behind things. The shells are in my uniform closet out in the service hall. Kill me.
…
The Beast [beckoning from the darkness]: We are glorious! We will no longer be afraid. Only through pain can you achieve your greatness! The impure are the untouched, the unburned, the unslain. Those who have not been torn have no value in themselves and no place in this world! They are asleep!!
…
The Beast [looking at the scars on Csey’s belly]: You are different from the rest. Your heart is pure! Rejoice! The broken are the more evolved. Rejoice.
…
Police officer [to Casey]: Your uncle’s here. You ready to go?
…
Newswoman [on TV]: The suspected murderer Kevin Crumb suffers from the controversial psychological disorder DID. The rumors coming out of the scene are almost unbelievable. There are conflicting stories if the suspect is alive or dead after sustaining two point-blank gunshots. Reports even indicate one of his personalities is an amalgam of the various animals in the Philadelphia Zoo where he worked. The press is already referring to the alleged attacker by a dark name leaked by a source close to the case. Because of his many personalities, he is being called…The Horde.[/b]
Cue Bruce Willis. And Mr. Glass.